J.Ukrop submitted a new blog post: An Interview with Manuel Reyes Continue reading the Original Blog Post
Met Manuel thru Julian Alvarez at the LARS. What a nice man. They always invited me to eat with them under the big shade tree.
Thanks Joey. Manuel is a great guy! He found and mixed the lacquer paint I used on my truck and invited my family and I to his house to see the spray outs when we were on holidays in California. I had the pleasure of seeing his car being assembled in his garage at the time and have him show me all the cool little touches he had done to it.
Just because a TJJ Blog / H.A.M.B. thread can never have enough pics ... Here's a few from Joey's "Classy Custom: Manuel Reyes’ 1936 Ford Coupe" story:
Thanks for this thread!! I have always liked socal hot rod history and the people involved.............
If you get to talk with Manuel again, ask him if he remembers this. He painted it for me in 1960. Yeah, he spelled Halibrand wrong.
...Going to California...it's worth writing about...the Cars and Culture...pretty notable indeed... Manuel, such a pleasant man...and what a life he has had and is still living...Joey and frankly any of you that have met this man are better for it...he has incredible vision and taste in Hotrod/Custom, that's highly evident and has had some very influential friends along the way... Thanks for sharing...I just bumped Ryan's Thread up...why not...it never gets old...
While out at GNRS 2022 at the Drive In portion of the show outside the buildings, Manual and Sylvia's 36 stopped me in my tracks. Reggie and I would up spending at least an hour with them talking about that car and all the incredible and mostly subtle details on that car. So many cool details everywhere you looked, but nothing over the top, nothing too much, everything just right. You see I am a freak about 36 Fords, especially 3Ws and this one is a good as it gets. But the best part about the whole thing and that car is its owners. So much talent and yet the most gracious people on top of it. Super enjoyable hang with them.
My buddy and I met Manuel at the 2015 GNRS. He drove in to the parking lot in a 56 F100 and parked next to us. We were just a couple of Kiwis at our first big US car show, we started talking trucks as we both owned 56 F100's at that time, and ended up spending about a half hour with him. What a great humble guy, he casually told us about working on the California Kid and many other famous cars, I recall he said he owned a 36 Ford Custom, great to see the video here and nice to know he is still very active in our hobby.
I love hearing everyone's Manuel Reyes memories. I first met him while working on the tale of the "15oz. Coupe" for TRJ back in 2017. From the minute we jumped on the phone, he was excited to help with the project. He's the real deal, and I'm not at all surprised to hear that everyone feels the same way. With any luck, we'll collaborate on another project soon!
Also a good interview with Mr. Reyes after just having finished the car from the 2018 GNRS with Thom Taylor on the Rodders Journal FB page. It's still up on the TRJ FB page, worth a look... https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155264518805544
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