ANAHEIM : Low Riders to Ride High at Car Show

More than 800 low riders, from 1940s bombers to 1990s mini-cars, will be on display Sunday at Caliente, one of the largest Latino-influenced car shows ever held in Orange County.

Posh velveteen interiors and skillfully crafted exterior murals lined with 24-karat gold will be among the vehicles on display at Anaheim Stadium, along with entertainment including traditional dancers and jazz and salsa bands.

The Latino car club tradition, unlike other California auto groups, is a family affair that offers young Latinos an alternative to gangs and drugs, show organizers said.

“There’s a lot of pride and tradition in these old cars,” said Al Martinez, a Garden Grove auto body shop owner who organized Caliente. “Cars are a great way for young guys to channel their energy. You see them working overtime to make money to put into their cars. You see a lot of families involved.”

“Low riders have always had the bad rap of being in gangs,” Martinez said. “I’m trying to get the word out that there’s a positive side; it’s only a few guys who spoil it for the rest of them, like anything.”

Steve Stillwell, editor of Street Cruizin’, a magazine that caters to Latino car clubs, said some cars will stay in a family for decades, with each generation changing the look and giving it a new style.

“They get a whole family into doing one of these, and they may do that car over and over again,” he said, adding that up to $60,000 can be spent customizing a single car.

Bobby Jauregui, who said he has been building cars since he was 18, likes to show off the many tricks of his 1984 Buick, including alternately raising each of its four wheels so the sedan looks like a Frisbee spinning to a stop on the ground.

He said he has put $33,000 into the Buick and plans to keep this one instead of selling it. Besides showing the Buick at car shows, he drives it on special occasions.

“My dad started me on cars, and all my cousins had them,” said Jauregui, who now owns a auto shop in Ontario. “Now, it’s like I got hydraulic oil in my veins instead of blood.”