Lowriders in Mission

I had read about this in SF's FunCheap Newsletter and, with find memories of Eddie Guerrero nestling in my brain, I made my way there on Sunday with a hesitant Pooch in tow. "You don't even like cars." he tried telling me as we walked there. That is true, in that I wouldn't sit down and read an article about the latest Volvo, but I do like craft - and customisations like these can only be done by true craftsmen. And craftswomen.

From wikipedia:

A lowrider (sometimes low rider) is an automobile or other vehicle modified so that its ground clearance is less than its design specification. 

Yes, I can imagine that is the minimum requirement. However, it goes on to say:

Such modifications ...alter the vehicle's performance by changing the vehicle's aerodynamic properties, to lower its center of gravity, or to change the effective gear ratios of the drivetrain.

This is where it gets interesting. You see the car in the background of the white one, to the right? That's not just jacked up to display its underparts.

Well it's not, they actually drive around in that position. Not stuck like that, but dynamically moving up and down and jigging up and down and so on. There is a video here. Not all of them do that - some are more about the custom paint, accessories and dashboard. So impressive.

And of course there were a few other vehicles. Apparently (now this is according to a WWE commentator so is quite possibly not true) in poorer areas where a car is out of reach you get Lowrider Bicycles.

The back cart of the this one is purely for the sound system.

And who can forget this little pedal car.

I can just imagine my ickle niece cruising the neighbourhood in that!

This event was held as a fundraiser for the school whose playground it was in and there was a real community feel to it. San Francisco definitely has a much stronger neighbourhood/community feel to it than similar areas in London. But then people also manage to shoot each other more. Pros and cons I guess.