Lawmakers in New Mexico are embracing the US state’s culture of transforming customised low-rider cars into rolling canvases of artistic expression and a source of community pride.
House and Senate lawmakers designated February 11 as Lowrider Day at the state capitol, marked by celebrations of Latino tradition and history. Proposed legislation would go farther by creating special number plates in tribute to low-riders.
Legislators including state senator Leo Jaramillo are also drafting a bill this year that would enshrine the low-rider as New Mexico’s state vehicle – alongside the roadrunner as state bird and the spiky yucca as state flower.
Lawmakers also envision a future low-rider museum in the car-crazed city of Española, 20 miles (32 kilometres) north of Santa Fe.
Jaramillo says the Upper Rio Grande Valley emerged as the cradle of low-rider car culture in the 1960s, as Vietnam war mechanics brought their skills to bear on customised cars.
Decades later, an MTV crew documented New Mexico low-rider traditions and labelled the Española valley as the “low-rider capital of the world”.