"Lowriders"

You’ve seen them, you know that people love and some people hate them. The Lowrider where it is all about going low and slow, a symbol in the Chicano community through significance originating in southern California. The lowrider is what made Chicanos who they are with the vibrant colors which are a staple to the Chicano Culture along with the open roads and the captivating hydraulics. Unfortunately in the 1970s lowriders started to get painted in a negative light to stereotypes and assumptions along with counterculture and Hollywood movies. In this article we will talk about the origins, significance/impact to the borderlands and Lowriders today along with some personal interviews. Buckle up and enjoy!

Looking at the History and origins  of the lowrider it first originated after WWII in the mid-1940s in southern California. This was a time when cars were becoming a status symbol in America, especially Los Angeles which was coming into its own as a very vibrant and big city. This was when people realized that a car was needed to get around in this city as it was more widespread in size—as opposed to cities such as New York City and other East Coast cities. Low riders had heavy meaning in downtown LA and in the valley. 

Many low riders are often seen to be older cars. One can say this due to low riders coming from an older generation and now many older cars fit the frame and purpose of what one would say a low rider is. Lowriders show a lot of who a person is due to their creativity and design, it became a way to embrace heritage and pride.  Also lowriders worked hand and hand with the chicano movement in the 1970s. This enforced what was called “Pre Pueblo imagery by artists” according to the smithsonian. When someone drives their low rider down the street all decked and beautiful it comes with great pride. 

Like anything, low riders have been portrayed in a negative light and have been given some pushback. A lot of this is thanks to Hollywood. Low riders have been associated with gang use and many stereotypes and stigmas. But one good point is that nobody is going to rob a bank or do a homicide or any crime in a vibrant car that causes a lot of attention and one that is prided on going low and slow for many to see. Also cars are people’s babies, especially one that is given much time like a lowrider.  

Lowriders, with their custom modifications and unique styles, are a powerful symbol of Mexican American identity. For many, they represent a fusion of Mexican heritage with American influences. The cars often feature vibrant murals, traditional symbols, and motifs from Mexican culture, such as Aztec designs, religious icons like the Virgin of Guadalupe, and Day of the Dead imagery. These elements help Mexican Americans assert their cultural pride and create a visual language that speaks to their shared experiences and heritage. 

Lowriders aren’t just nice looking cars, it’s an art form. The complex customization of lowriders, whether through painting, chrome detailing, or hydraulic systems, showcases the creativity and craftsmanship within the Mexican American community. It’s a way of transforming an ordinary vehicle into a work of art, highlighting the ingenuity and talent within the community. 

Lowrider culture is deeply embedded in the community. The car clubs, often family oriented or neighborhood-based, serve as a space for people to connect, socialize, and support each other. These gatherings create a sense of belonging, especially in neighborhoods where Mexican Americans have historically been marginalized. The lowrider scene also offers a way to engage in peaceful, positive activities that bring people together, as opposed to the more negative associations often linked to lowrider culture in mainstream media, such as gang involvement. 

In the Chicano civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, lowriders became a symbol of resistance against cultural assimilation and marginalization. Mexican Americans used lowriders as a way to assert their cultural pride and reclaim public spaces. The customized cars became a statement of independence, rejecting stereotypes and showing that Mexican Americans could blend their cultural roots with their American experience in unique and powerful ways. 

Lowriders also carry historical significance, especially in California, when people began modifying their cars to reflect their status, style, and creativity. For many, the tradition of lowriders links them to past generations who fought for social justice, workers’ rights, and a better life in the U.S. The lowrider car became a symbol of those struggles. While lowriders are distinctly a Mexican American tradition, they’ve influenced mainstream culture, particularly through music, fashion, and film. Lowrider cars, along with the culture that surrounds them, became popular in music genres like Chicano rap. Films and television shows have also depicted lowriders as symbols of cultural authenticity, making the lowrider an important aspect of Mexican American representation in popular media. 

Lowriders are more than just modified cars, they are a cultural symbol that embodies the creativity, resilience, and pride of the Mexican American community. They reflect a desire for cultural appreciation, a rebellion against negative stereotypes, and a deep connection to both Mexican heritage and American life. Through lowriders, Mexican Americans celebrate their history and identity making them an enduring and forever evolving symbol of cultural pride.

What's your name and background? How were you introduced to lowriders?

My name is Feliciano Galindo, I came to the United States in the early 90’s looking for job opportunities and I found work at a body shop on Main St. I began working with many people, both good and bad, who began to teach me the basics of body work. From there I kept learning and began to move around shops, painting for clients, friends and family. While I was never a fan of the lowriding culture, the friends I had made were immersed in lowrider culture and eventually they came to me to begin the work on their cars.

What did you see as the biggest challenge in working on lowrider?

