How It All got Started

This three-wheeled beast began my love for all things automotive.  I have a distinct memory of dragging my G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip from a string behind my Big Wheel.  It kills me because I could probably pay for chopping the Pickle's top if I had just saved it in good condition.


A friend of mine had the Green Machine.  The rear-wheel steering was cool.  You could get it to spin out pretty easily.  I never could get my Big Wheel to do a 360 degree spin like the commercial.




Thanks to VintageTVCommercials.com.

Miranda's Customs

The folks called me yesterday and asked if I wanted to check out a '58 Impala they had come across the day before in one of their day trips in the MGA.  So without delay, I hustled down, picked them up, and we headed out.  On Central Avenue just south of downtown, we came across the Impala.  The '58 Impala has always been an Eyrich family favorite since it was the only year of this body style.  It was parked behind a chain-link fence with several other cars at a shop by the name of Miranda's Custom Cars.

We stood and looked at the cars for a few minutes and Luis, the owner, stepped out of the business.  He was locking up for the day.  He walked over, recognizing my parents from their conversation the previous day.  He talked to us for several minutes about all of the cars parked behind the gate, before offering to open up his shop and show us the cars inside.  We accepted the generous offer, not realizing what we were about to step into.

When we stepped just inside the front door, we were in a small, unassuming room where the interiors are completed.  But when we walked through the door on the other side of the room we stepped into a maze of connected buildings with some of the best Chevy metal I have seen.  The glass-like body finish and paint was nothing short of perfection.  There was lowrider after lowrider with amazing paint graphics, airbrushed firewalls and wheelwells; a sea of custom show cars in various stages of completion.  I immediately whipped out my phone and started snapping some photos.  The poor quality of the photos does a grave injustice to the quality of the body work and paint.

As we finished looking around, Luis proudly told us that no one does bodywork and rust repair like his shop.  And from what I saw, he was right.

Miranda's Custom Cars

706 S. Central Avenue, Phoenix

602-712-1783

They do wire wheels, hydraulics, air bags, custom upholstery, classic restorations, paint and body work.  Definitely worth a look if you are in the neighborhood.