The streets of Texas are alive with a chrome-plated roar, as "Carros y Cultura: Lowriding Legacies in Texas," a salute to the state's lowrider heritage, debuts at the Bullock Texas State History Museum, San Antonio local Arturo DeHoyos, a member of the Ethnics Car Club, is one such enthusiast who finds joy in customizing his 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, an artifact of family history and automotive passion that he's elevated to an artwork on wheels, complete with a pop trunk and a design nod from Yuma-based Crazy Cutting.
DeHoyos told Fox San Antonio, "It's a cloud that I don't want to get off to be chosen to do something like this," expressing the pride and nostalgia that classic car restoration brings him. His car's custom design diverges from the traditional gold and chrome typically associated with lowriders but it still manages to pay homage to his grandparents, which has shaped his life in a positive direction since high school; his grandfather's advice "you better believe it" served as a personal mantra throughout his journey.
Capturing this marriage of culture and creativity, "Carros y Cultura" deeply dives into the impact of lowriders since their origins post-World War II in California, where they burst onto the scene as emblems of Chicano rights, and later as captivating artifacts of a resilient and vibrant culture. Innovative hydraulic systems emerged out of necessity, in response to vehicle height restrictions and soon became a defining feature of these automobile masterpieces.
The CBS Austin reports the exhibition, which runs through September 2, encompasses not just shiny metal bodies and low-set frames, but a spectrum of cultural expressions from music to fashion; and it's not just cars, it's bicycles too, with seven cars and five bicycles on display including crowd-pleasers like a gold-plated '63 Chevy Impala and, speaking to the exhibit's breadth, a 1986 Oldsmobile, similar to the one DeHoyos so painstakingly restored, featuring a mural of legendary singer Vicente Fernández.
Interactive installations bring visitors into the lowrider world while first-person anecdotes reveal the heartbeat of a community that Kathryn Siefker, senior curator at the Bullock Museum, describes as "immensely creative and endlessly kind," it's an educational ride, both eye-opening and free on H-E-B Free First Sundays, with lowrider-themed fun for everyone.
