Some car enthusiasts look for speed or power in their ideal rides. But in northern New Mexico, where lowriding thrives, it’s all about height—or the lack thereof. Hispanic Americans have been dropping their cars to mere inches off the ground since at least the mid-20th century, when lowriding developed as a laid-back alternative to a high-octane hot rod culture largely dominated by whites. Drivers in Los Angeles and El Paso, who weighed their cars down with sandbags, were early innovators. Today, drivers around the world use hydraulic systems to not only drop their vehicles but bounce or “hop” them several feet in the air.
-Slate
