San Bernardino Hop- Car Show

One of the main attractions at the 2006 Lowrider Magazine Tour stop in San Bernardino, California, was the CCE Hydraulics-sponsored Hop. The San Berdoo Hop started off like any other, except that there were almost 40 cars registered for competition. For a minute, we thought that we were back at the Las Vegas Super Show. In fact, this might be a new record for us.

With so many people in all of the classes, it looked like the event was going to be out of control with some classes having up to 13 competitors. It was actually hard to take it all in with so many people, but there were some memorable happenings going down (or up, actually). Little Tony Zuniga won the crowd over as he hopped his '86 Ford Ranger. The nine-year-old made it look like child's play. The other kid on the switch was 12-year-old Sebastian Morales, who actually won the Radical Hop class with his '83 Chevy S-10. This was the first time that anyone that young had ever won a competition.

People came from all over-Las Vegas, Nevada; San Antonio, Texas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Northern California. Individuals C.C. celebrated its 30th anniversary with a hopper wagon that put it down for the club and showed what the group is all about. USA Motorsports of San Antonio broke out their latest creation, "Sweet 'N' Low," a street car dancer with a slogan that said it all, "Half of what you got," as it does all of the moves that four-pump cars can do.

Everybody wanted to hop or show what they had, even by hopping for exhibition only as Ron Eggers of Vegas did. Ron lost a ground cable that limited the car from performing. Once he strapped the ground, the car was smashing the back bumper. Nene Garcia from Majestics C.C. had his car's front bumper jam up the suspension, making the car stop before it even took off. Once Nene pulled off the front bumper, it was on, and with a few licks of the switch, the car was at a standstill. The last exhibition car dancer was Ron Eggers, who once again had his ground come loose. After tightening his ground cable, Ron tore up his truck for the crowd, losing a door and a few welds, as well as breaking a few suspension components.

There were a few California street guys who wanted to show how they run the streets. The street hoppers included Beach City Riders C.C., a club that actually had a few car hoppers but were ineligible to hop because they didn't pass inspection. The grapevine told us of a young fellow with the dream of building a lowrider and being able to compete at a Lowrider show. We thought that that was cool so we had to include him in the competition copy.

There was also a 2000 Lincoln Town Car that looked like it belonged inside with the show cars and not at the hydraulic competition. Drayon Bee's Lincoln had a nice paint job and a full-chrome undercarriage, which was cool for the streets, but also did well by placing Third in the Single-Pump Hop.

As mentioned, there were a lot of guys out to play, which was impressive as this was only the first show of the year in California. We'll have to see how events transpire before we get to the final outcome of the season, but even this early there were several guys trying to qualify for the grand finale in Las Vegas. Until then, we'll catch you at the next show.

"Voodoo" had problems with...        read full caption "Voodoo" had problems with the required time, scoring zero, but you'd never be able to tell by these moves.	The Red's wagon crushed the...        read full caption The Red's wagon crushed the back bumper hittin' 56 inches and locking in Second Place.	Dave Marquez kicked off the...        read full caption Dave Marquez kicked off the Hop with his '64.
The "grapevine" told us that...        read full caption The "grapevine" told us that James Moore's dream was to hop his '69 Impala at a Lowrider event and get his picture taken. What do you think? Did he meet his goal?	Sebastian, the 12-year-old...        read full caption Sebastian, the 12-year-old switch "man," made it look like child's play when his S-10 stood still at 97 inches.	Arturo's Cutlass was doing...        read full caption Arturo's Cutlass was doing its thing, running a single pump to the nose.
Drayon's Lincoln should have...        read full caption Drayon's Lincoln should have been on the show floor, but instead hopped into Third Place at 41 inches.	Juan Chavoya of Fresno, California,...        read full caption Juan Chavoya of Fresno, California, came out to dance this '83 Regal. The car did all of the moves and took home Second Place with 12 points.	Individuals C.C. celebrated...        read full caption Individuals C.C. celebrated its 30th anniversary with this wagon hopper as a tribute.