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Concept
Lowrider
Summary
A lowrider or low rider is a customized car with a lowered body that emerged among Mexican American youth in the 1940s. Lowrider also refers to the driver of the car and their participation in lowrider car clubs, which remain a part of Chicano culture and have since expanded internationally. These customized vehicles are also artworks, generally being painted with intricate, colorful designs, unique aesthetic features, and rolling on wire-spoke wheels with whitewall tires.
Lowrider rims are generally smaller than the original wheels. They are often fitted with hydraulic systems that allow height adjustable suspension, allowing the car to be lowered or raised by switch. This was developed after lowriding was made illegal in California and was targeted for tickets by police. Lowriding bans have been acknowledged as discriminatory toward Chicano culture and Latinos. State legislation urged their removal in 2022 and some local city councils have done so.
The lowrider car serves no practical purpose beyond that of a standard car. Lowrider car culture began in Los Angeles, California, in the mid-to-late 1940s and during the post-war prosperity of the 1950s. Initially, some Mexican-American youths lowered blocks, cut spring coils, z'ed the frames and dropped spindles. The aim of the lowriders is to cruise as slowly as possible, "Low and Slow" being their motto. By redesigning these cars in ways that go against their intended purposes and in painting their cars so that they reflect and hold meanings from Mexican-American culture, lowriders create cultural and political statements that go against the more prevalent Anglo culture.
The rise in popularity resulted in a backlash: the enactment of Section 24008 of the California Vehicle Code on January 1, 1958, which made it illegal to operate any car modified so that any part was lower than the bottoms of its wheel rims. In 1959, mechanic Ron Aguirre found a way to bypass the law by installing hydraulics that could raise and lower a General Motors X-frame chassis by flipping a switch.
Official source
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