Despite the allure of all the hot rods at the recent Mooneyes car show in Irwindale, Calif., Ruben Rivas's Pontiac Grand Prix was a standout. His car is the very definition of a lowrider—an American land yacht dipped in gleaming paint and dropped to the ground.
Rivas is part of the Lifestyle Car Club, the renowned lowrider crew founded in East Los Angeles in the 1970s. Its cars have been featured in numerous publications, as well as in films and TV. Some have even been displayed at the Petersen Automotive Museum - opens in new window or tab.. The club has strict quality standards that each member must adhere to before the cars are accepted.
“This is what they looked like back in '76 when you did one," said Rivas, who went through painstaking efforts to honor the lowrider culture in period-correct style. For the paint, Rivas commissioned Danny B from D&D Designs in Baldwin Park, Calif. He used a House of Kolor hue called Goldmine Pearl. It looks deep enough to swim in, making each gradient embedded beneath the clear coat appear as if floating on different planes.
Each stripe follows the contours of the car’s original lines, curving over rear haunches and forming against the V-shaped hood, flowing into a classic GM waterfall grille. A massive sunroof illuminates a custom tan and amber interior.
The car didn't always look so dazzling. “It was a rescue,” Rivas said. “It had four flat tires, windows down, and it had been rained on.” But Rivas had been looking for a car to build 13 years ago when the father of a very good friend “who is no longer with us” unexpectedly gifted it to him. Some of the work to convert it into a lowrider had already begun, Rivas explained. “I finished what he had started.”
Despite the beauty of his ride, Rivas remains humble. When asked what the car means to him, he replied, “It's just fun to drive. I use it to come to these events, which are amazing. There's so many different people, different cars.” He gestured to the rest of the show. “People from all over the world are here, including Japan, Belgium, Germany, England, and Australia. California is the capital of car culture, and I'm glad to be a part of it.”
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