LOWRIDER

Low riding culture wize&ope makes a lowrider watch line as a tribute to the lowriding culture. We also have made 2 amazing bicycles that can be seen on earth. One is travelling in Asia, and the other one is displayed in our Paris shop.

Lowriding originated in the 1930s and blossomed in Southwestern Chicano communities during the post-war prosperity of the '50s. Initially, youths who dressed in the pachuco style would place sandbags in the trunk of their customized cars in order to create a lowriding effect.

This method was replaced by lowering blocks, cut spring coils, z’ed frames and drop spindles. The aim of the lowriders is to cruise as slowly as possible, "Low and Slow" ("Bajito y Suavecito") being their motto. However, this resulted in a backlash: the 1958 California Vehicle Code 24008, which outlawed any car having any part lower than the bottom of its wheel rims. In 1959, a customizer named Ron Aguirre developed a way of bypassing the law with the use of hydraulic Pesco pumps and valves (scavenged from a surplus B-52 bomber) that allowed him to change ride height at the flick of a switch.

1958 saw the emergence of the Chevy Impala which featured an X-shaped frame

that was perfectly suited for lowering and modification with hydraulics. Between 1960 and 1975, customizers adapted and refined GM X-frames, hydraulics, and airbrushing techniques to create the modern lowrider style. The oldest car cruising strip is located on Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles. Cruising on this strip became a popular past-time with the lowriding community during the 1940s before spreading to surrounding neighborhoods in the 1950s. This second bike had been made by our friend “Lolow” from Paris

WIZE AND OPE & CITADIUM

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