Kyden Martinez

Amir Mohamed

Cultural Anthropology 001

12/6/2020

Car Culture

Cars for some people are a way to get from point A to point B. For others,

they're more than just transportation, it gives them a freedom that other things

can't. Like going on drives around town just to clear your head, or even just a

place you can go and be alone. However, an even smaller percent of people

don't get that excitement from just driving that car as is, but looking at that car as

an art piece opportunity. These people are what we call, the car community. The

car community has been around basically since cars were invented. As a matter

of fact, the first ever car race was all the way back in 1895, only 10 years after

the first car was invented. This means after only 10 years of cars existing, people

were already looking for a way to customize their cars to be faster and even

changing the looks a bit. With that being said, car culture isn't only about having

the fastest car, but having a car that you are proud to show off. There are so

many sub-divisions that branch from the car community that makes everyones

build special in its own way.

As unique as these cars are, a lot of people still wonder why others pour

money into a car that isn't the most reliable when you can spend less for
something that runs great. That’s basically asking an artist what the point is in

painting a picture, if you can just buy one. Seeing your finished product after you

have finished pouring your heart, time, and money into it, is a feeling like no

other. Spending all that time getting to know your car, inside and out, it becomes

a part of you, something you want to drive around for everyone to see. In Brenda

Brights paper, ​Heart Like a Car,​ there was a quote from Dennis Martinez that

perfectly summarizes why people would rather build a car than buy one. Martinez

stated, “It's my culture, man. It's like my inheritance. My family all lowride, so I

just keep lowriding myself. It's something that is traditional. I have a heart that's

like a car, you know. My heart is in my wheels,” In the car culture, your car is a

representation of you, most of the time, people don't build their cars to please

other people because your car doesn't belong to that person, it belongs to you.

However, there are people who build cars to bring light to something bigger. In

2015, a teenager named Andrew Lee was unfortunately diagnosed with terminal

cancer. However, Andrew took this news as an opportunity to build the best car

he could. The r35 GTR had everything you could possibly want on your car, but

the biggest attraction of the car was its vibrant color. It was painted bright orange

to help bring awareness to the type of kidney cancer he had. Unfortunately in

2016, Andrew passed away after a long battle against cancer, but his build didn't

end there. Driven to Cure, a non-profit organization for children and adults with

rare cancers, stepped in and helped raise over $200,000 to donate to research.

A lot of the excitement in building a car also stems from the people that

you meet along the way. Typically building a car isn't a single person job since
there are a lot of heavy parts in cars that just need two sets of hands. Although,

most of the time the help most needed is advice and a new way of thinking. I’m

currently working on a project car but any time before I order a new part, I ask my

friend who had already previously built the same type of car but not every part I

have, he has, and that is how the community spreads. When he doesn't know

what to do he gives me contacts of people that have also worked on this car,

expanding the culture even more.

Car meets and clubs are just another way to be introduced to more car

enthusiasts. Car meets are made for anyone and everyone, just go and enjoy the

view. Arguably the biggest and best car show of the year is called SEMA (Speed

Equipment Manufacturing Association). Once a year, SEMA chooses the best of

the best to display their cars, which can be anything from trucks, to super cars, to

even minivans. The thing about any car meet though, is that everyone there has

at least one thing in common no matter size, shape, or race. They all have a

respect for cars.

On the other hand, car clubs or gangs are a little more exclusive. Simply, if

your car doesn't look good and go fast, you won't be asked to join. The group's

main purpose is to be recognized and show off their hard work. Modified cars

sometimes attract the wrong attention though. Police officers are literally and

figuratively the only things that slow them down. Similar to being in a gang, you

and your car are given a certain identity and stereotype, which is that we all drive

recklessly and or are doing something illegal at all times. Janicemarie A. Holtz

describes the struggles and annoyances dealing with police in her story, ​The
“Low Riders”. ​While going out and driving fast is a part of having a fun car, car

groups don't always like to do that because it looks bad for them. That's not the

goal of car groups, they just want to show the limitless possibilities there are to

practically any car.

A car owned by a car enthusiast isn't just a car at all, but rather a mirror.

It’s a reflection of who that person is and what they like. You can catch

“Chicanos” cruising town in an old Impala slammed to the ground with massive

wheels, or a JDM (Japanese Domestic Motorsport) enthusiast driving with a big

wing and flames spitting out the back. Each car is special to its owner in its own

way. If someone can't appreciate the hard work because THEY don't like how it

looks, so what. This community is wonderful because car people are everywhere.

Go drive around for ten minutes and find someone to cruise around with. It's an

open culture where nobody's work goes unnoticed. Having that freedom to not

only create exactly what you want, while still being able to use it and show it off

every day is something special that you can’t do with a lot of things. There are so

many reasons why people would rather build a car instead of buying one, but one

thing everybody can agree on, is that it gives us something to put our heart into.
 Works Cited

Bright, Brenda. “‘Heart like a Car’: Hispano/Chicano Culture in Northern New Mexico.”

AnthroSource​, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 7 Jan. 2008,

anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1525/ae.1998.25.4.583.

Chappell, Ben. “Custom Contestations: Lowriders and Urban Space.” ​AnthroSource​, John Wiley

& Sons, Ltd, 7 June 2010,

anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1548-744X.2010.01029.x.

Chappell, Ben. ​Lowrider Cruising Spaces​. 2011,

www.stevenlaurie.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/cruise.pdf.

Holtz, Janice-Marie Allard. “The ‘Low-Riders’: Portrait of an Urban Youth Sub-Culture.” ​Youth

and Society,​ 30 Nov. 1974, eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ123569.

Kersten, Alex. “RIP Andrew Lee, The Awesome Guy Who Fought Terminal Cancer With His

LW GT-R.” ​Car Throttle,​ Car Throttle, 23 Apr. 2019,

www.carthrottle.com/post/rip-andrew-lee-the-awesome-guy-who-fought-terminal-cancer-

with-his-lw-gt-r/.

Alagoa, Hans. (2015). How National Culture Influences Judgment and Decision Making (JDM).

SSRN Electronic Journal. 10.2139/ssrn.2642740.