24 Dec 14th–Dec 20th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Driving in Suns Style The story behind the Phoenix Suns’ hot new team lowrider. BY MIKE MADRIAGA I f you’re a Phoenix Suns fan and have been on Instagram or TikTok lately, a smidgen of a purple-and-orange lowrider might’ve caused you to stop scrolling. It’s a clip posted on the Suns Instagram page on Nov. 2, and it’s still making its rounds on the internet. Like a scene out of a movie, Devin Booker is depicted walking up to Efrain “Bugs” Gonzales. “Bugs!” Booker says. “Is it ready?” “She’s ready,” Gonzales responds. “Check it out.” “That’s how you unveil it right there,” Booker continues. A bumping Spanish rap track then plays, and the two are filmed cruising the Phoenix streets in a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air lowrider. Word on the streets is that it would’ve taken car customizers two years to complete a project of this magnitude. “It took us under two months to build it here at Earnhardt Chevrolet in Chandler,” Gonzales says. “And we spent many nights here.” Gonzales pulled out his phone, showing the step-by-step process he and his fabrica- tors had done to meet the basketball team’s hard deadline. The Bel Air was dropped off on a flatbed truck; it originally had a red- and-white paint job. Gonzales said the Suns’ staff monitored him for two years as a potential first-round draft pick to build their “lolo,” or lowrider — with good reason. Since 1987, the Mesa-born and raised car customizer has his “Bugs Did It” signature airbrushed onto the top lolos in the Valley and beyond. For years, he’s proficiently implemented pearl tape shades, flake pinstriping, water drops and silver leafing with candy clearcoats. His ultra-steady hands even pinstriped a lowrider owned by Lowrider Magazine’s former editor, Joe Ray. Then, “I got a phone call from (the Suns’ rep), and he told me about painting a car for the Suns,” Gonzales continues. “I’m like, is he serious, or is somebody messing around?” Gonzales and his close buddies met with the Suns people downtown. “I’m pinching myself, asking myself, ‘Is this real?’” he wondered. Cynthia Coury, his daughter, says, “The Suns presented the El Valle uniform and asked him if he could incorporate the purple and orange colors from the uniform into a paint job and build them the best lowrider. The Suns even gave him total creative freedom.” The Suns’ El Valle uniform highlights the classic lowrider, “a Chicano invention originating in the Southwest United States,” according to the NBA website. “They began to flourish among the young Chicanos in the 1940s. Today, the lowrider culture is part of Phoenix’s identity. The city is home to dozens of lowrider car clubs and annual shows. The uniform is crafted with the same attention to detail and purpose to represent this unique style and community on the basketball court.” Lowriders are a genre of custom vehicles, usually classics, with hydraulic systems that can raise or slam them down onto the pavement. And on the Suns’ El Valle uniforms, the jersey sports a hand-drawn style “El Valle” embroidery inspired by “the Chicano art movement ... the lowrider representation on the side panels of the jerseys and the shorts, featuring a custom pinstriping design commonly found within lowrider paint jobs.” Gonzales even paints intricate lettering. So, for Gonzales to pull off the two- month deadline, he assembled an all-star lowrider building team composed of the who’s who within the metro Phoenix lowrider community. The Suns dropped off the car with the team on Aug. 10. Samson Fernandez from Come on Holmes Kustoms created the vehicle’s hydraulic system. “I’ve been doing hydraulics (installa- tions) since 1996,” Fernandez says. “I like to be creative.” A switch box by the driver’s bench seat controls the pumps, actuators and hydraulic cylinders atop the shocks and wheels. Multiple batteries power the system. The trunk of the Suns’ promo vehicle is a masterpiece in itself; it houses the hydraulic configuration. The trunk is tubbed, an auto-customizing technique popularized by car stereo The Phoenix Suns’ 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air was built at Earnhardt Chevrolet in Chandler. (Photos by Cynthia Coury and Efrain “Bugs” Gonzales) ▼ Arts & Culture >> p 27
