A blazing summer day in Houston, Texas served as the perfect backdrop for the local community's 2nd annual Grill & Chill Lowrider Show. Adair Park, a beautiful area located on the outskirts of the city, played host to this wonderful event, which was put together by Latin Kustoms Car Club based out of Pasadena, Texas, and Houston's own Last Minute Customs. Latin Kustoms held a pre-show party in one of Houston's hottest nightclubs the night before the show, drumming up anticipation for this amazing event to a near fever pitch. Everybody in H-Town was anxious to attend this summer show, and over 400 cars packed the Adair Park parking lot the next day to prove it.inline_mediumwraptextright26702596/events/0912_lrmp_latin_kustoms_car_club_lowrider_showlrmp_0912_12+latin_kustoms_car_club_grill_and_chill_lowrider_show+black_impala.jpgTrue

It was show time on May 17th when LG Productions presented their 11th annual Que Onda Car Show & Concert, at the big Fresno Fairgrounds. There were six acres of some of the best custom Lowrider's from Sacramento to Los Angeles. These cars included the Oldies member Chris Roarks car, which won Lowrider of the Year, "Perfect Score", "Black Beauty", and Elites Car Club's, LRM's past cover ride, "Southern Blues", and the awesome 38' Chevy "El Padrote". Also representing was Uce, Traffic, VIP's, Sangre Latina, Aztec Image, Majestics, Nokturnal, and 559 Kustoms just to mention a few.

The Mile High City of Denver, Colorado played host to the last hop of the '09 tour year. The invitational competition featured cars from all over the United States, as they all attempted to qualify for the Lowrider Tour main event, the upcoming Vegas Supershow to be held this October.inline_mediumwraptextright25493087/events/0912_lrmp_2009_lowrider_denver_colorado_tour_hoplrmp_0912_01+2009_lowrider_denver_colorado_tour_hop+shortys_ranger.jpgTrue

El Concilio of Ventura County is a non-profit community based organization that was established in 1975 to provide services and programs to the underserved Latino community of Ventura County. Since the organization is non-profit, it must raise funds annually to continue to operate and serve the community.inline_mediumwraptextright31273626/events/0910_lrmp_california_car_and_cycle_showlrmp_0910_01_z+california_car_and_cycle_show+hydro_contest_shot.jpgTrue

It was like any other spring day in Hollywood, Florida. The temperature was soaring into the 90's, beautiful women were everywhere, and the music was pumping full blast. Normally, you might mistake this for a beach setting or some other spring break related event, but on this day in Florida, hundreds of custom lowrider vehicles filed into the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for the first annual Car Warz Seminole Car Show. Promoter Eric Osceola has been in the custom car industry for over two years and decided it was time to get everyone together for a little fun in the sun.inline_mediumwraptextright27072688/events/0910_lrmp_car_warz_seminole_car_showlrmp_0910_03_z+car_warz_seminole_car_show+model_front_view.jpgTrue

There is something about Miami Beach that keeps celebrities and hot rides flocking to its streets on a daily and nightly basis. Perhaps it's the weather, the beach atmosphere, or the diverse cultures that reside in South Florida that spawn the constant droves of people. No one can say exactly what factor motivates people to hit up the peninsula's steamy paradise but with a recession in full swing, South Florida car clubs united together and decided to organize a free hangout and cruise. Enticed by the lack of an entrance fee, as well as the free food, hundreds of Lowrider enthusiasts gathered at Watson Island in Miami Beach, Florida, for a day of fun in the sun with their families and friends. Just like that, Miami Swangin' was born.

Celebrating A Victory With His Peers
Last year after winning the coveted Lowrider of the Year title in Las Vegas, Chris Roark took the long drive home from Vegas to Vacaville, CA, where he thought about what he would do next. After a few hours of thinking, he decided that he would use his prize money to throw a big party in hopes of giving back to the people that helped him accomplish his Lowrider of the Year goal. Once he got home, he started making calls to arrange a venue that would hold 150 of his family, supporters, friends and fellow Lowriders.

