- When we think cruisers in 2020,
we usually think about like night rollers,
Night Lovell playing in the background,
a hoodie on and some sad boy feelings
as we think to ourselves.
(sad voice) "I wonder if she'll text me back?"
And it's just like a weird thing, all right,
cruisers are done Subarus, Hondas, V-dubs,
and even Nissan, but there was a time
before all of our Spotify teardrop playlists
and status updates that did cruisers
and made them feel just a little bit sadder
back in the day when things were just little bit happier.
I'm Alex, Alex.fi on Instagram
and today we're gonna be talking about a kind of car that
no matter what you always end up turning your head for,
a car that was made way more waves
by being slow than being fast as ****,
the quality of car that takes it back to the days
of paint where you didn't need an
ND filter to make the car look good.
A car that you think to yourself,
when you have a pole shed
you'll probably own one of them,
because you're just straight mobbin, all right.
A car genre that properly came from North America
and helped define international culture.
Ladies and gentlemen, today, we're going to be talking
about you wanting to own a low rider.
(hip hop music, cheering)
(car engine humming and suspension squeaking)
And if you're just jumping into this video,
(pitched-down voice) hello,
(claps)
I'm Alex. And if you're looking for aftermarket wheels,
tires or suspension, be sure to hit us up over at
(stutters)
Badda bing, badda boom, fitmentindustries.com
for your newly acquired low rider,
which if you do own, I'm proud of you.
If you didn't and you just have a WRX
or 350Z, and you're just watching this
because it's interesting, well, we love you too.
And we've got stuff out there as well.
Oh. And if you haven't subscribed yet, be sure to do so.
The history of low riders is diverse.
And while we won't spend the whole time talking about it,
we're going to spend a couple-two-three minutes on it,
because it's important.
All right. It's like the spark notes. Buckle up.
The history of low riders depends on where you look.
Some old school low riders
and historians would say it actually started
with the rise of the paseo.
Okay, a representation of non-conformity and rebelliousness
of the Mexican American community
against the anglo-nationalism at the time
of the thirties and forties.
This was a big deal, actually, back then.
Others state it started in the late forties
during the post-war prosperity,
or the fifties because America was rich from world war dub.
All right.
Or at least far better off than most people.
Others will say it was an involvement
from the days of something called the pachuco,
for young men and women would gather in town centers
to flirt and play around like young teenagers,
but didn't really know what was in their pants,
still happens.
All right, the guys would actually dress themselves
up to look a little bit classier than the rest.
And the ideology followed into cars into Southern California
where the Mexican American culture bloomed
in the early 20th century.
All different stories.
Regardless of which start point to the story,
one thing was clear.
The Dawn of the low-rider scene came
from a culture that found a way to express themselves
during a new period of culturalization.
While the twenties, thirties and forties
had low riding culture,
it was not as robust as what we now see it as
mostly because the culture was focused more
about simply making things aftermarket
versus low and slow. That was pretty much the way
up until the forties and into the fifties.
The shift of the general automotive culture shifted away
in the and sixties from just looks,
into flamboyant bubble tops with technology
and going fast as all hell.
This energy is what would spawn the birth of drag racing,
NASCAR, salt racing, and much more,
but that's not where the whole scene went.
A large portion of the community in East Los Angeles
didn't do that.
The Mexican American culture of that area
or Chicanos remained in that time honored technique
of lowering and streamlining old cars,
cutting springs and flipping frames,
to truly embody the statement of low and slow.
It's more about the looks than anything else.
The culture would continue down the path
of creating cars that embodied
just designed significance and uniqueness,
that borrowed cues from the
bright and crazy design work of history.
Then something big came around.
All right, big old Johnny, and his name
(pitched down voice) was hydraulics.
It was like (makes explosion sound)
Low riders would evolve with the introduction of hydraulics
which helped against the growing police enforcement
of not allowing modified cars to cruise or sit
below the bottom of the rim.
Back then, this was true.
All right, they were picky.
It got so bad that individuals protested
of the discrimination, particularly in Los Angeles,
where police officers were commonly targeting those
with lowered vehicles with violations and even jail time.
The introduction of hydraulics allowed individuals
to just press a button and boom,
ride height baby.
This allowed anyone to pass inspection,
create a disgruntled police officer,
and just kind of looked cool.
The days of cutting springs and
throwing sandbags in trunks was over, baby.
Now you can just leave.
It was actually really sweet.
It was the introduction of this lowered and raised system
that birthed the now thing you would call hopping,
where the car quite literally hops, (claps)
because of the hydraulic pressure
exceeding the weight of the car, causing lift to the car.
It's pretty sweet.
And if you've seen it before,
it is the tightest thing in the world, it's dope as ****.
The difference in the car scene
was one of the first major shifts
in the low riders shifting out of the typical car scene.
And it's considered by mostly everyone
the first major fracture of car culture in America.
