Going for Broke - Expensive Hydraulics Setup

The crew at USA Motorsports in San Antonio, Texas, are no strangers to the pages of Lowrider. This shop has produced some of the best cars to have hit the hydraulic competition circuit. This time, they built a never-heard-of two-pump Olds Cutlass car dancer.

A two-pump dancer is something that's never been done, as car dancers are usually set up with four pumps, which will produce more power and full control of each of the wheels. The only drawback is that you need more equipment and more power. From years of experience, the team at USA Motorsports decided to build this car with a two-pump setup as people were saying that it couldn't be done.

The two-week project started off with a paint job and a week of installing an over-the-counter Pro Hopper setup. The car has #8 hoses, Italian dumps, #13 pump heads, and a full stack of coils that allow the car to be driven every day. The daily driver has a complete interior and everything is tucked into the trunk of the car to allow vehicle owner Tony Casas to load up his ride with his friends when it's time to go to lunch.

It's very impressive to see this vehicle rockin' and rollin' when it competes at the shows. Even the Lowrider judges were impressed with the car as it earned 27 points out of a possible 30 on its debut at a Lowrider show. We'll have to see what innovation USA Motorsports breaks out next.

Back BumperTrying to hit the back bumper doesn't come cheap and Braxton Berkeley of Southern California knows this. He originally started his '61 Chevy Impala project with just a few people and by the time that he was done, he had visited several different shops for his buildup.

The results of Braxton's build was the "King of the Streets" title that he earned after winning the competition down in Long Beach, California, this last winter. The frame-off custom restoration was supposed to be a car that was going to be all-show, but when he was building his ride he decided to create a street hopper to represent his club Rollerz Only, as they had not had a hopper in the club for a while.

This King of the Streets ride features 14 batteries, four Red's Pro pumps and a fully reinforced frame that will withstand the abuse. The entire car was completely gone through by the Hop Shop of Orange County, who fine tuned the existing setup. Once the rear trailing arms were reworked and all of the bugs were worked out, the car started doing well. The results of Braxton's Impala was one back bumper-hitting ride that would make any club proud to fly its plaque.

If you have a hydraulics setup that hits back bumper or is making you "go for broke," e-mail some images along with basic information to: saul.vargas@primedia.com.