The 64 Impala and Lowrider Culture Explained

Lowrider History and the 64 Impala

Car culture runs deep in America. The car’s contributions to personal and collective mobility shaped the country in profound ways from the  Great Migration and the Dust Bowl Exodus to suburban sprawl and the modern commuter grind. The manufacturing of cars built and enriched entire communities. America looks as it does today because of the automobile.

Not only does America’s image reflect the car, but our cars are also a reflection of us, both individually and communally. They function as emblems of our individual personalities, our values, and, often, our ethnic and regional cultures. There are classic hotrods, ratrods, and donks, off-roaders and overlanders, muscle cars and air-brushed vans and the old guys at your local Cars and Coffee with their “very fast” Corvettes. But among this myriad there are few American car subcultures more iconic, more instantly recognizable as the classic lowrider.

The history of the lowrider traces back over 80 years, and you can find just about any American car having been given the lowrider treatment, but the ‘64 Impala has a special place within the pantheon of  lowriders. Its signature long lines accentuate a lowered profile. Among classic cars it has become synonymous with lowrider culture.

Where Did Lowriders Come From? 

The lowrider phenomenon has its roots in the Hispanic/Chicano communities of the American Southwest. Many point to the “pachuco” culture that first emerged in the 1930s in El Paso, Texas as the movement’s genesis. Pachucos were young Chicanos best known for their flamboyantly tailored suits which emulated the stylings of gangsters and jazz-artist of the day but with distinctively embellished shoulders, long cut blazers, and loose-fitting slacks. The pachuco “zoot suit” style spread across the Southwest over the next decade.

Along with their suits, young Chicanos expressed themselves through their cars. The post-WWII era saw the first blossoming modern American car culture as the economy boomed and a new generation of young men bought their first cars. Many returning G.I.s, Anglo and Chicano, came home with new metal working skills and money to spend on new and used cars.

The defining feature of Chicano car culture at the time was a conspicuously lowered clearance. These cars had chopped and lowered suspensions (and sometimes roof lines to match). Early lowriders didn’t bother with actual modifications to the suspension and instead relied on bags of cement mix or sand to weigh them down.

The trend of lowering their vehicles set the Chicano car culture of the late 40s and early 50s distinctly apart from that of its Anglo counterpart. White car culture worshiped at the altar of  hotrods with their engines and bodies modified for speed. Street racing was the truest verification of a car’s coolness. By contrast, lowriders and lowrider culture was founded on the dictum of “bajito y suavecito,” or low and slow. Lowriders were intended for cruising, for showing off the quality of a car and its  customizations. The focus was on aesthetics not horsepower.

Legend has it that the use of hydraulics was first introduced to allow car owners to avoid being ticketed after a 1958 change to the California vehicle code 24008 specified that vehicles could ride no lower than the bottom of their rims. Many believe, and with good reason, this change was specifically designed to target Chicano youth for police harassment. But with hydraulics (initially taken from the landing gear systems of airplanes), a driver could simply flip a switch and boost the ride height back to street legal.

A historical cruising route for lowriders is along Whittier Blvd. in East Los Angeles, California. Whittier is a main thoroughfare running through the heart of the city. As such, it has long functioned not just as an artery for local commerce but also as a meeting place for the Chicano youth of East LA. Whittier was where you went to see and be seen, and there was no better vehicle for cruising the main drag than a lowrider.

What Makes a Car a Lowrider? 

Lowriders are about much more than hydraulics. In fact, lowriding focuses on developing each car’s distinctive look and style. Lowriders are, first and last, an expression and extension of the owner’s personality. Elaborate paint jobs abound, incorporating glitter, gloss, and pinstriping. Lowrider art is frequently personal, with subjects ranging from favorite celebrities to honored family members to refencing indigenous Mexican and Chicano history. The art works found on lowriders are an extension of the broader Chicano pictorial culture that includes the longstanding traditions of tattoo artists, graffiti artists, and muralists.

