The Weekly Newspaper of Inglewood
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 70, No. 50 - December 16, 2021
Special Stocking Treats for Inglewood Kids
Our Parks and Recreation Department helped us spread some holiday cheer by gifting Christmas stockings filled with goodies to our youth. Thank you for always thinking about the children in our community. Photo courtesy Inglewood Police Department.
Emily Lavelle from front page
skills restoring vintage cars, including a 1961
Ford Falcon, 1988 Ford Bronco, 1965 Ford
Ranchero, 1967 Ford Mustang, and 1987
Toyota 4Runner.
“My first purchase of a classic car is my
1961 Ford Falcon, named Eddie after my
beloved Uncle, Edward Walter Lavelle,” she
said. “I have been restoring it now for (more
than) a year. I redid the interior myself, repainting
it all its original turquoise, adding
cedar wood door panels, and painting my own
“white wall” tires. I have also been working
on a bigger inline six engine (Ford 250),” she
added. “I am currently assembling the engine
with my boyfriend’s uncle, and my mentor,
Alan M. Shane, and I have the same love for
cars, so we can chat away and work on them
together. I have helped Shane work on his 1965
Ranchero, 1967 Mustang, and 1987 4Runner.
Alan M. has an awesome past with cars, so
he helps us improve our knowledge. About a
month ago, I bought a 1988 Bronco II,” she
said. “Shane and I drove up to Sacramento
to check it out. I fell in love and shipped it
down. It is my first manual car. Learning at
first was a struggle, and I am still trying to
fully get the hang of it. But I know I will not
be going back to automatic anytime soon. I am
starting to build drawers in the back that can
transform into a platform for a bed so I can
start traveling the states! Cars are something
I love to work on for hours!”
When Lavelle is not attending classes at El
Camino or restoring older cars, she also likes
to bust things up, and then renovate them.
She speaks of a “demolition and rebuilding”
project that she is tackling that includes a new
barn and kitchen.
“Another project of mine has been helping
Alan M. transform his barn into an amazing
workshop,” she said. “Together, we took off
the fallen framework that functioned as a roof,
cleared out the inside, eventually moving all
of his machinery and tools in to create a car
shop/workshop. We have also been working
on his kitchen,” continued Lavelle, “placing
new custom cabinets up and tearing out the
old tiles to place his new terracotta tiles to
transform it into an Italian-style kitchen. I
am very thankful for Alan M. because he is
teaching me so many skills that I have always
wanted to know. Hopefully, down the road, I
can use the knowledge he has given me to
build my own home!”
Lavelle likes the “reverse engineering” of
tearing down a structure and then rebuilding
it. Alan M., she said, agreed that if he shared
his vast knowledge of re-jiggering classic
cars, she would help tear down and rebuild
his Woodland Hills structures.
Lavelle said that the work demolishing the
facility was laborious, but a labor of love.
“Super-cool,” she said. “A really heavy-duty
job,” noting the 200-pound pieces of debris that
Lavelle and Alan M. had to muscle around.
“We are still doing it,” Lavelle said. Emily
says the goal is to make the rebuilt facility
into “a car shop” because Alan M. is also a
vintage car aficionado. Lavelle said that “we
have so many plans in-store” for revamping
the kitchen, including a bakery, greenhouse,
and other amenities. Lavelle relishes the work.
“It is so much fun,” she said.
For his part, Alan M. said that Lavelle is a
“very mechanically oriented person. We have
worked together on many projects,” he said,
noting that he helps with her car restorations,
and she helps him “build stuff.” Alan M also
provides Emily and Shane space to work on
their restoration projects. “Emily has a deep
drive to learn things,” Alan M. said, noting he
taught Lavelle to weld, a talent that Lavelle
applies in myriad ways. Summed up, Alan
M. noted Lavelle also possesses people skills:
“Emily is a very pleasant person; people like
to be around her.”
Restoring cars was not always on Lavelle’s
radar. “I never really thought that I wanted to
make a career in cars. I always wanted to do
treehouses, she said, referencing a television
show “Treehouse Masters,” that she enjoyed
watching at one time. But at this point, “It
would be really cool to own my own car
restoration business,” she said.
When not restoring classic cars or demolishing
things, Lavelle likes to rock climb and
strums an occasional guitar. She describes
her bedroom as decorated as if “an artist
threw-up everywhere,” plastered with posters
of Elvis Presley, bands like Pink Floyd and
Lynyrd Skynyrd, and, of course, renderings
of classic cars.
Lavelle currently works at Rock & Brews,
which allows her to grab a paycheck to apply
to her next car purchase, meet myriad El
Segundoans, and sate her musical whimsy.
She likes that El Segundo is “really safe and
that I can walk everywhere. No matter where
I go, I know somebody,” she said.
As Lavelle continues down her chosen
pathway, do not bet against her displaying a
restored vehicle or two at an upcoming Main
Street Car Show or buying acreage somewhere
in the Midwest to build her dreamhouse
cabin, store her car collection, and even build
that treehouse! •
Lavelle “The Demolisher.” Photo courtesy of Emily Lavelle.