Trading the Club Life for the Club Lyfe

The nightlife is what defines our years as an adolescent. The long nights out, the women, the booze, it’s all part of an addiction that can easily run the financial well dry. But imagine having to live in one of the greatest hot spots of them all, South Beach.

As if living in Miami wasn’t already enough temptation, being in your twenties and next to South Beach can be the ultimate test of your will, and that was exactly the case for Emmanuel Sandoval. Not wanting to live paycheck to paycheck, he set his sights on something much bigger than a night of memories. Instead, he wanted to save up enough money to build a custom ride, and that’s exactly what he accomplished.

Building a custom truck was high on his priority list, and he made those dreams come true. “When I was 5, my uncles would pull up to the house in custom cars and I was immediately drawn to them,” Emmanuel says. As the years passed, his introduction to the custom car world became stronger and he soon found himself hanging out at his uncle’s shop where a lot of the members of Low Lyfe Car Club would go.

By 17, Emmanuel had already built a 2003 Chevy Avalanche with a chameleon paintjob and 26-inch wheels. Unfortunately, he ended up wrecking the Avalanche, but the next time around he set his sights on an Escalade EXT. After months of shopping and finding the right price, he drove the EXT out of the dealership and straight to his uncle’s shop in Homestead, Florida, where he began tearing the truck apart.

Being that his last build had a solid-color paintjob, he wanted to mix things up this time so he went crazy with paint and patterns. His uncles David, Juan, and Damian at Daniel & Son’s Paint and Body decided to do a custom paint mix with Ecstasy Amber Gold. Along with Candy Cane Customs, they laid the unique patterns and different paint tones on the truck and the final project was so stellar that it wound up winning the “Best Paintjob” award at the 2016 LOWRIDER Magazine Miami Super Show-an award chosen by Editor Joe Ray as his favorite paintjob at the show. Now that, my friends, is an accomplishment to be proud of.

2009 Cadillac Escalade EXT

Vehicle Nickname
La Sancha

Owner
Emmanuel Sandoval

City/State
Miami, FL

Club
Low Lyfe

Engine
LS3 6.2L

Body/Paint
The fenders were cut to accommodate the 30-inch wheels at Daniel & Son’s Paint and Body before they painting it with a custom mix of Ecstasy Amber Gold paint