Along with their lowered suspensions and ornate exteriors, lowriders round out their look with flashy rims and well-appointed interiors. Popular rims include 13-inch and 14-inch deep-dish rims, wire spoke rims, and spinner rims. Expense and attention are rarely spared on lowrider interiors wherein velvet, embossed leather, and sleek vinyl locate the proverbial seat of luxury little lower to the ground. Custom steering wheels are a favorite modification, as are aftermarket foot pedals, shifters, and even bespoke cigarette lighters. On a lowrider, if it can be customized, it will be customized.

Over the years, there’s been a divergence between “hoppers” and show cars. Hoppers being those cars outfitted with hydraulics and suspensions capable of not just elevating, leaning, or lowering but also bouncing the car. Contests are even held to see which lowrider can gain the most air measured in feet, not inches. Obviously, this amount of bounce comes with risks to the car. Not every lowrider owner is willing to hazard all the hard work and money they’ve poured into their car to see it dented or scratched trying to gain that last bit of air. (Hoppers can get so vertical they can damage the rear bumper.)

Though the traditions of lowriding date back to the 1940s, lowriding and lowrider culture has never stopped evolving. Originating within the Chicano community, lowriding found new fans and adherents in the African American hip-hop culture of the late 80s and 90s. West coast rappers like Snoop Dogg, Easy-E, Ice Cube, and groups like Cypress Hill proudly featured lowriders in their music videos. Today many lowrider clubs are multi-racial with members from diverse backgrounds united by their love of these cars.

Most lowriders continue in the tradition of bajito y suavecito, but a modern trend of “low, slow, and go” sees lowrider enthusiasts investing in performance engines and embracing power as another axis upon which to judge the quality of their ride. Many of the classic lowrider cars came with hefty engines, notably the Chevrolet Impala, with its available 409 V8 engine and Super Sport trim line.

The ‘64 Impala – The Quintessential Lowrider 

Impalas have long been a popular choice for lowrider modification. Especially the 3rd generation, with none becoming more revered than the 1964 model year. The ‘64 was the last of the 3rd-gen Impalas, redesigned with smoother, more rounded lines, modifications to grille and the taillights, and a new upside-down chrome “U” yoked across the rear end. The ‘64 Impala was a distinctive and beautiful automobile direct from the factory. It’s x-frame chassis and long flat paneling made for the perfect canvas for lowrider enthusiasts to augment these cars inside and out.

Perhaps the most famous of all ‘64 Impalas is Jesse Valdez’s Gypsy Rose. Valdez, along with his brothers, founded the Imperials car club in East LA. They worked on three different versions of the Gypsy Rose, two ‘63 Impalas and the final version, a ‘64. The Gypsy Rose sports candy red and pink paneling, pinstriping, and featured over a hundred hand drawn roses in its paintjob. The interior includes velvet crush upholstery, a cocktail bar in the back seat, and even chandeliers.

Long considered the gold standard for lowriders, the Gypsy Rose won numerous awards and accolades, appearing in magazines ranging from Lowrider to Life, and was even featured in the opening credits of the 70s TV show Chico and the Man. Even after the untimely passing of its creator in 2011, the Gypsy Rose, now owned by Jesse Valdez II, still wows crowds at car shows and museum exhibitions to this day.

Lowriders as Chicano Art 

People know lowriders represent a specific American car sub-culture. Yet this still might understate their cultural significance. Lowriders are drive-able artwork representing a specific mode and medium of personal and cultural expression emanating from a specific time and place. They belong to a wider Chicano arts tradition that includes visual arts like murals and graffiti, El Teatro Campesino and similar street theater, and the zoot suit fashions pioneered some 80 years ago by the “pachuco generation.” The flamboyance of lowriders, with their lurid colors and hopping, mirrors the attitude and ostentation of these other forms of Chicano art.

Lowriders transcend the merely automotive to sit alongside other great forms of distinctly American art like jazz, rock ‘n roll, and hip-hop, patchwork quilting, and “tramp art” woodworking. And like these other traditions, lowriders form and express personal, community, and cultural identity. For car lovers the world round, there are few more enticing canvases for self-expression than a neglected ‘64 Impala begging for a set of rims, a candied paint job, and a lowered suspension.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in July 2019 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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