Rob Esparza: Ex-Drifter / Bagger / Classic Car Builder / Competitive Fisherman

@robesp90

The scene:
We are in Manchaca, Texas on a warm evening in May, sitting at a wooden picnic table under an umbrella strung with cafe lights.  We’re about to head to the Manchaca Springs Saloon to continue hanging with the Model Citizens classic car club who are coming off a weekend of cruising after the Lone Star Roundup classic car show. It’s been epic. Scraping down Congress St. in a classic car parade is a definite bucket list item. Join us for a chill chat about drifting, racing, scraping, and making OCD your friend.

Highlights:
+ Classic car builder since 2018
+ Currently owns: ’65 bagged C10 (Chevy square body truck), ’65 4-door Chevy Nova (V8 swapped, Ford rear-end), ’71 wagon
+ Used to own: ’91 240 SX, imported from Japan…
+ Drift raced for 10-15 years
+ Learned to work on cars by racing them
+ Hand sketches all his design ideas
+ Works through Gringo’s Auto and Custom - an auto shop that does custom work
+ Model Citizens’ annual ‘Git Down at Manchaca Springs Saloon
+ Getting recognition for your passion
+ Grew up riding BMX and teaching himself to build
+ Enjoys teaching others what he has taught himself
+ Grew up in Manchaca, his grandparents live here
+ OCD helps him produce beautiful cars and complete jobs
+ Downside of OCD: exhaustion, burnout, not feeling appreciated
+ Community support keeps him on track and reconfirms his direction
+ Seeing your hard work pan out makes it all worthwhile
+ Trial and error all the time
+ Excitement about working with customers
+ Innovating classic cars through customization
+ Air ride, bags, hydraulics, scraping
+ “Scraping’s just a way of life”
+ It’s gotta go lower or higher - some things do need to be lifted
+ Working on cars (7 days/week) is tough on relationships
+ Life balance, relaxing in-between
+ Working for yourself, investing in yourself
+ You can make 10k+ competing in fishing (WTF!)
+ Being gifted with a mechanical mind and capable hands
+ True “failure” is something you can’t repair, most “accidents” are repairable

A taste:
“It’s basically OCD and obsession on everything and anything. Super crazy about what I do and then OCD enough to where everything has to be done right and finished. I hate unfinished projects.”

Favorite saying:
“Fuck around and find out.” 
(Try things, don’t give up, learn what you don’t know).