The artistry, culture and history of lowriders is to be celebrated at the Petersen Automotive Museum, with the Los Angeles, California venue’s largest and most comprehensive lowrider exhibit ever. Set to open on May 11, 2024, Best in Low: Lowrider Icons of the Street and Show will be located in the Mullin Grand Salon, and will showcase some of the most important lowriders in history, alongside custom motorcycles, bicycles and art.
Lowriders burst onto the Southern California automotive scene in the post-war era, as individual expressions of personal creativity and cultural identity. Hot rodders were fixated on going fast, but lowriders just wanted to cruise low and slow. The lowrider community evolved into an expression of cultural pride in Southern California’s various Chicano communities by the late 1960s, but since then African Americans, Asians and members of other cultural groups have played a big part in the lowriding scene. Lowrider communities can be found across the US, as well as in Japan, France, Thailand and Brazil.
The exhibit will showcase some of the most important lowriders in history, alongside custom motorcycles, bicycles and art
Among the lowriders on display will be the 1964 Chevrolet Impala known as Gypsy Rose – the first lowrider to be inducted into the National Historic Vehicle Registry. Other notable lowriders include the 1958 Chevrolet Impala convertible Final Score and 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Double Trouble, both three-time Lowrider magazine Lowrider of the Year award winners, as well as the 1958 Impala Dead Presidents.
The 1954 Chevrolet 210 Sedan Sphinx, an influential car in the Japanese lowriding community, will also be on display, along with the Twisted Toy bicycle, a three-time Lowrider Bicycle of the Year (pictured below), other iconic and award-winning lowrider cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and more. The exhibit will also feature artwork and photography from some of the most influential artists from the Chicano lowrider art scene today.
“The lowrider displays are always a fan favourite, and we are excited to open the most comprehensive lowrider exhibit in the museum’s history,” said Petersen Automotive Museum executive director Terry L Karges. “This exhibit celebrates the rich history of lowriders, and will give visitors the opportunity to learn about their impact on the automotive world, the culture at large and the history of car customisation.”
“This Lowrider exhibit will be a new chapter exploring the craftsmanship of lowriders and the impact of this culture on the customisation scene,” added Dr Denise Sandoval, guest curator at the Petersen Automotive Museum. “We will also highlight the diversity of the culture through the region for the first time, including cars and motorcycles from Northern California, New Mexico, Texas and Japan, as well as feature cars owned and worked on by women.”
The exhibit opens on May 11, 2024 and runs until April 2025. More information can be found here.
