The United States may be at the head of the lowriding game, but individuals from countries in Europe to South Africa have been definitely making a name for themselves as well as putting their perspective countries on the lowriding map!
In the January '03 issue of Lowrider, we featured an eye-catching '83 Pontiac Grand Prix (above) owned by Kev Reilander of Bristol, England. This traditional lowrider from the Diplomats Car Club was known in the United Kingdom as "Sweet `N' Sour".
The April '04 issue presented readers with a look at South Africa's number lowriding enthusiast, Nasmie Majiet, the lucky owner of a 1964 Impala hardtop (pictured above). Not only has he been one of the first in his city (Capetown) to own a fully-customized lowrider, but through his efforts, was the first to put on a large scale custom car show for his people.
In the following May '04 issue, a 1976 Buick Regal (pictured above) was featured built by Norbert Klebl. This custom regal was completely built there in Norbert's city of Vienna, Austria. He found it very difficult not only to acquire the resources and products needed to finish his ride, known as "Against the Law", but also found that many of the customizations he had done to it were actually considered illegal for street use!
Finally, in the December '04 issue, a collection of lowriding Sweden homies (pictured above) were featured along with their US-built low-rides. Niklas Svensson was the lead man of this elite group who started a Stockholm chapter of the famous Uce Car Club!
It's not surprising to see the lowriding culture spread worldwide, but it is an amazing accomplishment that these guys have made considering that lowriding specialists are not found locally like it is for the low-rides in the States! Most of these guys had to learn on their own how to build their lowriders with nothing to guide them but Lowrider Magazine and some cool riders they met over the Internet. Even when it came to custom lowriding car parts and accessories, these guys had to get just about everything mail-ordered from the States... and that isn't cheap!