Downey collector turns garage into Coca-Cola time capsule
Louie Rodiles stands next to his custom 1966 Volkswagen Beetle. (Photo by Eric Pierce)
Tori Gomez contributed to this story.
DOWNEY — Step inside the garage of Louie Rodiles, and you're instantly transported into a world where Coca-Cola isn’t just a beverage — it’s a lifestyle.
The black-and-white checkered floor evokes a vintage diner vibe, but it’s the walls, ceilings, and glass display cases packed to the brim with Coke memorabilia that tell the real story. Tin signs and clocks from another era share space with bobbleheads, international cans, and full bottles of Coca-Cola from Super Bowls, World Cups, and nearly every state in Mexico. It’s an explosion of red and white, history and nostalgia — all tucked inside the garage of a modest home in Downey, where Rodiles has lived for 25 years.
Now 77, Rodiles began his Coca-Cola journey in 1974 after acquiring a six-pack of commemorative bottles for that year’s FIFA World Cup. Each bottle bore the name of a participating country. “That’s what started it all,” he said, smiling under a gold Coca-Cola chain around his neck.
From that six-pack, the collection grew — slowly at first, then exponentially. Today, it spills across red-trimmed display shelves bending under the weight of decades of accumulated memorabilia. Among the treasures: keychains, toy trucks, dolls, vintage advertisements, working clocks, foreign-language cans, and even Coca-Cola board games.
Rodiles’ favorite items include a working 1950s Coca-Cola refrigerator that still takes dimes, and a miniature model car that replicates his own pride and joy: a 1966 Volkswagen Beetle custom-painted in Coca-Cola red. The car is a showstopper at local car shows. Its details are astounding — Coca-Cola bottle cap tire valves, a soda bottle gear shifter, branded seat covers, and a crate of Coke bottles mounted to the back. It even caught the eye of Jay Leno at last year’s Downey Los Amigos Car Show.
Rodiles proudly wears his passion — literally. During a recent visit, he sported a red “Share a Coke” t-shirt, white and red Coke sneakers, and a tattoo of a Coca-Cola bottle cap inked into his left calf.
And while his devotion to the brand is undeniable, Rodiles admits, “I don’t drink Coke that often.”
The collection has evolved into something communal. Friends and family often return from international trips with Coke memorabilia in hand. “A lot of people give me a lot of stuff,” Rodiles said. “I’ve had people say, ‘Oh, you don’t have anything from Honduras.’ And I say, ‘I don’t, bring me something.’ And they will.”
Items from Korea, Italy, China, Canada, and beyond now find a place on his jam-packed shelves. The collection is curated — carefully arranged, brightly lit, and surprisingly organized. Yet despite the grandeur of it all, Rodiles insists on modesty. “It’s just something I enjoy,” he said. “Some people collect coins. I collect Coca-Cola.”
As he’s gotten older, Rodiles says the pace of his collecting has slowed. “Sometimes I still look for things that are interesting,” he said. “But since I stopped working and gotten older, it’s not that easy to get stuff.”
His wife, understanding yet firm, supports his passion — as long as it stays in the garage.
And so it remains, a shrine to American pop culture and personal joy, hidden behind a standard suburban garage door. But open that door, and the fizz of history, travel, friendship, and a life-long love for Coca-Cola bubbles to the surface.
“I just like it,” Rodiles said with a shrug. “It makes people smile.”
