Lowriders are motor vehicles that express aesthetic, cultural, and social identities. Since the middle of the 20th century, cruising has been a popular pastime, and lowriders are ideal for this with a roll that takes them low to the road and their elongate bodies.
Lowriding puts both the vehicles and their drivers on public display. Historically these cars were driven by Latino men from the state of Texas and southern California and the Southwest, and older cars have been being converted for cruising, competitions, and shows by family members and car clubs.
Lowriders are mobile masterworks of art, religion, and family, with lacquered bodies glowing with bright colors, velvet trim, religious images, and geometric shapes. Lowriders were intended for a slower parade than is the case with the racing car such as hot rods, with each car lowered close to the pavement and driven as a piece of rolling artwork.
Lowriding culture Los Angeles style began to form in the 1990s, and early in the decade, the city became a hub for hip hop culture and music. LA became the most visible face of the scene due to media attention. The lengthy vintage frames and dropped chassis of lowrider vehicles offered a dynamic visual milieu for exhibiting the “gangster” aesthetic of hip hop culture on the west coast.
Lowriders became the landscape, look, and sound of the LA hip hop culture and remain today.
