How low can you go? Cars and Chicano culture in pictures | Art and design

Posted by Jenniffer Sheldon on Monday, August 26, 2024

How low can you go? Cars and Chicano culture – in pictures

Lowriding is the Mexican-American subculture of cruising as close to the asphalt as possible. Photographer Owen Harvey went along for the ride

@mlestone Main image: ‘We are known for brown pride’ … Vanessa AKA Chingona. Photograph: Owen Harvey/Shoot production: Louise Ellingham

Tue 19 Sep 2023 02.00 EDT Last modified on Fri 22 Sep 2023 17.51 EDT

  • Erik down Supply Avenue, Commerce, California

    In the mid-to-late 1940s, a new subculture emerged in the US. Some Mexican-American youths placed sandbags inside their custom vehicles so that the body of the car would ride closer to the road. ‘Low and slow’ was the motto, and the objective was to be seen. Lowriding became popular worldwide, with the tradition been passed on from one generation to the next. Ground Clearance by Owen Harvey. Recipient of the 2022 Joan Wakelin bursary from the Royal Photographic Society. Read about his photo series on bullfighting in Spain, The Matador, here

  • Members of Genocide Car Club, Los Angeles, California

    Lowriding grew to be a symbol of Mexican-American resistance against discrimination during the civil rights era. On 1 January 1958, the California Vehicle Code introduced Section 24008, criminalising lowriders across the state

  • Erik stands on his lowrider outside the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California

    Decades later, popular vehicles such as the ’64 Impala were referenced in songs by the likes of Eazy-E. This elevated lowriding to a whole new level of popularity and helped the subculture gain global appeal

  • Vanessa AKA Chingona, at a Hoopty CC street party and cruise in Pico-Union

    ‘My mom migrated from Mexico and came to East LA. The same with my father. Ever since I was a little girl my father had classic cars. I remember he had a Cutlass, he had a Regal, so I’ve always been around lowrider cars. Also, when I was a kid I had a friend in elementary school whose dad owned a lowrider, and every morning he’d pick me up and take us to school. It’s been a part of my life since I was a child’

  • A 64 Impala

    Vanessa AKA Chingona: ‘East LA is known for the cars. Lowriding is part of us, it’s part of our culture, it’s part of our pride. It’s not just about the cars; it’s about the murals and everything around us. The paintings on the wall, they all have a meaning to them. Some of the cars that people own, they’ve had them for so many years that they hold memories’

  • Xavier, 6th Street Bridge, Los Angeles

    Vanessa AKA Chingona: ‘My mum supports my kid having a lowrider bike, and thinks it’s important for kids to know the concept, and to know the real meaning of what it is to own your own bike. So I want him to grow up and know the value of it, and he can keep it as he gets older or pass it down. People look at us like lowriding is just gang-related, but it’s not, it’s part of us, it’s our culture. It is very important for me that he knows that’

  • Hard Times, Los Angeles

    Vehicles are decorated with political statements and images representing the culture from which lowriding was born

  • Erik riding down the street in his lowrider, the Hoopty CC watch on the sidewalk

    As time went by, sandbags were replaced with hydraulic springs, which enabled more elaborate displays of movement in the cars. Lowriding is now often used as a positive force and a shared bond for family and friends. In 2022 California finally repealed the bans, and lowriders were free to cruise again. These images document the lowriding scene in LA since the lifting of the bans

  • Hazmat and Nini stand next to their 64 Impala

    Nini: ‘I was introduced to lowriding early in life. It was a lifestyle for my parents, so I was raised in the scene. I was attracted by the beautiful classic cars, from ‘bombs’, Impalas, Chevys, Cadillacs, Buicks ... and we can’t forget the trucks’

  • A 64 Impala at Sal’s garage in Pasadena

    Nini: ‘It’s important that the culture be passed to the next generation, because it teaches my children to have a hobby that keeps them out of trouble: fixing up their cars and keeping them maintained. It gives them a sense of pride and respect for themselves. It shows kids that you don’t have to sell drugs, rob and steal, that it is possible to have nice things by being honest’

  • Sal’s 64 Impala, with gold leaf mural decoration

    Nini: ‘I believe it’s important to keep historical memorial illustrations of our relatives on the cars to honour and respect them. It reminds us of where we came from. It shows our background, our ancestors and how hard they worked from generation to generation to get us where we are today. The car tells the story of my life. It represents me, my character, my reality, and how strong-minded and motivated I am’

  • Diana AKA Danger, member of Genocide CC, West Hills, California

    ‘No matter where you in California, you will see a lowrider. I grew up around different old cars because of my father. He would always be building something. Once I found out he had built a couple of lowriders, I was on a mission to find out more’

  • Sal at his garage working on a lowrider, Pasadena

    Diana AKA Danger: ‘I’m more attracted to the 70s lowriders. They had style – full of colour and so much pride. “Poetry in motion” is what I call them. You would be amazed by all the detail on them. Each car has a story to tell’

  • Arnold AKA Stacks, with his 64 Impala

    ‘As a child, lowriding has always been part of my community and neighbourhood. I grew up in the 80s in Boyle Heights in Los Angeles, where lowriding was normal. In the 80s lowriders were much less expensive. People were stereotyped for having one. It was assumed you were in a gang or sold drugs, and were up to no good. Today, lowriding is a luxury. If you have a lowrider you have to have a good-paying job to be able to afford it’

  • Raymond, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles

    Arnold AKA Stacks: ‘Lowriding is part of my childhood, culture and roots. I am able to spend quality time with my family through lowriding – showing my son to not forget where he came from, passing on the tradition and the history behind it. The children in the lowrider scene start off building lowrider bikes before they are able to drive a car. Lowriding attracts so many people because of the time and dedication that is put into it. Not every lowrider is the same: they are all custom-built cars to your own taste and style’

  • Pasadena CC, Los Angeles

    Arnold AKA Stacks: ‘Lowriding is almost like therapy and a stress relief from work. I always look forward to that weekend when I am just able to go out and cruise up and down with family and friends on a summer night with some nice slow jams and oldies. It brings me peace. I love to see my community enjoy my lowrider, especially kids, like I once did. I can say lowriding brings me closer to my community’

  • Joe, from Bikes on the Boulevard lowrider club, Pasadena City Hall

    ‘We are hoping to get more kids involved with lowriding on bikes. It’s been around so long because of the unique styles, and it has become a family culture. Lowrider bikes are definitely trending. I want the next generation of kids to open their own bike club one day!’

  • Wicked, a member of the Hoopty CC, sits on her bike in Pico-Union, Los Angeles

    Joe, from Bikes on the Boulevard lowrider club: ‘My dad wanted me to learn our history and our culture, and just by watching the cars cruise down the boulevard, it taught me a lot about our Mexican culture’
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