Cruising against prohibition
Lowriding, or cruising, the art of tuning vintage cars, is a long-standing tradition in many Chicane communities of California. Until recently, this community, like many others led by racial minorities, was heavily ostracized by the government.
Until 2023, the California Vehicle Code made lowriding illegal unless done in designated areas and times. Despite this, members of the community have worked hard to keep the tradition alive and, as of less than two years ago, achieved full legalization of all lowriding.
Community leaders such as Elizabeth Gomez make an effort to continue this long-standing tradition. Gomez, alongside her East Los Angeles-based car club “East Side Bombs,” hosted a free lowrider community event in Lincoln Heights on April 13, 2025. With fundraising from events they’ve held in the past, they gave away prizes such as skateboards and Easter baskets to families who came to see the wide array of modified cars.
Recently, a lowriding exhibition at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, curated by Denise Sandoval, has introduced this subculture to a wider audience.
Lowriding began around the 1940s. Chicanes who had recently moved into Southern California found a common passion for modifying cars, leading to showcases across the state. The practice has stood the test of time.
Alberto Vasquez, a member of Los Angeles’ “True Pride” car club, has been tuning cars for almost 30 years; he brought his beige 1963 GMC Suburban to Gomez’s event.
“It got me off the streets. I was heading down the wrong path, and I said, ‘I have to focus on something good,’” Vasquez said. “It helps people who are involved in bad stuff do something good for themselves, and that’s great for the community.”
The United States government associated Chicane communities with violent gang activity. This led them to forbid a lot of Chicane events and practices. Lowriding was outlawed in 1988 in section 24008 of the California Vehicle Code.
Many argue that this was a result of unfair targeting of racial minorities. Like Lorraine Quiñonez, who is the leader of the East Los Angeles-based activist group Cruising Is Not a Crime.
“We think it's always been associated with a racist mentality,” Quiñonez said. “As soon as you get a minority group or your Black and brown community doing something and gathering together, they assume that we’re up to no good.”
The government stated that cruising shows were too obstructive for everyday people. Lowriding was also believed by authorities to be closely related to the gang violence that affects thousands of Latines in California.
“We started working on a petition to get rid of the ban locally, and then lo and behold, as I was doing research, I found people fighting the ban in other areas, like San Jose, Modesto, and Sacramento,” Quiñonez said. “We formed a council, and it was successful; a resolution came out of it.”
San Fernando Congresswoman Luz Rivas then introduced the cruising bill ACR 176 in 2022 with the intention of lifting the ban. With the help of sponsors and representatives like Assembly member David Alvarez and his Assembly Bill 436, enough demand for freedom of cruising was voiced to eventually get a statewide legalization that went into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
Community members have now been hosting a lot more lowriding events with less fear of police intervention, but some are still wary of the public perception.
At Lincoln Heights, two men sat behind their old school cars under a booth designated to their group, Dino’s Bomb Squad. Carlos “Regular Carlos” Rodriguez, now 38 years old, started getting involved in lowriding when he was 15. Sitting next to him was Antonio Torres, 88, who’s been cruising since 1953.
“We give back to the community, but those who don’t understand us don’t see that; the bad stuff they see is all that stays in their mind,” Rodriguez said. “They don’t see that, like right now, there’s people from different neighborhoods, and these cars unite us.”
“They judge us, but look at all the happy people from all around gathering here. We are calm,” Torres said, as he pointed towards the many families taking pictures with the cars.
They both believe that by giving back to the community through events like the one hosted by Gomez, they were able to demonstrate the impact that lowriders can have in their neighborhoods. This is what they attribute to the successful unbanning of their practice.
“It takes a community to make things happen,” Quiñonez said. “Just like with the bill passed, it wasn’t just one group or one person. All of us working together can make great changes.”