The Southern Rock Car

Whenever I interview people for this site, our conversations always touch on several interesting topics. Unfortunately, I have to cut a significant number of ideas from the final article. So that’s why it’s pretty special when I encounter someone like Marcos.

What makes him unique is that his history, work, and personality all converge into one overarching idea with his car, a 1979 Chevy Opala SS dead center of it all.

Marcos and his Father

As a grizzled old military man, Marcos’ father was not very effusive, and while his actions displayed his love for Marcos, his emotional output was similar to a stone’s. Marcos himself remembers chafing under that tight laced personality.

However, the one thing they both united on was the Opala. Some of Marcos’ strongest memories involve playing in, washing and driving around in his father’s 4-door Opala. And in typical fashion for his father they never openly stated it, but both Father and Son loved the car.

So it makes sense that when Marcos’s father died, he bought an Opala to help preserve those childhood memories.

Marcos and Southern Rock

On stage as the guitarist of BraveHeart, Marcos is the visage of a southern rocker – straw cowboy hat, Fender Telecaster and all. However, his journey began with classical rather than electric guitar.

Marcos picked up the guitar at 15 after hearing a friend play classical guitar. But his classical facing direction all changed when he first heard Led Zeppelin’s song, Achilles Last Stand. The sounds produced by the electric guitar blew him away and after that brush with sonic greatness Marcos began playing electric guitar.

A few years later, Marcos encountered Southern Rock and it just clicked with him. Growing up surrounded by American movies, TV shows and music meant he was primed with all the imagery surrounding southern rock – he just lacked the music that wove it all together. So the moment he heard that music, all these ideas fell into place.

But what really got him was the Muscle Car imagery. See, Marcos felt so strongly about southern rock that he was willing to pursue it as a musician. So when he discovered the music’s connection to muscle cars it transformed his Opala SS from a memory of his father into a bridge between his past and future.

Marcos and the V8

Ask any Muscle Car guy about modern cars, and usually the words “emotionless” and “lack of feeling” are returned. Marcos is no different.

The first time he sat in a V8 powered car he was astounded at the feel of the car. In Marcos’ own words Muscle Cars are “something you need to respect. It’s like a rodeo bull. You have to respect it with a V8.” That’s why his next step is to get a small block V8 for his Opala. While the small bay of the Opala was never sold with a V8, Marcos thinks he can get away with it, because the Opala SS prototypes were built with a V8.

In order to offset the massive weight (relative to the chassis) of the V8 he plans on using an aluminum block and head and fabricating mounts to help keep the engine from torqueing its way out of the car. In his eyes, this V8 will complete his southern rocker aesthetic, retain the memory of his father and satisfy the car nut inside of him.