I love cars, perhaps because I have not always had one. And because I am old, I remember when these different sorts of cars could be seen driving about. Today, the best place to see interesting cars is, unsurprisingly, at a car show. And this was a show put on by local enthusiasts for a particular type of modification, low riders.

When I was in college I sometimes drove my roommate’s truck which was quite similar. These originally came in your choice of dark green, or dark green and were intended as a utility vehicle. It had a four speed stick shift, no power steering and was also intended to be driven in pastures and such. This one has been dropped, re-chromed and painted in two tone metal flake. It can’t be driven in a pasture anymore.

I formerly used to drive one of these, and I can testify that it was a lot of fun. The unmodified version will do up to 120 mph on the freeway, but painting it red is asking for a ticket. Even without modification it is a low car and you can easily high center (like in a pasture).

Low riders are not limited to cars, motorcycles can be low too. This was an amazing example that has been chromed and etched on every possible surface. It includes a blanket if you need to camp out, but I think that there is also the pasture problem on this vehicle.

This was my favorite car in the show, and I hope it won a trophy. The metal flake paint job was a work of art and it included an artwork under the hood. Every bit of chrome was redone and it was a deluxe model from the era when everything was chromed. This car does have hydraulics in the trunk, so it does not always ride so low. It could possibly drive into a pasture or rough road, but I suspect that it sits in the garage most of the year and is too precious to drive. That’s a shame as it is a beautiful tribute to both culture and automotive design excellence.