UndertheHood
Red head
Turner Story & Photos by Rushton Ski nne r
T
his is a 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu. With just over 180,000 produced for the 1968 model year in a V8, this car is not rare. In fact, cars from this era sold in the hundreds of thousands, and many of them survive to this day. But rarity isn’t what makes these cars unique. Instead, because so many people have experiences with similar vehicles, everybody has a story and everyone wants to tell it to you. Flaunting its red paint down the main drag in Seguin, heads turned, and hands waved. During the photoshoot, one by one, guys came by and struck up a conversation with owner Craig Guttierez, talking his ear off and grilling him with questions before the real interview even started. When 26 SEGUIN ~ GUADALUPE COUNTY LIVING
it was finally time to do the official interview, there wasn’t much to do but hop in the passenger seat and ride along, listening to what the car meant to Craig. For Craig, his Malibu isn’t a sum of its parts; it’s not one of 180,000. His Malibu represents his entire existence. He and his grandfather Tony Guttierez bought it as a project when Craig was in sixth grade. It took lots of love and even more, work to get it to where it is today. “It took time,” Craig said. “I block-sanded for what felt like years.” It wasn’t until his senior year that Craig could actually drive the Malibu. It could stop and go, but the saga was still far from over. The ‘68 didn’t truly become a build until he got his
first high paying job as an engineer after college. First was the wheels, an important choice that really affects how a car looks. “Yeah, the wheels were my first big boy purchase after graduating college,” Craig said. “They’re Work VS-KF wheels in 18x9 in the front and a full 10 inches in the rear”. Japanese wheels on American muscle may seem like blasphemy to some, but for Craig, it’s just personal preference. “In my opinion, they look like the classic Torq Thrust revisited,” Craig said. Torq Thrusts being the classic five-spoke muscle car wheels that are so recognizable. While cruising Seguin and the
