Lowrider Space: Aesthetics and Politics of Mexican American Custom Cars

Title Page, Copyright Page

Lowrider Space THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK university of texas press austin LOWRIDER SPACE Aesthetics and Politics of Mexican American Custom Cars Ben Chappell Copyright © 2012 by the University of Texas Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First edition, 2012 Unless otherwise noted, all photographs in this book were taken by the author. Portions of this book appeared in earlier stages of development in the following books and journals: Technicolor: Race, Technology, and Daily Life, edited by Alondra Nelson and Thuy Linh N. Tu (New York: New York Univ. Press, 2000); Mobile Crossings: Representations of Chicana/o Cultures, edited by Anja Bandau and Marc Priewe (Trier, Germany: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2006); Cultural Dynamics 18, no. 3 (2006); and City and Society 22, no. 1 (2010). The text of Latino Comedy Project’s “Chuy in the Sky” sketch appears by permission of Teatro Humanidad Cansada. The text of the raulrsalinas poem “Via Crucis 150” appears by permission of Resistencia Bookstore and Red Salmon Arts. Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to: Permissions University of Texas Press P.O. Box 7819 Austin, TX 78713-7819 www.utexas.edu/utpress/about/bpermission.html The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chappell, Ben, 1971– Lowrider space : aesthetics and politics of Mexican American custom cars / Ben Chappell. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-292-73786-0 (cloth : alk. paper)—isbn 978-0-292-73787-7 (e-book) 1. Mexican Americans—Social life and customs. 2. Mexican Americans—Cultural assimilation . 3. Lowriders—Social aspects—United States. 4. Automobiles—Social aspects— United States. 5. Automobiles—Societies, etc.—Social aspects—United States. 6. Popular culture—United States. I. Title. e184.m5c3837 2012 973'.046872—dc23 2012007465 To my family. THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ...