Ron Aguirre of Rialto, California was a pioneer in the field of hydraulic lifted cars, and in the late 1950s he built a custom Corvette, known as the X-Sonic. The X-Sonic was for many year acknowledged as the first car ever using hydraulics to raise and lower the front suspension.
Ron’s buddy Dave Phieler with the Corvette outside Advance Mufflers in San Bernardino. This version has been lowered down to a once-inch clearance and fit with custom hubcaps made from Dodge caps and Edsel three-bar spinners. Photo courtesy of Ron Aguirre.
The X-Sonic was also the first show car featuring a bubble top plastic roof.
After fighting bone cancer for a while, Ron Aguirre passed away Thursday, May 26th, 2011. Before he passed away, he shared his photo collection with our friends from Kustomrama so we can share it now with you.
The X-Sonic as it sat around 1960/1961. The tuck and roll is now removed from the body sides, the headlights are tunneled, and fins are added to the lower part of the front and rear fenders. This was the last version of the X-Sonic before it was fit with a bubbletop.
The first bubble topped version of the X-Sonic drawing a crowd at the 1961 Tridents Rod Custom Autorama indoor car show. The show was held April 18-32, 1961 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.A photo of Ed Cholakian with the X-Sonic at the 1961 Tridents Rod Custom Autorama indoor car show. Ed was a friend of Ron.The X-Sonic as it appeared when it was featured in Popular Customs Winter Issue 1963. The Platinum Pearl paint job with Royal and Oriental Blue Shading was applied by Larry Watson at Watson’s House of Style.Photos of the X-Sonic taken in October of 1958 shows it running two Scavenger Pipes. By 1959, two more Scavengers had been added. Taken late in 1962 or early in 1963, this photo shows that all four pipes were still on the X-Sonic.
Report by kustomrama.com
Photos: The Ron Aguirrre Photo Collection
