What Happened To Hydraulics? Nothing. It’s Still Here
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[Music]
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the customization and hydraulics of the
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classic lowrider is an icon of modern
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car culture originating in southern
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california during the 1930s with popular
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international appeal today
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just saying the words low rider is
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likely to invoke vivid imagery for
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pretty much anyone
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for me it's a 1964 chevy impala bouncing
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up and down in a way that doesn't seem
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healthy for its suspension
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or the human brain but it would sure
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deliver an a-plus performance in a dr
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dre music video unfortunately the car
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enthusiast tradition was squashed by
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reactionary laws against customizing
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cars by lowering their suspension but
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that didn't stop low riders from taking
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over california car culture after all
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isn't that what low riders are built to
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do
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travel under the radar in 1959 mechanic
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ron aguirre figured out that he could
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take a general motors x-frame chassis
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and attach it to some hydraulic pumps
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lowering and raising the car with a flip
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of a switch with aguirre's discovery the
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modern low rider was born first released
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in 1957 the x-frame changed the course
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of low rider history because its unique
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design allowed for more support on the
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vertical axis
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the 1964 chevrolet impala is considered
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the classic frame and body for hydraulic
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implementation for this reason
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that's the incredible thing about a car
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hydraulics these systems didn't come out
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of a corporate think tank
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car enthusiasts had to do everything
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from scratch using whatever they had
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lying around in their garage
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i like to think of myself as a diy guy
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but i don't think i could ever build a
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hydraulic system all by myself or at
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least one that would be safe to use
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if you want to turn your car into a
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bouncing demon it's a lot easier now
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than it was back in 1957. the only thing
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stopping you are your country's laws and
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regulations which we all know can be
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worked around wink wink
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[Music]
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For many, the peak of “the lowrider culture” came in the 1970s on Whittier Boulevard in Los Angeles. It's here you’d find circles of vibrantly painted muscle cars that glided “low and slow” throughout the streets as depicted in the 1979 film Boulevard Nights. The muscle cars featured so prominently in the ‘70s are no longer as mainstream, but for those who think lowrider culture is gone, it’s only because you stopped looking. But let’s take you through some history.
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