Car enthusiasts got a chance to see some spectacular vehicles up close on Saturday.
The Lowrider Unity Tour was back again this year at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs. It is their 46th year showcasing both cars and culture through lowrider creations.
Hundreds of families, friends and people from around the country came to celebrate lowrider culture and to take a look at fantastic cars. People enjoyed live music, good food and even saw some cars dance.
One popular event at lowrider shows is the car hopping competition. Cars are measured for how high they can hop off the ground. Car owners work with the suspension and hydraulic fluid to make the cars look like they are jumping.
Spectacular cars were on display inside and outside the area. Some of the cars are worth $300,000s.
One family came all the way from Laramie, Wyoming to be a part of the lowrider community.
Jimmy Mora and his son Antonio have been a part of lowriding for their entire lives, but the lowrider sense in Wyoming is scarce so they come to Colorado to be a part of the cultural experience.
“I'm just a dad and a grandpa who tries to really use the Lowriding community and what I learned growing up from my family to make a positive influence in my son's life,” Jimmy Mora said.
Jimmy Mora said family and tradition is a huge part of lowriding culture.
“It's a tradition passed down from generation to generation, vehicles passed down from generation to generation. It'll probably be some of these old cars out here where somebody's grandfathers are great grandfathers that they bought originally in the 50s 40s 60s. So those get passed down to the family members and they always take pride in them,” Jimmy Mora said.
Jimmy and Antonio have been fixing up their 1984 Chevy Monte Carlo for over eight years.
“My favorite part of this car is the headlights, because I did them myself,” Antonio Mora said.
They were able to show off their creation at the lowrider show on Saturday. The car had a fantastic reddish and maroon color with gold accents. The Mora’s said when they first got the car, most people thought it was junk.
“It was destroyed, it look like it belonged in the junkyard,” Antonio Mora said.
“We bought it for $700 and drove it home in reverse. It did not even have you know forward gears” Jimmy Mora said.
But the rough beginnings is what gave the car its name.
“We named it Nightmare Monte because every shop we took it to said this car was a nightmare,” Antonio Mora said.
Working on cars takes many hours and lots of hard work. But for the Mora’s and many people at the lowrider tours, it is worth it.
“It is something I really enjoyed, working with my dad because we are doing this together,” Antonio Mora said.
“It does not matter how much money you put into it, it's about all the memories and love that you spend with your family that makes lowriding important and why we do this,” Jimmy Mora said.
The Mora’s are planning to attend the Colorado Springs lowrider experience again next year. They hope to bring a couple more cars, which they are currently working on, down to the show. The lowriders tour is expanding. They have plans to take lowriding internationally. They hope to have shows in Japan and Dubai.
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