Hello, and welcome to another jam-packed edition of The Hot Seat. In case you missed last month's story, each month we take a person who has been a vital part, a mentor, or made some significant impact in the scene, and expose him or her and make them blush for your reading enjoyment.
So sit back, light a match, do a courtesy flush, and enjoy this month's installment.
* If you have an idea for someone you want to see in The Hot Seat, email hotwheelbabie@aol.com with your suggestions, questions, or comments, and maybe your favorite person will be our next victim!
This month, we bring you Ernie Macias, the founder and president of No Regrets and contributing editor of your favorite mag. If you don't know him yet, you're about to know it all!
The Basics
Full Name: Ernie Macias
Age: 32
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, CA
Current Residence: Moreno Valley, CA (MoVal!)
Daily Driver: 2002 Volvo S60
Who Are You?: I'm the guy in all the Lowlife videos, the guy that started No Regrets, and I work for a little mag you all know and love called Mini Truckin'! Yeah, I'm THAT guy.
Q: What's in your toilet tower/lavatory library? Be honest, not the obvious ones like Mini Truckin'. We want to know about the Us Weekly, the Better Homes & Gardens, and the Luscious Large Woman mags.
A: Curves, Maxim, National Geographic, and Time seriously!
Q: Tell us one thing people either don't know about you or would be very surprised to hear?
A: I'm not a fabricator, I don't weld, and I even hate grinding. I get a lot of questions about 'bagging this and that but I just happen to know the right people.
Q. Do you have any tattoos? Do you have any MISSPELLINGS in your tattoos? Don't lie; we know the truth!
A: I have a ton of tattoos, and I know where this question is going. I have Japanese letters on my arm that say No Regrets, and all my friends always like to tease me and say, "How do you really know what it says?" It probably says I wet the bed or something, but to me it says No Regrets.
Q. What is your favorite show of all time?
A: Resolutions hands down! I loved that show and the way it brought us all together. I think it was the weather; I don't think people can get overly drunk and stupid when it's below freezing in California, we're just not used to that kind of weather. I met so many good people at that show and made so many friends. It's also the first place I tried absinthe, and no I didn't see any green fairies.
Q. What got you into the scene?
A: I grew up in the L.A. area and there was a ton of minis in that area at the time. The club I remember as a kid was Cities Finest. They rolled deep and had a ton of clean Nissan 720s. I loved lowriders too, but by the time I became of age driving a lowrider already had a bad image and since I was a good kid I went the minitruckin' way. What's funny is my first vehicle ended up being a Mitsu Mighty Max, but it was almost a Dodge Neon. That could've ended up really weird. Maybe I'd be drifting or something by now.
Q. What is your favorite part of your job? Favorite place you have traveled? Any regrets?
A: Well that depends on which job. In my real estate career I love the negotiations. In my business of property preservation, I pretty much hate all of it. In my job with MT mag, I love it all. I love getting to see the newest and coolest trucks and going to all the shows. My favorite place I've traveled is hands down Japan. I'm not a big fan of the food, but the trucks and the minitruckers are the best. And lastly, of course I have NO REGRETS!
Q. Who do you look up to in the scene?
A: Honestly, I look up to the guys who nobody remembers or knows. The guys that first turned torsion bars and cut some springs on a minitruck that weren't in the limelight or part of the cool crowd. I always wonder who that guy was back in the late '60s or early '70s who decided it would be a good idea to lower a minitruck. I can only assume that he probably also had a van, ha ha.