7/2/2008 – 7/3/08
Muscles sometimes must be flexed to keep them in tone, even iron ones.
These particular muscles are under the hoods of nine hot rods and souped-up cars dating from 1937 on in a priceless collection owned by native Santa Fean Cervantes “Buddy” Roybal, 62.
“I’ve loved cars ever since I was a kid,” he said. “I had tons and tons of car magazines. It was always a matter of always wanting them but not being able to afford them.”
Not now. The all-American collection — there’s not an immigrant among them — has been a dozen years in the making.
Immaculate automobiles need protection from the elements, chiefly from the intense Santa Fe sunshine, and that doesn’t mean parking them under the nearest tree. Roybal solved the problem by building a 5,500-square-foot garage in the backyard of his house off Santa Fe Trail, where he just moved.
The garage, with space for 14 cars, is more like a hangar. At one end is an office and a separate bay with a hydraulic lift so Roybal can “fiddle around.”
“I love muscle cars and hot rods,” he said. “The cars were all unique — the lines. Nowadays, you can’t tell a Lexus from a Buick. My favorite thing to do [as a boy] was to go to the dealers when the new models came out in September and just look at them.”
Now he has his own showroom.
Each car, each with a mirror shine, is parked on mats set on the polished white floor, some with battery chargers plugged into sockets. It’s like a living museum, with vintage automobile memorabilia scattered about, including a premium gas pump from a Chevrolet dealer dating back to an era far removed from $4-a-gallon gasoline.
Here’s the Roybal read-it-and-weep list for muscle-car lovers:
• A yellow 1964 Chevy Chevelle SS with a supercharged 350-cubic-inch V-8, Roybal’s collection starter. He bought it in 1996.
• A white 1971 Chevy El Camino with a 454-cubic-inch engine copped from a Corvette.
• A white 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible with a 327-cubic-inch engine.
• A maroon 1937 Ford cabriolet with a 350-cubic-inch Chevy small block.
• A red custom-made hybrid Corvette convertible with a 1962-style body on a 2000 chassis, making it wider and longer than the original 1962 version. It’s powered by the Vette’s LS1 engine.
• A two-tone green 1940 Chevy hot rod with a 350-cubic-inch V-8.
• A red 1967 Mustang Fastback with a 390-cubic-inch powerplant.
• A red 1970 Vette with a 454-cubic-inch engine.
• A blue-and-white 1969 Dodge Charger with a 383-cubic-inch engine.
“I’ve always loved cars, so you always want more than one,” Roybal said, seated in the garage office. Wood shelves against the walls display toy cars of various sizes and more than a dozen car-show trophies. “I would have 100 cars if I could afford it.”
He goes to the garage every night until about 10 o’clock, “straightening things out” even though things look pretty straight. The place sparkles like an auto-show exhibit hall before the crowds enter. All that’s missing is the new-car aroma.
“I’m more a Chevy man,” Roybal said, recalling the days when American teens favored either Chevys or Fords. “Even the Fords have Chevy engines,” he said of his collection.
Nevertheless, his first car, in high school, was a green, two-door 1957 Ford. But his love is of Corvettes, and his first muscle car was a 1959 model — in 1978. His favorite is the hybrid 1962/2000 Vette droptop, which was built by Classic Reflection Coachworks in Lakewood, Wash., outside Tacoma.
Roybal, whose family goes back 200 years in New Mexico, has owned Coronado Paint & Decorating on Cerrillos Road since 1984 and has been president three times of the 25-year-old Santa Fe Vintage Car Club. His son, Mike, 22, is a budding car collector and attends all of SFVCC’s monthly meetings.
Roybal exercises his muscular engines at least 30 minutes at a time, but he doesn’t roar beyond the speed limit. He drives each one less than 500 miles a year.
“I hate to tear them up,” he said of the cars. “I take them up to the speed limit, but I don’t tear them up anymore. I use a lower gear so the rpms go up.”
Ever get challenged while stopped at a traffic light, the would-be dragster gunning it?
“They look at me, but I won’t do it,” Roybal replied. “I don’t feel I need to do it. I know what I have. If you know you’ve got it, you don’t have to flaunt it.”
Richard C. Gross is a Santa Fe-based writer and editor. E-mail him at drive@sfnewmexican.com.
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