A print from local artist Gustavo Jaimes sums up the swagger and charisma that surrounds classic lowrider culture. “More Bounce to the Ounce,” reads the digital and silk screen artwork. At its center is a lowrider car complete with whitewall tires. Deep red roses and a silver chain frame the message.
A silkscreen poster, “More Bounce,” is on display at the show “Lowrider Culture in the United States,” at the Muzeo in Anaheim.
(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)
The work is part of “Lowrider Culture in the United States / Cultura Lowrider en los Estados Unidos,” on view at the Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center in Anaheim now through Dec. 14. The traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution is on display in concert with a lowrider exhibit in Washington, D.C.
On display is a selection of photographs and prints of lowrider culture and iconography, documenting its various depictions in the United States and beyond.
John Kim, an educational specialist at Muzeo Museum, said members of the early movement were more concerned with getting closer to the pavement than having their cars bounce up and down, as they commonly do today.
A 1936 Chevy coupe parked near the entrance of the exhibition demonstrates his point.
“This is named ‘the Maestro,’ and it’s owned by Lupe and Caroline Martinez of the Bomb Car Club,” Kim said. “I like to point out how low to the ground the car is. When we think of lowriders, we think of them bouncing, but when it first started in the 1930s and ’40s, it was more about being able to lower the car [than] make it rise.”
A 1948 Plymouth Deluxe at the “Lowrider Culture in the United States” show at the Muzeo in Anaheim.
(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)
The coffee-and-cream colored car is equipped with specialty air bags that can be inflated to raise the car and deflated to lower it.
Lowrider culture began to gain momentum in the 1940s as sort of counterculture to then-existing car trends. Soldiers returning home following World War II began using their engineering and mechanical skills to soup up cars into hot rods that boasted more power and maximum speed. By contrast, Mexican American mechanics and motorists took a different approach, tricking out cars that were “bajito y suavecito,” or low and slow, meant for cruising slowly down the boulevard rather than racing down the highway.
There are several cars included in the exhibition from local car clubs, each of which was carefully driven into the museum.
“These are all fully functional, so we actually drove them in,” said Samar Elaraby, operations coordinator at Muzeo. “It took maybe about 20 people to guide them in.”
Among the vehicles on display is a 1949 black cherry Chevy Fleetline, presented by Danny Palomino, who nicknamed it “Spill the Wine,” in honor of his late uncle. There is also a red 1957 Chevy Bel Air that’s been converted into an electric vehicle. Its hood is popped open to reveal the engine.
A 1957 Chevy Bel Air on display at the Muzeo in Anaheim.
(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)
Baggy, high-waisted zoot suits, with their padded shoulders and wide lapels, gained popularity in the early 1940s. The amount of fabric needed to create them was deemed “unpatriotic,” since World War II made rationing fabric necessary. This resentment added fodder to simmering tensions between whites and minorities, leading mobs of white servicemen, police officers and civilians to roam Los Angeles over a few days in June 1943, attacking minority youths in what became known as the Zoot Suit riots.
Because Mexican American zoot suit wearers were subjected to violence due to their fashion choice, the ensembles remain a symbol of rebellion and Chicano identity today.
Zoot suits for men and women from El Pachuco Zoot Suits in Fullerton is on display in the show, near a photograph of a couple wearing similar suits taken at the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Zoot Suit riots in 2018. El Pachuco has been selling the suits and related accessories since 1978 and also provided for the exhibit a classic wide-brimmed hat, complete with a feather for flair.
Lowriding itself hasn’t been without its own controversy. In the 1980s, the California State Legislature made “cruising” illegal, claiming the slow-moving vehicles were responsible for noise complaints, traffic jams and other local disturbances. On Jan. 1, 2024, however, California repealed its ban on cruising and lowriding.
A picture showing a lowrider driver at the “Lowrider Culture in the United States” show at the Muzeo in Anaheim.
(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)
Along with the cars, works from local artists and lowrider enthusiasts sourced by Muzeo are included in the show, like Jaimes’ print and a sculpture of a space-aged imagining of a lowrider rocket ship from multidisciplinary Xicanx artist Verónica Preciado.
The electric blue piece, titled “Crusing Through the Galaxy,” is assembled from mixed automotive parts, accented with metallic paint and outfitted with a crushed blue velvet interior.
There are a few events planned at Muzeo in conjunction with the exhibition, including a panel discussion with the Lowrider Alliance on Nov. 1, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. On Nov. 13 a zoot suit fashion show from El Pachuco will be paired with a screening of the 1981 film “Zoot Suit” at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana. A Q&A session with Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano, moderated by Don Lane from Muzeo, will follow the film. On Nov.29, museum-goers can take a photo with Santa Claus in a lowrider.
Kim said the exhibition has been a hit with the community, and Muzeo officials are encouraged by the turnout they’ve seen for events that have already taken place since the show opened in mid-September.
A 1949 black cherry Chevy Fleetline, “Spill the Wine” is a centerpeice at the Muzeo in Anaheim.
(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)
“From college students to elementary school kids and even locals like this wonderful group of ladies who came in talking about how they used cruise Whittier Boulevard, the response from the community has been pretty fantastic,” Kim said.
“Lowrider Culture in the United States / Cultura Lowrider en los Estados Unidos,” is on view at the Muzeo at 241 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, through Dec.14. For more information, visit muzeo.org.