About
Imagine summer in Southern California. The valley streets are dry and quiet. Off in the distance, you can hear the rumble of a V8 approaching. You listen to the faint exhaust notes cackling with each clutch shift. Closer it approaches. Squelching tires are noticeable. Then the throttle blips. A down shift. More cackling and again another down shift. Finally you see it pull up to an intersection. There sits a lowered red Chevy truck. For a moment, nothing is heard but a low rumble.
The light turns green. A throttle lets loose. Like a wild demon waking up from deep sleep, RPM’s max out, tires squelch and the truck begins to barely move. With a slow motion roll, you hear a shift. By this time another. In this moment you watch a tricked out red Chevy truck blaze past, and behind the wheel is beautiful dark haired women.
Meet Claudia. born in the busy city of Los Angeles, CA. This girl isn’t the usual So-Cal beach bunny that likes to spend her weekends hiking trails and lounging around at beach. Claudia is one of a different breed. She’s a rare gem that on the outside can be very misleading. With a California sport package and a mid-western-type of love for loud exhaust and burning rubber -- such a dangerous combination for girl in the valley.
It’s no surprise she’s got a wild taste for performance. During her childhood, Claudia’s family ran several local auto bodies and paint shops around Orange County. Claudia’s weekends were spent learning the trade of killer paint jobs and crafting her knowledge in automotive performance and design with her uncle’s in Santa Ana, CA.
Not only that, but she’s had lust for tearing up the streets since an early age. Her first get go behind the wheel was sitting on her dads lap at 5 years old. Meanwhile her mom always drove a stick shift, and to Claudia, it just looked badass. So there was no wasting time when Claudia was finally ready for car of her own. But, it wasn’t a car she had her heart set on. This girl was hot for a particular Chevy truck – a Silverado Regency Sport Truck (RST) designed by Chip Foose.
So in 2006, Claudia finally lassoed a Victory Red, 2005 RST. For several years, she was living the dream by adding bolt-ons, custom upholstery, and performance mods, but in 2013, everything stopped -- when thieves stole her beloved ride. “I cried every night for a month.” Claudia said. “Only 150 manual transmission versions of this truck were made, and I didn’t think I would find another one like it.”
Claudia’s luck changed when her uncle tracked down an exact 2005 Victory Red RST located in San Francisco. The two wasted no time and hit the road. After an eight-hour drive, Claudia finally laid her eyes on the North-Cali bad boy. It was love at first site. “So I named him “Frisco.” She said. From there, Claudia grabbed his stick and hit the throttle back to LA. That day -- a new performance relationship began.
So get her new boy-toy into shape, Claudia took “Frisco” straight to the performance house gym. She began by installing a Comp Cams .224 lift, .228 duration roller bump stick, JBA Shorty Headers, Tru-Flow Cold Air Intake, MSD Ignition and several more power upgrades. Then “Frisco’s” tone was seriously changed. Claudia went full-blown redneck by adding an SLP PowerFlo Resonator System with straight-pipe exhaust. So you’ll definitely hear these two blazing out of a corner.
Next, Claudia needed to tighten up “Frisco’s” ride. So she slammed him down with a Ground Force Spring Kit, Belltech front spindle kit, Belltech rear spring “flip kit” and added beefy Belltech Sway Bars. Overall, a cool 5 inches was cut out. Then she converted the rear drum brakes system and installed some serious stopping power with a Baer Big Brake Kit. Once the transformation was complete, Claudia was ready to test out “Frisco” on one of the wildest roads in southern California. She said, “I was so excited to test my new suspension set up I installed, that I drove him up to Mulholland Road for a ride on the “Snake.”
After a satisfactory day carving corners on Mulholland, it was time to start diving into the design and features. So Claudia swapped the plastic interior trim with Carbon fiber including the doorsills, seatbelts, and beauty rings. Then she installed an Alcantara black ultra-suede headliner from Roadwire with red stitching. Just recently Claudia also hooked up with Chip Foose during an autograph session and had several key items autographed, such as her custom gauge cluster insert, Foose wheel center caps and cue-ball Hurst shift knob. Then she clear-coated all the items and put’em back in place. “It was one of the best moments in my life having not only the designer of my RST, but my long time idol in the automotive industry sign my Regency Silverado, and I must say I think this is the first Regency Silverado, Chip Foose has autographed” she said.
Finally, after a lot of upgrades, “Frisco” is taking on a serious form. It’s been a great relationship so far, but we had to ask what’s in store for this couple now? “My only complaint is that without a supercharger this V8 quickly runs out of breath, so I’m really looking into either turbocharging or supercharging it.” She said. But at the moment, she’s still undecided on which form of boost she’ll be installing. So until then, Claudia’s gets her kicks banging “Frisco’s” stick in the streets of LA.
By Adam Riley