hilltopics
friday, april 13, 2001
images people features
6A
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and stylin'
ridin'
owriders chrome rims, tinted windows and windshield decals. Thumping subwoofers, bouncing nytraculic suspensions, space-age buildings.
personalized cars provide a way to stand out in traffic
for
spoilers and beedy bumperspouses Some people want their cars to stand out. From a simple window tint to a complete overhaul, custom modifications offer style and individuality. Some reflect the values of the cultures that popularized them while some, such as tints and bumperspouses, have evolved into status items that have entered into status.
Kyle Rose, Lawrence resident, installs an Alleyza W light on a 1995 Honda Accord at Precision Dent Removal. 2300 W. 29th Terrace. The company performs a variety of custom alterations on vehicles. Photo by Justin Schmidt/KANSAN
tinguish the upper and middle class in China's major cities from the working poor and farmers in rural areas. In Japan, however, many young people prefer to upgrade the interior, often with expensive car stereo systems or plush interior trim. Moos said.
symbols and personal identity marks our drivers. But most have the same goal — to attract attention than.
Clifton Rendon, a former university of Kansas student, sports 90 in inch chrome rims and tinted wheels on his gray pickup truck. He also saving to turn a 1963 Chevy Impala into a old-school conversion. He plans to make the convertion and install a hydraulic system in his spare time with help from friends.
"The Japanese tend to pretend gravs and dark colors on the outfit side of their clothes," he said. "In Japan, you don't want to stick out." But in the United States, Japanese cars sport many striking exterior customizations.
Cruiser was involved in front-end collision. Schmidt had what is known as an Australian bull bar installed over the grill. Though the mammoth chrome, protective bar probably could hold its usually bovine against the horns of some unruly boise, primarily flies off parking lot webs and scrapes.
Perhaps the most eye-catching of all is the lowrider. It takes Jeremy Smith, shop foreman at a precision Ten Removal, 2300 W. 99th St. Terrace, a full day to readjust the suspension to bring the framework of car down a few inches for which he charges up to about $1,000 for parts and labor.
James Fager, a mechanic at Ed Zorness Chevrolet in Topeka performs custom modifications. He said that people of all ages and nationalities personalize their cars for the same reason — to stand out in the blur of traffic.
Vernon said he also sees the difference between the old style of lowriders and the new. The old, which has more Latin enthusiasm, is marked by big wheels and powerful hydraulic systems on older, domestic cars and trucks. The style is more laid back, designed for leisurely display while rolling through a busy downtown area such as Massachusetts Street.
The new school, though, sometimes referred to as Euro, includes imports of all kinds. But their modifications include smaller wheels, racing strips, and rumbling exhaust systems, seek to create a flashing, street legal race car — even if the driver doesn't, which most don't. Rendon who is Hispanic, said the two schools rarely mix, though the Eurostyle has a broader following. You see a lot of Asiaans with Euros, but it's a worldwide thing, he said.
Enthusiasts who want to bump down the street with a hydraulic suspension system, the rider feels in Snoop Dogg Dodge Dogs 1994 video "On and juice" can pair a system for about $2,000 plus installation. Smith said it installs
"People want something that is unique, that gets you recognition," Fager said. "When you have custom effects or custom paint, you want to look at it and say, 'There's never going to be another car just like that.'"
For details, see Womans.
Edited by Melinda Woover
young learner and a more mature sometimes assign their cars proper names displayed in elaborate vinyl lettering across the top of the windshield or the back window. Within the last year, some of those have been accompanied by web pages of the car model's official Web site, such as integra.com for the Acura Integra. Unlike many modifications a car are designed to individualize a car and make it look unique, the increasingly popular Web site decals are intended to show
Some customized auto accessorize reflect the values of the culture where the car or its driver, originated. Felix Mo is its professor or anthropology, specializes in cultural change and development in Asia.
He said that young men in China Taiwan, Korea and other Asia countries were more likely to make eye catching modifications to their cars' exteriors. Cars in China are considered status symbols that dissuade
or demand loyalty in use, see sale.
Window thining is more universal
- for under $100, any car can
  get for enough privacy and sun
protection to satisfy a mob boss or
a government official. Whether the
attraction to tinting lies in sleek-
ness and mystery or the mere ability
to stick one's tongue out a passi-
ng cars undetected varies from
driver to driver.
John Schmidt, a Lawrence financial consultant who has modified cars made to several cars at Lawrence specialty shops, said he got a kick out of going into behind the tinted windows of his 2001 Chevy Suburban. "You can see everybody, but they can see you," he said.
Exterior modifications, such as the Australian bill bar, rims and fitted windows on your Explorer help to personalize cars. Some modifications have their root in different cultures but must are used today by people of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Photo illustration by Nick Krug/KANSAN