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Author: Richard Gazzo
To quote the band War, ?the lowrider is the one to meet.? For almost one hundred years, lowriders have been not only the one to see, but the one to meet. Stemming from an old Mexican ritual called paseo which made horses the utmost symbol of prestige, lowering stock cars to almost sidewalk level and
From Mexico to Los Angeles to Chicago to the rest of the world, the art of customizing a stock car into a lowrider has been an evolution. In the 1940?s lowriders only graced the streets on Sundays. As their popularity began to grow lowriders not only became more plentiful but they became the vehicle of choice for anyone who wanted attention and accolades and cruised the highways on a daily basis.
George Barris became the early face of lowriders by combining his creativity with his passion for cars and developing one of the first businesses to customize lowriders for sale. George and his brother, Sam, used their expertise in body work to straighten fenders, bolt on accessories, and use paint schemes that were unheard of during that time. Lowrider creations from the Barris brothers flourished into a very lucrative business. George used his business sense to introduce lowriders to Hollywood which resulted in not only the use of lowriders in many well known movies such as High School Confidential, but it also helped him become ?the person? to contact when Hollywood stars wanted to transform their personal vehicles into lowriders.
The original lowrider artists focused mainly on customizing Chevrolet cars because they were less expensive than other manufacturers? vehicles at the time. Today, any brand, make, or model vehicle is ( Next Page )
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