All my friends know the low rider
Texas lowrider cars and bikes cruise low and slow into Austin museum
Seven cars, five bikes, and other lowrider artifacts are going to be on display at the Bullock Museum.
A cool car is captivating in any culture, but lowriders form a cultural niche of their own. From Los Angeles to Laredo, these Mexican-American cultural touchstones aren't just entertaining either — they're fine works of art and sometimes even of engineering.
The Bullock Texas State History Museum is celebrating lowriders in the exhibit Carros y Cultura: Lowriding Legacies in Texas, opening May 11 and running through September 2, 2024. The exhibit is in both English and Spanish, and represents the culture in a number of media including seven cars, five bikes, other artifacts from music, fashion, and beyond. These hail from San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Laredo, Pecos, and other regions. There will also be some "interactive experiences."
Visitors to the exhibit can see a gold-plated ’63 Chevy Impala, a 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme featuring a portrait of Mexican ranchera singer Vicente Fernández, and a 1972 Schwinn Fastback bicycle honoring Whataburger with gold-plated french fries.
The exhibit traces the art back to the early years after World War II in California, where Chicanos were altering cars to sit low to the ground and cruise around slowly, showing off the art and enjoying the ride.
The Smithsonian explains the reason for the reduced height: "Mexican Americans were purposefully altering their cars—Chevys, which were in surplus at the time and designed with an X on the bottom that made them easy to modify were especially popular—so that, unlike the “hot and fast” hot rods, their cars would be “low and slow.”
Laws emerged limiting how low cars could get, but these vehicles were already a symbol of the Chicano civil rights movement. Mechanics worked around the laws with hydraulic systems that could raise or lower the car as needed — hence the bouncing that became a staple in music videos.
Car styles, like any art, are cyclical, and a resurgence happened in the 70s — although the museum doesn't mention the 90s (thanks, gangsta rappers) — eventually evolving into the competition culture we recognize today.
“Immensely creative and endlessly kind, Texas lowriders standout among a larger car culture that is admired and imitated worldwide,” said Bullock senior curator Kathryn Siefker. “The Bullock Museum is honored to spotlight theTexas lowriding community and to share its rich legacy.”
The exhibit also centers lowriders in the other sense — the driver, not the car. This is especially interesting in distinguishing Texan culture from the Californian art it was born from, leaning on recorded interviews with people still upholding the community. There will also be in-person events including expert talks, activities for kids, and workshops for teens.
An event on July 7, as part of the H-E-B Free First Sundays series, will offer a full day of free museum admission, plus lowrider programming including an airbrushing workshop and hydraulics and coding demos.
More information about Carros y Cultura: Lowriding Legacies in Texas is available at thestoryoftexas.com.
