Old School 1960s Lowriding

Rare film footage from 1968-1969 featuring Allen Duke and his 1964 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport. Shot on standard 8mm movie film using an old spring driven, fixed focus (no zoom or auto exposure) movie camera. "Old timey" effects are real, not added!

The location is Wilmington, California. Some of the scenes were shot on Avalon Blvd, then a big Sunday afternoon cruising strip in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. Notable landmarks are at 1:12 when Allen turns left from Avalon on to Fst. and the original Red & Blackie's burger stand is seen in the background. This was the southern end of the cruise route. At 1:25 the Chevy scrapes past the Union 76 station at Avalon and Denni St. This was about the northern end of the cruise and a good place to park as the station was closed Sundays. Or at least you could park there until you got rousted by "The Man", as frequently happened. Ahhh, good times!

The car had hydraulic lifts, two pumps, one for the front and the other for the rear. One 12 volt battery. No color pictures are available of the original two tone blue enamel repaint but Allen waxed it so often that it appeared to be a deep laquer. Later the car was painted a pearl purple with lace patterns on the hood and trunk. The painter was Carl Darling and pinstriping was added by Walt Prey. Soon after the Chevy was rear-ended. After repairs Allen had Richard Madrigal paint it candy red over pearl white with metalflake silver and cobwebing on the sides and top. At this time "Bellflower" pipes were added. The car rolled on Astro Supremes and had a custom white button tuck interior. This was state of the art lowriding in the late 1960s!

Today most people know that the word "lowrider" (and "low rider") can refer to either the car or the driver of the car. Almost forgotten is the fact that back in the day it was customary and considered cool for all passengers in a low rider to sit as low as possible in the seats, as seen in this video. Thus, a third meaning for the term "lowrider".

It would be nice if there were hundreds of more feet of film but, sadly, this is all there is. Only one reel of film was ever put through the hand-me-down camera.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• 1964
• chevy
• chevrolet
• impala
• super
• sport
• lowrider
• custom
• car
• metalflake
• candy
• paint
• paintjob
• allen
• duke
• wilmington
• wilmas
• california
• 1960s
• pinstriping
• hydraulic
• lifts
• juiced
• old
• school

[kideuce]

I went to North High in the early '60s but the name doesn't ring a bell.

[kideuce]

My name is Howard Gribble. I had a '67 Impala (in 1967) and a '66 Riviera (1969) and lived in North Torrance. The "Essentials" came along in the late '60s but they were mostly younger than me and I don't think I knew any of them personally.

[kideuce]

Glad you dig it. Always interested in the off beat parts of history that don't usually get recorded, like the vids you have made. How about one on the LB Pike? Not the lame ass mall that's there now but the OG amusment park they tore down in the 1980s. Anyway, keep up the good work!

[WWFstunna13]

@kideuce my uncle got his first tat at the Pike (x he tells me about the good ol times in the sixties with his 61 impala, which hes slowly restoring with me now. He was in a lowriding club i guess.... called Expeditions Torrance or something close to that. plus some of these pictures are in the lowrider book my uncle has...

[kideuce]

@WWFstunna13

Maybe your uncle's club was the "Essentials" from Torrance. I remember them from the late '60s.

[kideuce]

Glad you enjoyed my little video, those were some cool times and I can appreciate them now all the more. Wish I had shot more film but, unfortunatly, this is all there is. You can't go wrong documenting the present. Might seem unimportant now but down the road you find out that no one bothered so there's very little or nothing of the history recorded.

[WWFstunna13]

Oh alright. Sorry about all the trouble. Nice to see people still care about the good O'l days. Wish I coulda been alive back then.

[WWFstunna13]

Did yu go to north high? Did you know anyone by the last name of LoPiccolo?

[WWFstunna13]

Yes it was essentials Torrance my uncle still has the "Essentials Torrance" plaque. He was wondering what your name is? Yu can message me if you'd like.

[b0rderbr0ther22]

thanks for uploading this video vato , this is a jewel in the lowrider history 

[SpeedTriple59]

Love this clip,a pick me up on a shite day..Thanks for sharing..