SP Rides: Here Comes Pure Aloha
By Alysia Paaluhi
Evan Balderama is a construction worker who blows off steam by working on trucks with a lot of help from his friends. He acquired his current ride — this 2003 Chevy Silverado extended cab — after he went to a car lot and offloaded a Jetta. No surprise he chose this truck and make for an upgrade — after all, he’s a Chevy man through and through. “Classics rule,” he says.
A Nanakuli native, Balderama is proud of his affiliation with “The Bow Tie Boys,” a car club whose name is derived from the infamous Chevy emblem. The Bow Tie Boys started off as a group of friends from high school who turned their love of bodyboard- ing into a passion for Chevys. Although his ’03 Silverado is his focus now, Balderama admits his dream car is a classic ’53 or ’54 Chevy Bel-Air.
This truck was featured in the 2012 Ultimate Showdown at Aloha Stadium. His Chevy is one of the first bodies dropped in Hawaii, as it sits 1-inch low on 24s. It took Balderama and other club mem- bers about four months to prepare for the show. “It was a lot of work,” he says.
The payoff to all that work came after the Ulti- mate Showdown, when Jason Mulligan of Street Trucks Magazine approached The Bow Tie Boys to do a feature piece on this truck. “We had him over, made Hawaiian food, showed him local style,” explains Balderama. “This was the highest honor for me because I always read that magazine.”
Future modifications for this Silverado include re- fabricating the interior, possibly installing a moon roof and better rims, and upgrading the front end control arms.
Among Balderama’s other interests are body- boarding, weight training and spending time with his keiki — who, according to him, are “all into trucks; they love it!” The Bow Tie Boys operation is very family-oriented. When its members work on their trucks, it’s “just us boys — no shops, no sponsors,” Balderama tells me. “It’s all hands on deck.”
He’s grateful for all those who helped in turning his Chevy Silverado into what it is today. Among those who assisted with the build time — six years, according to Balderama, and counting — are Chris Galutira, Daniel, Allen Taylor Gomes Koa Alameda, Zac Dano, Joseph Christopher of Top Dawg Designs, and Jimmy Keola of JK Designs.
“This truck is called ‘Pure Aloha’ be- cause that’s what it took to build with pride and loyalty to the game and our club ‘Bow Tie Boyz,’ in a little garage on the Westside we call ‘Killjoy Kustomz,’” he says.
His message to all truck lovers? “Keep building,” Balderama says.
