1959 Chevrolet Impala Built in Tijuana

Deciding which car would grace the cover of our annual LS issue has always been somewhat of a challenge. For starters, the car needs to possess just a little bit of everything. From custom paint to a unique setup, the only obvious requirement was that it needed an LS engine, but beyond that there was so much to consider.

Well this time around things went south—literally. The perfect candidate happened to be based just south of the border in Tijuana, Mexico. This isn’t the first ride from Mexico to be shot in the LOWRIDER studio, but it’s definitely the first one to ever grace the cover.

Alejandro Penaloza used to compete for Bike of the Year a couple of years back, but that all changed once he decided to buy this 1959 Impala five years ago. When he first got it, he had a certain direction he wanted to go with it but that changed as soon as he saw an opportunity to be a member of the illustrious South Side Car Club.

As most already know, the club is real picky on what kind of car and style of car can join. To build a car of South Side’s caliber is no easy task and it’s even more difficult when you consider the limited amount of resources found in Mexico. Luckily for Alejandro, his brother, Victor, happens to be a talented car builder and owner of South Side Customs in Tijuana, Mexico.

At South Side Customs, Victor installed the 5.7 LS1 and added a few goodies, such as a Street & Performance serpentine kit, Spectre air filter, Lokar dipsticks, aluminum radiator with dual electric fans, and a Blue Top Optima battery. The body was prepped so that Choche could lay the crown sapphire blue paint. Mike D. of Davey’s Auto Body was then called in to layout flaked-out patterns in different blues. For the setup they found some rare Pesco aircraft pumps in swap meets or through friends and once they had everything they reached out to Homies Hydraulics to have them restore it. For the interior they went with a Ciadella interior kit and loaded it with N.O.S. accessories, such as vacuum ashtray, tissue dispenser, speed liner, throttle holder, and so on.

With everything locked and loaded, and every screw polished and tightened to perfection, the final product is this magnificent ride, which now graces to the cover of this highly sought after issue. We would like to thank Alejandro for taking the time to shoot with us, while also congratulating him on a job well done.

1959 Chevrolet Impala

Vehicle Nickname
El Junior

Owner
Alejandro Penaloza

City/State
Tijuana, Mexico

Club
South Side

Engine
5.7 LS1 with Street & Performance serpentine kit, Spectre air filter, Lokar dipsticks, aluminum radiator with duel electric fans, and Optima Blue Top battery

Body/Paint
Choche of South Side Customs laid the crown sapphire paint and then Mike D. of San Diego laid the patterns with Hawaiian blue and oriental blue colors

Suspension
1-inch extended and molded A-arms, molded wishbone with everything candy painted or chrome. The setup consists of four Pesco 777 pumps, four original Zig Zag slowdowns, four Adex dumps with stainless steel candles, shorten oxygen tanks, and four Optima batteries

Interior
Ciadella interior kit with Dakota Digital gauges and stockpiles with N.O.S. accessories, such as cigarette vacuum