There are so many different types of people involved in the hot rod, classic, and kustom world. Within any community you’ll have an array of personalities who uphold varying sets of core values, principles, and opinions. No combination is as correct as the next, but to be frank, some are just more inspiring than others.

Such was the case with Tony Ibarra Sr.. Tony, a member of the Loco Banditos Car Club, is a man with fire who places heritage, community, and determination at the forefront. Getting the chance to speak with him was a pleasure. If you ever get the privilege as we did you’ll tell right off the bat that he and people like him are the ones breathing vitality and hope into our culture.

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Tony lives in Lamont, California, a small town situated a few miles southeast of downtown Bakersfield in Kern County. He has owned and built more than 30 cars in his lifetime including a ’55 two-door sedan which was his and Tony Jr.’s first father-son project. 

The build that caught our attention was displayed at the 32nd Annual West Coast Kustoms Cruisin’ Nationals, his ’31 Chevy Three-Window Coupe dubbed “El General” aka “Poncho Villa”. The theme is killer–“El General” is a tribute to his heritage and to the romanticism associated with the life of a revolutionist and the outlaw. Read on to learn more about this inspiring man and his one of a kind ride.

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It's all in the details when it comes to Tony's incarnation of El General and the homage paid to the past.

Photos By: Mike Alexander

Tony’s Test Of Will

One of the first things we like to ask our feature builder/car owner is how they came about owning their cars. Tony’s tale of commandeering “El General” mustered images of old spaghetti westerns and slide guitars embellishing the earthen landscape of the Mojave.

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According to Tony, it all started twenty years back. He had mentioned to one of his oldest best friends that he had always wanted a Three-Window Coupe but it had to be a Chevy. On top of that, he said that if he’d ever found one, no matter its condition, he would rebuild it to completion.

Forward to 2004, that same buddy of his had come across a ranch owned by an elderly man whose name was also Tony. The ranchman had acquired a vast surplus of classic makes throughout the years and amongst that cache was a Chevy Three-Window Coupe. 

Tony Sr. made the drive out to Pumpkin Center where the ranch was located. He set his eyes on the project he had made an oath about completing. Apparently the ranch owner had bought the ’31 Chevy way back in the 40’s, drove it around for a bit and parked it for over 60 years amongst a growing yard of Model A’s and other sequestered coupes.

Tony spent the day chopping the tree’s burly limbs slowly breaking the rusted shell from it’s wooden binds.  To the old man’s surprise he eventually broke the damn thing free. Tony even joked that the ranch owner seeing this Herculean labor completed probably wished he had charged $5,000 instead of $500.

Being Pro-Active

For seven years, he and the guys, including his son, worked on the ’31 finally completing it in 2011. Tony spent a lot of time rebuilding the car right in front of his porch–his work ethic and sense of time management was impressive to say the least, “My son and I always schedule our vacation time around the same dates, we take a week out of that time off and do nothing but build. From 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., we work on cars and do nothing but that. Sundays though, you know how the wives are.”

Who Lit The Fire?

Tony gives credit to his eldest brothers, Joe and Fonzy for setting the pavement for his love for cars, “I remember they used to take me on cruises in their Impalas, Nomads, Bel Airs, Belvederes, you name it.”

He remembers Joe telling him, “If your car looks beautiful but it doesn’t run right it’s a piece of crap. Work on the drivetrain first then follow with the rest.”

Tony Sr. was brought up to appreciate every aspect of a car and to pay each the attention to detail and work it deserved. As we see it, the result is a man who fears no project and is familiar with the abundant crops that hard work  and a pair of stones can sow.

Tony’s ’31 Chevy Three-Window Coupe–“El General”

We got a chance to ask Tony a few questions to get a better understanding of El General:

What’s your favorite thing about the car?

“The chop top. I feel like it was resurrected. Once I chopped it, it came back from the dead, and that’s something that the guys know me for, resurrecting beat up cars. Within four hours, Rick Bandito, Brother Juan, and my son completed the chop. We got in and got out, it was a clean job.”

What was the most stressful job on the car?

“O God, I already know that one, the damn suicide doors. We had to remove all the old wood and redo the frames out of one inch and half inch square tubing. My kid and me fought for three months during that project. But you know what, we’d leave it alone and let the thing breathe. Every time we came back to it, it got easier.”

What is one of your fondest memories from building El General?

“Once I found out what the theme of the car was going to be. I was always into garage decals on the doors of old hot rods and customs, you’d see the decal of a business and I just liked the way it looked. I thought, I have never seen someone do a tribute to Poncho Villa. He was a rebel, the Robin Hood of Mexico. He kinda represented the attitude of Loco Banditos. It was also a way for me to pay respect to my family born and raised in Mexico. It just worked out, everything came together once I figured out what the theme of the car was going to be.

I started jotting down all my ideas of how I wanted the car to look, then I went down to Wal-Mart and picked up a model kit of the exact car I had. I built that model in a night and made it look exactly how I wanted the car to be.”

Tony Ibarra Sr.’s Closing Thoughts

Before we wrapped up what had been an upbeat and inspiring conversation we asked Tony what he thought about the current state of car culture, specifically the community involved in kustoms, today. Being a veteran in the scene, we wanted to hear what someone in his position thought.

Tony said he believes that the culture is better off today and for one big reason–equality. As far as race is concerned those lines have been blurred and the segregation that was prevalent back in the day is relatively non-existent. Tony enjoys the camaraderie and has truly come to see it over the past five to six years. He said, “There’s just more mutual respect in kustom kulture, you feel it.”

On top of that, Tony believes that there is an importance car culture plays in regards to youth. “Nowadays, kids think about gang banging, and getting into trouble at an early age. I enjoy seeing these youngsters get excited about cars and wanting to build. It takes a lot of work and you spend a lot of time in the garage. If my car can keep one kid off the street, because he’s inspired, I’m happy. I tell these kids , save up a bit of money. Find a car around the corner and sink yourself in it. Anyone of their friends with bad vibes comes around tell them, nah, you’re gonna work on your car. Sink your mind into it.”

We also asked him what he thought was the most important thing a person needs to have in order to build their own car. His answer–love. “Love what you’re doing. Even if you don’t know what you’re doing, even if you have to pay someone else to do the big stuff. If you don’t love it, no one else is gonna love it.”

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Needless to say, Tony’s pleasant humor and stout passion made this interview. He had so much insightful and wise points that by the end of the conversation it was as if the spirit of El General burned inside him. 

Tony Ibarra Sr. and others like him serve as a light for the community. When you can look back on a person’s years of experience and see that the result of their hard work precipitates inspiration, vision, and passion for countless individuals it’s hard not to call them a revolutionist in their own right.

Thank you Tony Ibarra Sr. for your time. Rod Authority truly enjoyed your coupe and we hope to cover the next build. Stay tuned, as we know we haven’t seen the last of Tony Ibarra or the Loco Banditos!