BEST IN LOW
August 25, 2024
For largest display, click on the individual photograph
I thought I was pretty familiar with Low Riders, boy was I wrong! I never imagined cars like these, fortunately, these artists did and the Petersen Automotive Museum had the vision to make a major exhibit of these stunning vehicles. The beauty in these cars is not just the fabulous paint jobs, scallop design, scroll work and engraving, but in their stories as well, but first, about the paint.
Early low riders kept their factory paint jobs, the work was done on the hydraulics. After World War II flame motifs adorned the cars, and in the 1950s scallop paint designs appeared. Mel Pinole and Joe Bailon were some of the first to use the “candy” paint technique layering a metallic base coat, tinted translucent mid coat and a clear top coat. Next came pearlescent powder and metal flake additives. Years later, in the 1970s Von Dutch introduced hand pin-striping, now a standard feature and that was followed up with airbrushed murals lending a theme or storyline to the custom rides. (Source: Petersen Museum)
Low Riders are very big in Japan. This particular silver 1958 Chevy Impala is the creation of master custom painter Takahiko Izawa of Japan. Every body panel on the car was painted with his special “metal” paint, then painstakingly engraved. Izawa freehanded the designs on every inch of the body on a thick coat of primer with perfect symmetry and uses a dedicated electric sculpting sword to carve the design out of the primer. Each panel is then individually painted and the car reassembled.
Themes can go anywhere as evidenced in the form of a Lincoln Continental tribute to Las Vegas. Place your bets.
Here are a few more great pieces of automotive art to admire and appreciate.
Saving the best for last - Best in Show is Chris Roark’s “Final Score,” a 1958 Chevy Impala. It looks like Chris worked on every square inch on the car, engraving on the engine wall, the undercarriage which is reflected by floor surface mirrors, and the trunk on the hydraulics. “Final Score” won Low Rider of the Year honors 3 times, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Notes on the photographs. Some cameras feature image stabilization enabling photographers to capture sharp images, at very low shutter speeds in venues, such as in museums, where tripods would be preferred but are verboten. All of the photographs in the series were taken with my favorite touring kit, the image stabilized Fuji XT-5 and two Sigma zoom lenses, the workhorse 18-50MM and the ultra wide 10-18MM.