When Ricardo Lopez began building this 1955 Chevy he had some help, as well as a plan. In the beginning, this little Chevy pickup was to provide an excellent chance for Ricardo to spend some time with his son, Ricky, and to be able to show the boy some of the tricks that he had learned over the many years he had worked as a customizer, bodyman and painter.

As owner of Paint By Lopez in Compton, California, Ricardo had hopes of his boy taking over for him in the years to come, maybe even calling the shop Paint By Lopez & Son. Unfortunately, Ricky was taken from Ricardo and his wife, Monica, in a freak accident. At first Ricardo was going to sell the truck, as the sight of it was almost too much to bear. But upon reflection he changed his mind. Ricardo thought that finishing the project was not only a perfect way to work through his grief, but it would also give him a chance to feel connected to the son he had lost. When the Chevy was completed, it would be a way to honor Ricky’s memory.

The two had wanted the Chevy to exhibit all the touches that a custom could. Of course there would be many body tricks, but one of the major considerations was that the Chevy would be low really low. To help accomplish this, an IFS assembly from a 79 Camaro was grafted onto the frontend, while the rearend received a frame C-notch, as well as a four-link suspension setup, to hold the Chevy 12-bolt housing in place. A set of Firestone airbags was installed front and rear, as were KYB shocks. The result is that the Chevy tucks 18-inch Esajian Split-5 wheels and 40-series Federal tires.

Ricardo wanted the power and performance to spin those large wheels, so a 350 Chevy engine was enhanced with a 650cfm Holley carb that sits atop a polished Edelbrock intake manifold. Plenty of juice gets to the plugs thanks to the Mallory ignition system, while the coated Sanderson headers provide power and a great sound. The crew at OZ Mufflers finished off the system with mufflers and exhaust tubes. Providing plenty of look are the billet pieces that adorn the engine, as the air cleaner, valve covers and pulley system all are polished to a high sheen. Backing up the engine is a Turbo 350 built by Raul from Del Amo Transmissions in Torrance, California.

With the undercarriage and propulsion systems in place, it was time for Ricardo to take center stage. He began by cleaning up the body, which he rated as being rough when the project began. He then went on to shave the door handles and all badges, smooth out the seams and add a custom-made rollpan. One of the cooler touches is the Cadillac DeVille taillights that have been set flush into the heavily reworked bed. Lopez spent a great deal of time on the bed, and it really shows. The tailgate has been welded to a half tonneau cover, as well as filled (along with the rear posts) so that it forms a smooth curve from the rollpan up to the cover.

When he was done with the body, Lopez loaded up his Binks and applied the eye-catching DuPont Smooth Yellow paint. The color was sprayed inside as well as out, and then the entire vehicle was covered with a coating of DuPont clear. The overall look of the Chevy is one that is hard to forget, just as Ricardo intended.

That effect was continued on the inside of this ride. The interior is plush, to say the least. Gone is the hard as a park bench bench seat, and in its place is a pair of buckets that once resided in an Infinity G30. Orange Auto Upholstery in Orange, California, did a great job of covering not only the seats, but the custom door panels as well as the custom center console, with the light gray leather. Ricardo smoothed and painted the dash with DuPont Smooth Yellow and updated it with a set of Auto Meter gauges and a custom steering wheel (wrapped in yellow).

If anything is able to break the concentration of those inside the cab, it is the entertainment system, which is seemingly guaranteed to cause tinnitus. Encased in the console, the system begins with the multi-?dimensional Sony head unit, and the signals are sent to the twin 500-watt Alpine amplifiers before heading off to a quartet of 6×9 Alpine component speakers. Not to be overlooked are the twin, 12-inch Alpine subwoofers that are capable of cracking the glass. Also found in the console is a 7-inch flat-screen monitor powered by a DVD player that is also mounted in the console, but in the rear section of it. Though he is handy with a TIG welder, Ricardo had Tomas Armendariz of Norwalk, California, install the sound system, but Ricardo installed the Painless wiring system.

Hard times and bad things happen to all of us, but the strong can usually find something to help get them through it. The Lopez family managed its loss by getting involved in a truck project that was supposed to bring a father and son closer together. We’re sure that, in some way, it did exactly that.