Should
I be so daring as to take on such a controversial question?
There's as many answers as there are people to ask. Lowriders are so
varied, it's impossible to set them into categories, or provide a
single definition.Lowriders are widely varied such as Harley
Motorcycles and Riders, Lowboy flatbed hauler, a person, or a group
of automobiles that are customized to sit and drive very close to
the ground, a prison gang, or women wearing slim cut thongs and jeans.
In considering an answer, I am only going to be concerned with the
automotive type.
o who or
what is a Lowrider
exactly in the car world? It would be easy to just to limit this into
groups of different peoples and traditions. There is information how
and where lowriding started, and the different cultures behind the
popularity. I plan on answering the question by looking at what
the cultural diversities have in common to have expanded the
popularity to encompass all ethnicities and lifestyles, to the point of
being considered a culture or lifestyle in it own right, and
by trying to explain what it means to me to be a lowrider, you can
decide after you read this whether or not I'm worthy.
NEEDS TO BE EDITED AND CORRECTED,, I AM NOT DONE YET..
The cars themselves
are at the heart of the lowrider movement. Obvous to anyone who has
seen a truly bueatiful example. The amount of loving time thats put
into these cars, and the money, its a glorious sight to behold. But
even the owner of a junky primered ghetto cruiser with cut
down springs and a chain steering wheel feels some pride
in what hes trying. Thats how the love grows. There are very
few automotive disiplens that put so much work into
their vehicles. Every aspect or just several, can be be reworked
and customized to the nth degree. I dont think the amount of money
spent, or even the amount of time invested, can truely be the judge of
what a lowrider is other than the narrow view of confining them to a
simple definition.
My
automotive
endevours led me to a lowered silverado that turned into a passion
for the lowrider genre'. With this passion, a little help, and with no
previous knowledge about lowrider mechanics, or culture for that
matter, we proceded to install a hydrualics suspension our selves. To
our surprise we completed the job with relitive ease. Shortly
after my crush was expanding to a thralling affair.
(cont'd next column)
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(cont'd)
Everyone seemed to
be impressed with my shabby bouncy truck! For the next year I continued
to modify and customize it within my meager means. The pride I felt
with that truck is priceless. I experienced many compliments and
praises. I was not un-used to haveing a decent ride and getting a
compliment, nor having people cheer for me at an event, but it seemed
the pride I felt in myself was the greatest when I had put some time
and personal effort of working on it myself, greater than I've felt in
racing trucks or with my other cars. During my enjoyment of the
truck there were people that would look sideways at me, but many
more came over to see what was making the truck move up and down and to
gaze into my mezmorizing dingle balls dangling along the windows.
People really got a kick out of seeing that truck bounce, not even off
the ground mind you. When people will gather around and enjoy what they
are seeing and are laughing out of joy, thats one of the keys to
start undrestanding the draw into the movement.
After losing the
truck in an accedent, I was determined to continue into the lowrider
culture. I had made a few friends and learned a little bit. Not enough
to prepare me for the lowrider car club scene at that point, but
enough to personaly install a 2 pump four battery setup
in a Cadillac I purchased with the sole intent to customize into a
lowrider. In a short time on a low budget, I was lucky
enought to have completed it in time for Woodward Cruise. It was
in these next months I really fell in love with my lowrider. Its the
feeling in the car, that your probably not aware of, that hooked me.
The Caddy' s suspension was more adaptable to the hydrulic
suspension, and my fabricating experience advancing, this
worked far better then the what I was used to in the truck. The feeling
in the vehicle while driving and operating the switches that control
the pumps and dumps of the hydrulic system was more like a carnival
ride than an automobile. When I learned how to three wheel I was head
over heals in love. At first three wheeling was just in moton around
corners or in loops at the parking lot, and what a
sight, but the feeling is hardly describable. The whole car
feels like it going to flip over when the center of gravity shifts, and
your stomach, as the front tire lifts into the air 2 feet. The car
doesnt flip but stabilizes or drags the rear bumper corner. When the
bumper hits and scrapes it scares just about everyone but the driver.
Setting down the wheel in motion at speed is like an aircraft
landing, and quite scary to most when the undercarriage of the car
slams the pavement in fireworks of sparks.
(cont'd next column)
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(cont'd)
The Bouncing, the
3 wheeling, the scraping the pavement becuse your car sits so low,
Those are some of the parts of what lowriding is about, The best
part In my humble opinion.
What lowriding is
about is harder than describing a lowrider vehicle. Examining the
styles of the lowrider community you can get a picture of what a
lowrider can be about. Some of the old school riders just lower
them with a decent primer finish, respectable pr
70's cars with a lowrod or ratrod look. Please don't tell them their
not-lowriders, or maybe don't call them a lowrider becuase
after all who is a lowrider, they might take offense to
that. I will never feel its an insult, but a respectful
compliment. Some believe a hydraulic suspension is
required, granted the most defineable charecteristic, some
believe an air suspension is just as acceptable, even
a better lowrider, as they ride nicer. Some get away with
being oblivously happy in their humble cruiser, others feel that
you have to have the total package completely. There are purely
show cars that travel around in trailers all snug and warm, with thier
owners staying in fancy hotels, and amature
creations cruising all night for an event to party all
weekend and crash in a tent or the back seat. Most likely
everything in between. Are pimps, gangbangers, kingpins, drugdealers,
and bad guys lowriders? Lets just say theres plenty more
families, working stiffs, lucky bastards, dedicated individuals,
shop owners, and independant thinkers living the lowrider lifestyle.
Something to
consider is the length of time a person, club, or car even,
has been active in a lowrider lifstyle and even more, a
contibuting member to the lowrider community. As time passed my
car was repainted, my suspension and hydrualics upgraded. "3
Wheel" the cars license plate, and nickname, was respectable
enough to be shown at the local car shows, and even hop and
jump, and later could sit stationary parked with the front
tire up to two feet off the ground. I was amazed when I saw a
car sitting like this a year or two before in a trip to Florida.
Either no one in the area had a car with the chain brige
modification, or they were hiding, of course prior to that I had not
beeen to many lowrider specific events, and it was fairly
rare but in time, the reasorces and community surfaced to me,
and I was on my way to living my lowrider lifestyle. During the time of
"3 Wheel" was the most active period.
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