What it’s like for a woman to break into the classic-car world

Carmen Vera is in the business of buying and restoring classic cars. She stands out when she brings her fresh build-outs to places like Pomona Swap Meet, where gearheads, lowriders and hot-rodders have met to show off their cars since the 1970s.

“This arrogant man came up to me with a cigar and said, ‘Let me guess, this is your old man’s car,’” said Vera. “It blew his mind when I told him it was mine.”

Vera, who was born and raised in northeast Los Angeles, grew up watching her dad and cousins fixing up their cars in the lowrider scene of 1990s Los Angeles. “Whatever I know, I’ve learned from my dad or playing with my own cars,” said Vera. “And as a single mom, I needed to learn how to rotate a tire or do an oil change on my own.”

In the past seven years, Vera built her own restoration company while working full-time, one of four businesses she owns, and later became a partner with Sal Rivas at Pasadena Classic Car. Her customer base now stretches from Los Angeles to Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii and Texas. Her young daughter loves being in the shop too, watching her mom transform cars from junk into treasure.

For Vera, restoring old cars isn’t just a job, it’s an art. “To me these cars have a family story that I fall in love with,” said Vera.

So when a trio of smoke-damaged and burned Chevrolets pulled from a garage that collapsed during the Eaton fire — including an original 1972 C10 pickup — arrived at the shop, Vera had a vision.

“I built that full-restoration truck in seven months with original parts,” said Vera, whose goal, which she attained, was to showcase it in October at the Specialty Equipment Market Association Show, an annual, industry-only automotive trade show held in Las Vegas.

“The point was to bring back what burned,” said Vera.

For seven months, she worked from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. every day with her team restoring the truck. “My crew is the best,” said Vera. “They’re professionals … they believe in my dream.”

“I started this business 19 years ago, and I think this is one of the best builds we’ve done,” said Rivas, who was raised in Altadena. For him, this build hit different. “Man, that thing went from ashes to new life,” said Rivas.

A photo of the burned-out 1972 Chevy C10 short bed, scorched in the Eaton fire in Altadena and now refurbished by Vera.

The restored 1972 Chevy C10 is finished in a burnt orange exterior, paired with a pearlescent white leather interior. The build was completed as a full body-off-frame restoration — a process that separates the truck’s body from its chassis to rebuild each component from the ground up, with original components carefully sourced and preserved wherever possible. Nearly all of the work was done in-house, including fabrication and a handmade interior produced through Vera’s own upholstery department, reflecting an emphasis on craftsmanship and historical continuity rather than cosmetic overhaul. Rebuilds of this caliber often run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and Vera paid for everything out of pocket, though she wouldn’t say how much it actually ended up costing. Once Vera was done with it, the C10 was ready for the SEMA Show, where it received nothing but good feedback.

Rivas noted, however, that at SEMA, 80% of people who walked up to their booth couldn’t believe it was Vera’s car. “They thought I was just a car model or something,” said Vera, who reports that men’s demeanors change the instant she starts talking about her car.

Vera sits in the 1972 Chevy C10 short bed that she spent seven months — from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. every day — restoring with her team.

A view of new LS engine conversion in the 1972 Chevy C10 short bed.

“[Vera] is definitely in a category of her own,” said Crystal Avila, marketing and media manager at FiTech Fuel Injection, a fuel injection manufacturer, who met Vera at last year’s SEMA where she showcased the C10. Avila recognized the C10 from social media — a video of the original owner cracking a beer and crying over his Chevy collection which was all but gutted in the Eaton fires. She was instantly impressed with Vera’s work. Avila noted that because SEMA functions primarily as a manufacturer showcase, it was especially significant that multiple vendors chose to feature Vera’s cars — a rare distinction that underscored the industry’s recognition of her work.

Elaborate build-outs typically require multiple specialized teams at every level — from fuel injection and bodywork to upholstery — whereas Vera does all of her work in-house with her own team, handling the interior, fabrication and installation.

Vera is a self-described “Chevy girl.” In addition to the C10, she restored a 1964 blue Chevy Impala bubble top. “When these cars come in, I have relationships with them, and I hate to see them leave,” said Vera.

But her favorite car to drive is her first: a pink 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass that she saved up for and bought on OfferUp for $4,000. “That’s how I learned how to fix up classic cars and how the market works,” said Vera. She said she fell in love with the car in the time she spent restoring it back to life. “She saw my struggle, she knows the pain I was going through while I was building her up,” said Vera, who explains she was going through a difficult time with her family while she worked on the Oldsmobile. “She’s my number one baby.”

“We’re a full-restoration shop,” said Rivas. “[Cars] come in as junk, and leave as works of art.” But the C10 is special as both a rebuild and as a piece of personal history, not only for Rivas and Vera and their team, but for Angelenos and fire survivors.

“We haven’t taken it out to Altadena yet,” said Rivas, but it’s on the schedule. “We’re taking it to the big shows first, then out to the street to see what the feedback is,” said Rivas, noting that the story of the truck from fires to finish has already been well-circulated online.

“I see the beauty in these cars,” said Vera. “I want to put a classic car back out in the streets, one at a time, every single day if I can.”