I always took it as a challenge to be able to at least make sure the body was straight for paint, like i said I never was a fan of the cars, they are just too unreliable for me or just too much of a waste of money, but for many of my old friends its their way of life. They would rather cruise around in some old car barely able to get down the road, but that's how they grew up, they grew up in the barrio here only knowing the ways of lowriding old chevy’s and ford’s. They grew up seeing these cars be customized by their dads or uncle’s and now that they are grown they just did their own twist on the cars. I never worked on the one’s with crazy murals, the most I did was just lay the base paint of the car so they could add the work on top. I did what I could with my tools at the time and I made it work. 

How would you describe the relationship between lowriders and the Chicano community?

Always a sense of pride. Like everyone who builds their cars nowadays to show off, they want to make it something everyone wants, but lowriders came out of just wanting to express themselves and make the car an extension of who they were. When you see a group of lowriders cruising down the street, whether they all have the same paint with the same flake, each car has their own personal touches that might not be seen by you or me, but to the owner that car is everything they could have put into their car. 

Who are you and how do you connect to lowrider culture?

My name is Nestor and I’m a photographer i mainly do car photography focused more on lowriders and the culture

 What do the borderlands mean to you?

So for a time I lived in Mexico and I fell in love with the country and its culture. When I came to the United States I began to miss a lot of it, so I did what I could to capture some of that culture. I began to take photographs, I started to go to San Ysidro and wander around looking for anything that I could relate to my home in Mexico. I began to learn about Chicano culture, street photography and was introduced to phrases like La raza. I’m glad my parents decided to cross the border, without them I wouldn’t have been able to experience Chicano culture. 

So I guess they mean struggle and opportunity and beauty 

How do they relate to lowriders?

I guess it’s a way of bringing borders together, we bring the Mexican side and add a twist to it and bring the American side and add a little flavor to it, it’s a way of cultural expression, but it’s also a way of crossing borders too, your question just made me think of Cantinflas and his movies, some say he’s like the first Pachuco in Mexico or at least helped bring peoples attention to it in Mexico. 

But the culture is also a form of resistance against oppression and stuff like that, like with the Pachucos and with how the youth in the 30’s,40’s developed/ popularized Calo , the pachuco style of speech, as a form of defiance, we even still use some of those words today for example the words “carnal” and “chula” and the phrase “me estás cayendo gordo” to name a few.

How has the community affected you or made you think about your Chicano culture?

Well I lived in Mexico for a couple years and not gonna lie I experienced some type of discrimination, mostly from the older generations while I was there, because I was from the states, I would get picked on, called names or made fun of because “era del Norte” and then growing up I went to school with mostly white people and i kind of always felt a little out of place,almost  like we couldn’t really connect, then i found the lowrider Chicano culture and i just felt like these people were just like me , not 100% Mexican like the Mexicans wanted and not 100% American like the Americans wanted, 

ni de aqui , ni de allá - We were both 

What is your most memorable experience with lowriders and culture?

Its hard to pick just one , but I would say the people, I’ve met lots of cool and interesting people there, like I’ve met actors from the movie blood in , blood out, the foos gone wild guys, seen the car suavecito from mi vida loca, met one of the artist from Aztec tribe,been in music videos,even Lil Rob follows me on instagram, and I even met one of my best friends Nikita, who’s an up and coming chicana rapper , shout out to 2DNK!! She’s opened up the doors for me even more to meeting other cool artists and taking me to all these cool events 

What do you hope to capture when you’re photographing the cars and do you always try to capture the same moment with every car? 

I go out there with my camera and try to capture the beauty of our culture, the beautiful way we express ourselves with our cars, the colors, the designs, the hydraulics, the music , the slow drives down the boulevard, I like to capture the pride that we have in being who we are, the pride in being Chicano, being in the cars that we drive or in the way that we dress, we are who we are and we aren’t afraid to show it

All images cited @lento_pero_conteno on ig

Academic sources: 

• Francisco Miraval. "Cruising in colorful lowrider cars, Denver Chicanos celebrate their culture: USA HISPANICS " --Proquest, 8/26/19. Accessed 11/15/24. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2279911473.

• González, Alissa. "The Vibrant History of Lowrider Car Culture in L.A." Smithsonian Magazine, May 26, 2021.  Accessed 11/15/24

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/vibrant-history-lowrider-car-culture-in-la-180977652/.

• Jennifer Robinson. KPBS. “Everything Comes from the Streets.” KPBS. August 19, 2014. https://www.kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2014/08/19/everything-comes-streets

• Alejandro Gradilla. "Rethinking Lowrider Artistic Representations: An Aesthetic Response to Social Exclusion." ResearchGate. Published. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342207130_Rethinking_Lowrider_Artistic_Representations_An_Aesthetic_Response_to_Social_Exclusion.

• Francisco Ortega. The Rhetoric of Lowriding: A Misunderstood Cultural Movement in the Public Realm

California State University, Year. https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/pk02cg262.

• Ochoa, R. E. (2004). Lowriders in Chicano culture: From low to slow to show. University of Arizona Press.

Garcia, M. T. (1997). The Chicano movement. University of Arizona Press.