The days of individuals like Ed Roth and speed rockets
dominating the entire scene was over.
The low and slow mentality
caused an incredible amount of talk in Los Angeles,
eventually referring to the new low riding style as this.
(crowd shouting)
which means turning everything opposite
in both meaning and function.
Some even referenced hydraulics on low riders,
they called it like the politics of laughter
because of what the car modification and style meant
to the area and the people who owned it.
It was a fun and exciting thing that you could do.
The introductions to the cars like the Chevrolet Impala
in 1958 would further explode the low rider movement,
specifically because it featured an X shaped frame
which would inevitably be paired with hydraulics.
And it was perfect.
It was like peanut butter and jelly.
It was like ramen and Tapatio, it was just perfect.
Rodillo and cheese.
The idea continued to grow in the sixties and seventies
during the Chicano civil rights movement,
which ended up gaining popularity in main media streams,
news stations, music, videos, media,
and in general, pretty much everywhere.
Films like Boulevard Nights
would depict a controversial light
on the unconfirmed connection
between gang life and low riders.
Lowriders started getting involved in music, videos,
this, that, and the other thing, it was crazy.
The amount of attention that low riders are starting to get,
especially in mainstream media and particularly music.
It would inevitably gain a staple in the nation
when Dave's Dream would be featured
in the New Mexican culture as an icon.
If you've ever seen Dave's Dream, it's a really cool car.
Whittier Boulevard would continue to see cruising
regardless of police regulation, as a low riding scene
adopted more ways to express themselves
through airbrushing, crazy patterns, adapted frames,
and fabric that would make anyone just wonder
how in the hell did they do that,
dude, that doesn't make sense.
The styling, meaning, and design work
that would be captured by other mainstream artists,
musicians, and activists
would just take the scene even further.
People like Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre,
The Game, Eazy-E, and Above the Law
would all carry the meaning
of some of the foundations of what low riding culture
stood for back in the twenties, thirties, and forties.
But we're not here to talk about the history of low riders
even though it is a fantastic story.
We're here to talk about you wanting to own a lowrider.
So you want a low rider.
Well set down your go fast parts,
and grab your favorite ibuprofen.
Cause we were talking about
what it's like to actually own one of these bad boys
while you may or may not throw out your back.
Here's a few first couple things to note.
A low rider is always a lowered car,
but a lowered car is not always a low rider.
The term can be used to describe a type of vehicle,
not just the physical height of a car to the ground,
just FYI, for your information.
And second, if you actually did do it, I'm so proud of you.
Owning a low rider is so frickin' neat.
Having a low rider is an incredible experience
because it's extremely opposite
to what many know in the current day and age,
the life of crazy colors, crazy designs,
low bodies with small wheels, bubbly tires, all right,
there's something so uniquely incredible about them.
Whether you end up owning a low rider bomb,
a low rider truck, Cadillac or anything else,
one thing is for sure,
you're going to have a blast,
and probably get more looks
than somebody that would drive a Lamborghini,
because people just love lowriders,
they're just neat.
One of the most common types of low riders to end up seeing
and likely one of the best ones to buy
if you're looking to pick one up
would be a 1958 genre Chevrolet Impala.
It's one of the most well-known
and well-supported vehicles in the low riding culture.
The first gen Impala is also just a beautiful car.
It embodies what you think of when you get old.
It's an American cruiser.
The '59s came with an X frame,
had increased rigidity,
and allowed for lower placement
of like, humans, us.
Coiled springs replaced the leaf springs.
An air ride was optional even back in '58.
Do you want to jump up into a lowrider?
There's one thing that you have to do though.
The motors will hold, the cars are banger.
And if you can find one clean,
you're going to have a good time.
Lowriders are more known for their paint, ride height,
and slow style though, than anything else.
Whitewalls, mesh wire wheels, and hydro are a must.
If you've never ridden in a car with hydro,
go onto Facebook click on your local car group,
and ask for one, it'll make you appreciate the culture
of low riding as a whole.
And I think that's why I love this genre so much.
Low riding culture is about the car, sure.
But it started as so much more.
It started as an expression,
a way for a culture to speak up
and out about their heritage.
It pivoted away from the main culture of race cars.
And was one of the first major splits
in the automotive culture.
It caused the entire domestic automotive industry
to think twice about what it was doing
and gave light to something that was just different.
It evolved into hip hop, Japanese car culture,
and even more.
And it's just satisfying.
But hey...
they're pretty cool.
And they got a ton of history behind them.
And they got a lot of emotion behind them.
And they'll never go out of style.
But what do you think about low riders?
Let us know in the comment section below.
And of course, if you're looking
for aftermarket wheels, tires or suspension`
be sure to hit us up over at fitmentindustries.com.
I'm Alex from fitment industries, and we will see you later.
Peace.
(hip hop music)