The ‘Sunday Cruise’ celebrates family and culture of lowriders in Dallas’ Hispanic community

For the Mata family, lowriders are more than lavishly decorated vehicles with hydraulic systems. They are a way to preserve their family heritage. And during the pandemic, the Sunday Cruise was the only activity that allowed them to have some sense of normalcy amid lockdowns and quarantines.

Mark Mata and his brothers are part of the Dallas Lowriders, one of the auto clubs that regularly drive down Jefferson Boulevard on Sunday afternoons. Lowriders have been rolling on the popular avenue since 2019 when the Dallas Lowriders organized a show for Father’s Day.

Since then, families have been visiting the area, which is still home to several Hispanic shops like quinceanera shops, restaurants, and attractions like the Oak Cliff Cultural Center.

Cruising the streets on Jefferson Boulevard is an opportunity for cultural and family gatherings, but Dallas and Fort Worth have banned cruising in some popular areas due to concerns about traffic and illegal activity.

The history

The lowrider subculture originated in postwar Los Angeles and grew in popularity in the 1970s, said Mónica Salazar, a lecturer in the history of art at UNT College of Visual Arts and Design. .

Lowriders represent a mix of American and Mexican cultures – with the cars often bearing iconography, including the Virgin of Guadalupe and pre-Columbian imagery, she said.

The hydraulic suspension came about thanks to Ron Aguirre, a Mexican-American who was one of the pioneers who fitted their cars with this system.

Juan Ortiz will drive his 1963 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport on Jefferson Boulevard in Dallas on Sunday, September 19, 2021.(Juan Figueroa / employee photographer)

In 1959, the California Vehicle Code made it illegal to drive cars in low gear. To get around this law, it was just a matter of the height of the car with its hydraulic system.

But how did lowriders get to Texas?

Salazar said the migration of California families to the Southwest expanded the lowrider culture and some auto clubs started chapters outside of California.

Last Sunday, September 20, Maribel Santiago and her husband Juan Salas sat in the back of their truck bed watching the lowriders on Jefferson Boulevard in Oak Cliff.

Santiago, 36, said they had been traveling from Hutchins for a month so their three- and four-year-old grandchildren could get a look at the brightly colored cars.

“They are so excited about the cars,” said Santiago, who is from Mexico City.

The lowrider riders wave to the passing children and others.

Different genres of music boom from the cars, but the roar of the engine moves into the spotlight. Club owned cars have a club name sign on the rear window.

Some lowriders balance over their left side wheels or bounce a little as they roll down Jefferson Boulevard, while others are parked for people to stare at.

People watch as people drive their cars on Jefferson Boulevard in Dallas on Sunday, September 19, 2021. (Juan Figueroa / employee photographer)

Carlos Chavez’s cream-colored 1985 Pontiac Grand Prix by the Certified Lowrider Car Crew stood at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard. Chávez, the club’s president, stated that the Certified Lowrider Car Crew was founded in 2012.

Most of the clubs are part of the United Lowrider Association of Dallas and Fort Worth.

Between 6pm and 10pm, Jefferson Boulevard isn’t the best route for drivers in a hurry, as lowriders take the streets to go slow and slow.

The Matas’ love affair with Lowriders began in 1979 in West Dallas, where the family began cruising and customizing their cars.

The Dallas Lowriders Auto Club was founded by Ivy and Roy Mata, Mark Mata’s older brothers. Mark, 44, recalls driving Ivy’s car as a kid.

“I said to him, ‘Hey, let’s cruise,’ and he’d clean me up and wash his car,” says Mark Mata, who runs a hydraulic suspension shop that also sells tires and rims for lowriders.

When Mark got his brother’s lowrider up and running, he and Ivy drove past places like downtown Dallas.

Marked loved riding with his brother. People waved and honked to them or gave them a thumbs up.

“I think you can say I like the spotlight a bit,” said Mark Mata, spokesman for the Dallas Lowriders.

But those rides ended when Ivy Mata was shot and killed by his best friend in West Dallas in 1985. Ivy’s death also spelled the end of the Dallas Lowriders for a time.

In 2003, Mark Mata and his brothers Roy, Saúl and Joe decided to start the car club again because they had several lowriders.

The association started with close relatives and grew over time. The association currently has around 20 members.

And just as Mark Mata grew up with the lowrider culture, so are his daughters, who now own cars and have the back of their father’s 1985 Buick Regal tattooed on their forearms.

Sisters Mariah Mata (left) and Mercedes Mata with Dallas Lowriders show off their matching tattoo on the back of a 1985 Buick Regal on Jefferson Boulevard in Dallas on Sunday, September 19, 2021. (Juan Figueroa / employee photographer)

On a Sunday evening, the Matas parked at the intersection of Bishop Avenue and Jefferson, which is where the Selena Quintanilla mural is located.

“Our car club is not just made up of people with beautiful cars. We are also a family, “said Mariah Mata (20)

Mariah and her sister Mercedes, 18, have worked to build their own lowriders.

“We hope to inspire other girls to save money and have their own lowrider – and build it themselves,” said Mercedes.

“This is our family heritage. We want this to go on forever, pass it on to our children and their children and on, ”said Mercedes.

A 40-minute drive away in Fort Worth could affect regulation lowrider cruises.

The regulation is not aimed exclusively at low riders, but rather at vehicles driving through the entertainment district of West 7th Street. The ordinance would impose a fine of up to $ 500 on vehicles that pass the same traffic checkpoint three times in a two-hour period.

Dallas also has areas where cruising is prohibited, including Deep Ellum and the West End Historic District.

In Fort Worth, West 7th is a high-traffic area with businesses like a movie theater, shops, restaurants, and bars.

Mark Mata with Dallas Lowriders stands next to his 1959 Chevrolet Impala on Jefferson Boulevard in Dallas on Sunday, September 19, 2021. (Juan Figueroa / employee photographer)

The regulation currently only prohibits cruises in the stockyards.

Fort Worth City Council has yet to vote to extend the ordinance to West 7th Street as the proposal was removed from the agenda in August.

The policy was introduced in 1992 and affects Northside Fort Worth, an area with a majority Mexican and Mexican-American community.

Ariella Villa, 41, was living in Fort Worth when the ordinance was enacted. She remembers lowrider cruises through the Stockyards as a teenager.

“(The Stockyards) was what Jefferson Boulevard is today – it was lit,” said Villa.

“It was so much fun,” said Villa, who is no longer so involved in the lowrider culture.

The regulation should not only help to facilitate traffic in this area, but also take action against the gang activities of the time. But Villa, who also works with United Fort Worth, a community organization, said gangs were no longer the problem.

Mark Mata admits that he was a member of a gang as a young man. He was even in jail. But he said his Dallas Lowriders Club was “a family-oriented club” that did not engage in illegal activities or street racing, which was a problem in Dallas.

“We encourage our members to bring your wife, your children, your grandma, your aunt,” he said.

The Dallas Lowriders spokesman said he was considering meeting in a different area of ​​Oak Cliff in the future as the street was clogged with other vehicles that like to burn their tires and crank their engines.

“To be honest, I hope to see the young kids these days, stay out of anger and adopt the (lowrider) lifestyle and run with it,” said Mark Mata.

“This is going to keep you out of trouble somehow. Instead of fooling around in the streets, you can work on your car at home … it motivates these kids these days to work harder so you can make money on your car. “

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