Alowrider orlow rider is a customized car with a lowered body that emerged amongMexican American youth in the 1940s.[3]Lowrider also refers to the driver of the car and their participation in lowridercar clubs, which remain a part ofChicano culture and have since expanded internationally.[3][4] Thesecustomized vehicles are also artworks, generally being painted with intricate, colorful designs, unique aesthetic features, and rolling on wire-spoke wheels withwhitewall tires.[3][5]
Lowrider rims are generally smaller than the original wheels.[6] They are often fitted withhydraulic systems that allowheight adjustable suspension, allowing the car to be lowered or raised by switch. From 1958 to 2023, theCalifornia Vehicle Code made lowriding illegal, which was ultimately criticized as unnecessary and discriminatory towardChicano and broaderLatin American culture.[7][8]
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Lowrider car culture began inSouthern California, in the mid-to-late 1940s, and grew during thepost-war prosperity of the 1950s withinMexican-American youth culture.[9] Conversion of standard production vehicles included adding lowering blocks and cut-downspindles, reduced-lengthsuspension spring coils, and creating "Z frames" fromstock straight frames.[citation needed] The purpose of lowriders, as their motto "Low and Slow" suggests, is tocruise as slowly and as smoothly as possible.[10]
Section 24008 of theCalifornia Vehicle Code went into effect on January 1, 1958, prohibiting cars modified to shift the vehicle body lower than the bottoms of its wheel rims. In 1959, mechanic Ron Aguirre bypassed the law by installing hydraulics that could quickly toggle the height of a General Motors X-frame chassis.[12]
Lowriding became widely popular in the 1980s and 1990s, and bans were enacted in many California cities.[13] It regained popularity a little in 2009, then significantly during theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[14] In the 2020s, activists argued that the practice was harmless and banning it was simply the result of prejudice against Mexican-Americans.[5]San Jose andSacramento repealed their bans in 2022 that had been enacted in 1986 and 1988, respectively.[11][13] In 2022, theCalifornia State Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging all remaining cities with bans (includingNational City, which banned it in 1992) to repeal them.[15] In 2023, California rescinded state restrictions on the height of vehicle bodies and superseded local regulations against cruising.[8]
In 2020, police inAlbuquerque,New Mexico introduced a lowrider police car in a reversal of the city's anti-lowriding policies.[16]
In 1959, a customizer named Ron Aguirre developed a way of bypassing the law with the use ofhydraulic Pesco pumps and valves that allowed him tochange ride height at the flick of a switch.[17] Ron Aguirre developed this modification with help from his father, after conceiving of the idea. Aguirre's motivation was to stop being targeted withtraffic tickets, as he had been by local police in his city ofRialto, California after the statewide ban was enacted.[7]
1958 saw the emergence of theChevrolet Impala, which featured an X-shaped frame that was perfectly suited for lowering and modification with hydraulics.[17] The standard perimeter-type frame was abandoned, replaced by a unit with rails laid out in the form of an elongated "X." Chevrolet claimed that the new frame offered increased torsional rigidity and allowed for a lower placement of the passenger compartment. This was a transitional step between conventional perimeter frame construction and the later fully unitized body/chassis, the body structure was strengthened in the rocker panels and firewall. This frame was not as effective in protecting the interior structure in a side impact crash, as a conventional perimeter frame.[18]
Lowrider cars had their origins in the 1940s, when Mexican American veterans began customizing vehicles to run "low and slow", a contrast to thehot rod that was customized for speed.[19] During theChicano Movement in the 1970s, lowriders formed car clubs that began to help their community by using these cars for fundraising.[20] Lowrider cars are typically elaborately painted and decorated, often using graphic art of significance to Chicano culture.[20][5]
In the 1970s,Lowrider magazine promoted an association between lowriders andpachucas,pachucos, andzoot suiters by filling its pages with advertisements and photographs that reflected those fashions. The 1979 playZoot Suit and 1981 movieZoot Suit reinforced the connection between zoot suit fashion and lowriders.Lowrider also featuredcholas, although some established lowrider clubs disdain chola fashion.[21]
The 21st century boom in lowrider culture is generational, with children being introduced to it by parents and grandparents. Participants view it proudly as an aspect of Latino history in the United States.[22]
At first, lowriders were only seen in places such as Los Angeles, especially in the 1970s on Whittier Boulevard when lowriding came to its peak. Whittier was a wide commercial street that cut through thebarrio of the city in Los Angeles, California. Throughout the 1970s that culture spread throughout the Central Valley and San Jose areas of California, helped by release of the funk song “Low Rider” byWar, and creation of low riding clubs such as Carnales Unidos in 1975,[23] and further expanded with the publishing ofLow Rider magazine by San Jose State students in 1977.[24] At its peak in 1988,Low Rider magazine had monthly sales of over 60,000 copies. Lowriders were featured in the 1979 filmBoulevard Nights, which some blamed for associating lowrider culture with street gangs.[5] A mural inChicano Park celebrates the lowrider culture.[25] In 2024, theOceanside, California community and its police department collaborated to create a hand-painted lowrider police car,[26] and theSan Jose Police Department planned to participate in the city'sCinco de Mayo lowrider parade with its own lowrider vehicle.[27]
In theUS state ofNew Mexico, lowriders play a central role inNew Mexican culture, particularly of theHispanos of New Mexico.[28]
InAlbuquerque, cruising onCentral Avenue (U.S. Route 66) has become a tradition, particularly on Sundays. The city andAlbuquerque Police Department (APD) used to take a firm stance against this practice,[29] but in recent years have reversed this stance, with APD introducing a lowrider police car[30] and the city creating a 'Cruising Task Force' to "promote responsible cruising" in the city.[31]
The cities ofEspañola and neighboringChimayó have become hotspots for lowriders in the northern part of the state. Española is billed as the "lowrider capital of the world".[4][32]
Lowriding culture has also spread to Japan.[33][34]
Junichi Shimodaira continues to import and sell these cars through his business, Paradise Road.[35] The spread of lowrider culture and the fame of Paradise Road even attracted the attention ofEd Roth, who is famous for creating custom cars such ashot rods and a prominent figure inKustom Kulture.[36] Since the introduction of lowriders in Japan and the rise of lowriders in Japan in 2001, it is estimated that there are still 200 car clubs that are related to the lowrider scene that are still active to this day.[37]
The 1975 song"Low Rider" by the bandWar, highlighting the culture, reached #7 on the USBillboard Hot 100 chart.[38]
In the 1990s, low riders became strongly associated withWest Coast Hip hop andG-Funk culture.Eazy-E,Mack 10,Ice Cube,Dr. Dre,Snoop Dogg,The Game,Warren G,South Central Cartel,Above the Law andJohn Cena (In a music video of "Right Now") among others featured low riders prominently in their music videos.[39]
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