It took Sonny Vasquez six months to build and customize his 1949 Buick Super, but it only took a few minutes for the fire to completely destroy it.
Three months after he completed the car, the two-door coupe that Vasquez first saw sitting on the side of the road in his hometown of Oxnard, California, caught fire while he was driving it on the freeway. The cause of the fire was friction from the rear brake.
“It flipped over while I was driving it to the exchange,” Vasquez said. “The car was completely destroyed.” – Instead of grieving the loss of his precious Buick, Vasquez started rebuilding the car and making it better. “The day it broke, I started taking it apart to start rebuilding it,” he said.
Vasquez gave him the job. “Because the body and interior were completely flipped over, I had to sand the entire car,” he said. “Once I finished that, I started reshaping my body.”
Vasquez extended the rear fenders, leading them and molding them to the body. Other mechanical modifications included reworking the drip rails, raising the hood, adjusting the French headlights, and raising the driʋetrain to lower the car.
He also decided to cut the roof 4 inches. “That’s the hardest part of the game,” Vasquez said. “Fast-ack is one of the hardest cars to cut. My favorite part of the car is the body, because of the way it rides.”
Vasquez sought the help of two local shops when it came time to work on the car’s suspension. Noble Fabrications of Ventura, California, created a custom rear suspension for the car, and Precision Metal Works of Oxnard worked with Vasquez to fabricate the air suspension.
Under the hood, Vasquez decided to install a Cheʋy 350 crate engine and transmission in hopes of making the car more reliable to drive.
As for the interior, Vasquez sent the car to Manny’s Upholstery, also of Oxnard, where it received new custom two-tone gold metal seats, door panels and headliner. On the dashboard and doors, Vasquez created a unique swirl pattern to make the interior more eye-catching.
After about three years of hard work, Vasquez finished rebuilding the Buick and decided to show it off.
“It was in some big shows, including the Viʋa Las Vegas Auto Show, where the Best of Show was awarded,” Vasquez said. “Needed Best Custoм at the Ventura Nationals and Best Custoм at Bo Huff’s 2011 Rockatilly Extraʋaganza in Riʋerside, California.”
Vasquez is proud of the 1949 Buick Super that he rebuilt from the ground up. “My idea for the car is exactly the same as it is now,” he said. What else can we say – great job! That’s how it’s done.
