“Want to go see a museum exhibit about lowriders?”
And with that, my wife and I were off to the Longmont Museum & Cultural Center for an exhibit called, appropriately enough, “Lowriders: Cars & Culture.” By the way, she was the one posing the question.
Longmont can be found about 45 minutes north of downtown Denver, and we were in …
As a tradesman/mechanic/technician/whatever you want to call it (i sometimes feel entitled to craftsman) that has worked with his hands for all my working years, I'm definitely at a point where i appreciate effort and technique more than pure glitz or whether something has value on the social ladder. In that sense I've moved from initially being a little weirded out by lowriders to appreciating the work that creates them.
I'm still pretty critical of a person having a consuming desire to express and be seen, and have made some associations in my mind between let's say the birthplace of lowrider culture and that desire to be de-anonymized. My attitude was formed by different forces, but if at the end of the day I am just pretty sure i can do whatever i want and dont feel the need to prove it, and someone else uhhh... builds a lowrider, then one of us has something a lot cooler and more social to talk about then their general sense of not needing to prove anything or stand out. I do kinda wanna build a lowrider anyway. I just don't know if i'd take it anywhere.. 
They spend a lot of time and money on those paint jobs.
I don't critize (seriously) taste, I will critize E36 M3ty craftsmanship.
The low rider scene was never my cup of tea, but after seeing a bunch of nice ones it hard to deny the amount of work and artistry that goes into them. It really made me look at them differently after that
"GOLD LEAF AND PINSTRIPES" on the leading edge of the door is not parallel with the rest of the lettering.
These things bother me.
I've been to Cuba many times, and it is enlightening to experience the car culture in such an environment. There is passion and craftmanship, within the limitations of the economy and supply chains. Next time I visit I plan to bring a little bag of "car treats" to share.
When possible I do my best to speak with the owners of the different cars. Gear heads are gear heads. I had the good fortune to drive a 1952 Ford convertible with an Isuzu diesel and five speed conversion. It was a terrific "shared" car guy moment.
This forum/magazine has made me interested in all kinds of stuff I never cared about.
Quite often someone will say a car is ugly or they wouldnt drive "that" and I always say I would rock that. I just love cars. I appreciate everything people do to theirs even if it's not something I would do.
If it makes a car worse to drive, less comfortable or unsafe, I have no patience for it. $20K paint job, sure, I'm happy to see it even if I would never do it myself, but there are so many I will never have respect for: Camber Gang, Carolina Squat Trucks, Bro-Dozzers, 24+ inch rims, Bosozoku, ect...
I like to see how other scenes in the car hobby do what they do, we can all learn something from eachother. Low riders really do have some amazing fabrication.
Both of my sons got into the air bagged mini truck scene in their teenage years. I fully supported them in this area as they learned to repair their own vehicles, fabricate and have a better understanding of engineering. They both are still die hard gear heads nearly 20 years later. Time helping them was well spent.
In reply to madmrak351 :
You are lucky indeed to have boys. I had girls and I'm sorry I just can't get excited about dance classes or dresses, make up and the rest of my girls interest . I know they tried to be interested in mine. But they just weren't. I was there for all their monumental moments. Special performances etc. cheered them on, encouraged them, and paid for everything.
But I wish I'd had just one son to share with.
chandler said:Quite often someone will say a car is ugly or they wouldnt drive "that" and I always say I would rock that. I just love cars. I appreciate everything people do to theirs even if it's not something I would do.
Well said. Who doesn't appreciate the work, the skill, the effort to stand out even if it is something I don't particularly want.
I speak Spanish, and my wife is Cuban. I work with hundreds of Hispanics. Lowriders are a real pleasure to them.
I was pretty critical for a long time. Then I started showing up in my 1960 El Camino, and they would totally geek out. "Ooo... ju neeed to puut hidrawleeks on dat car, Amigo!" Probably not, but I love their appreciation.
Eventually I realized that Lowriders are the closest thing we have to modern day Hot Rods. Similar or higher levels of fabrication, passion, skill. No bolt-on performance parts. And in the Hot Rod days there were plenty of stodgy old coots who would say "Those damned kids are just berkeleying up the handling, making them uncomfortable and destroying decent cars!" Sound familiar??
I don't particularly want to make my car hop, but I fully intend to tap into their skills when it's time to reinforce the frame of my car. NO ONE knows how to reinforce an X frame better than a Lowrider.
And there are no better paint jobs on the planet!
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