The 4th annual Traffic So Cal car show comes to the Citizens Business Bank Arena on November 8th, 2009. Among the many awards and prizes, there will be a $200 award for the best car, $200 for best truck, and $200 for club participation.

As you travel east from Los Angeles, palm trees turn to leaves, warm temperatures become a range of unpredictable weather conditions, and spokes and candy paint turn to dubs and decals within urban automotive circles. However, throughout many cities and neighborhoods in the Midwest, lowriding enjoys a passionate, albeit smaller, following. The network of lowriders in the Midwest work hard to stay connected through an informal circuit of cruises, picnics, and shows. Individual riders, club chapters, and show promoters scour their calendars each year, comparing notes with each other to keep great get-togethers going strong each weekend throughout the summer. This allows riders to swing through various states and towns to meet and keep the culture going strong, despite living in regions without the privilege of large numbers of riders, shops, or national tour stops. Several of these events happen each year and give riders in the region something to look forward to.

Latin music fans from coast to coast and around the world enjoyed an event filled with unforgettable moments and spectacular music, which began with an outstanding joint performance by Aventura, Wisin & Yandel, and Akon, which was immediately followed by Jenni Rivera. Top honors at the most important and prestigious Latin music event went to Flex who received eight Billboard Latin Music Awards, and performed his mega hit "Te Quiero;" while Enrique Iglesias was honored with six Awards, and surprised audiences with a live broadcast from Minsk, Belaruse. Aventura and Mana, received four awards each.

The Beat Summer Nights Concert Series
Who: Mario, New Boys, O.N.E., and more acts to come!!
When: July 26, 2009 @ 8pm
Where: Conga Room @ L.A. Live
800 Olympic Blvd.
L.A. CA 90015
Price: GA-$20
VIP-$40
The Beat VIP-$9.35 (Pay at the Door Only)
Music by DJ Dense
Brought to you by 93.5 The Beat, and New Breed Entertainment

Forget about what you consider a traditional hop show to look like. This year's event in Phoenix redefined the hydraulic competition by adding a few significant rule changes designed to provide a little more excitement to one of the most unique events in all of auto sports. Those of you who were lucky enough to have attended this year's event might have noticed that it's no longer strictly a hydraulic competition. In past years' competitions we have been able to create teams from annual regional competitors. This year, however, all of the rules have been thrown out the window, and the hydraulic competition has been completely revamped. The hydraulic portion has now become an invitational, allowing us to bring you only the best of the culture's hydraulic exhibitionists.

Believe it or not, what helped in achieving our style was a welding machine, an MIG welder to be exact. Things changed for us big time. We got our cars and our style by using that welder in ways we'd only dreamed about until then, so once we had that, it was on. After I bought a welder and a plasma cutter, I decided to take my 1948 and went ahead and body dropped it, in order to get the car lower to the ground. This decision really changed and defined our style of the cars that we would build. After a few weeks of working on the car and dialing in all the obstacles that we encountered, we did the same sectioning procedure to Michael's green '39. This type of car build became our signature and part of the Tovar identity. Now with every car we build, people expect us to section and body drop, it's definitely a lot of work but I don't think we would have it any other way.

Needy kid's organizations were on Santa's list during Christmas, so Rollerz Only Car Club once again hosted their annual toy drive in Fullerton, California. Various chapters of Rollerz Only, as well as other clubs and solo riders from the surrounding area, came out to support the event, happy with the possibility of leaving with a trophy.

December is always a busy time in the lowrider community. Car clubs host holiday parties, participate in parades, and produce toy drives. As the holiday season came to an end, the Stylistics hosted their third annual toy drive at Fuddruckers in Lakewood, California.

Golfland, in El Monte, California, was the setting for the seventh annual Old Memories Eastside Toy Drive, which was held in December. A storm front that was due to come into the Los Angeles area didn't materialize, and the weather cooperated enough to bring out numerous clubs and car owners to help Old Memories bring a bit of holiday cheer to some less-fortunate children.

The Street Mentality car club from Atlanta, has been on the streets, and representing the Lowrider scene for 5 years strong. The founders of their club are Chris Brown the Prez and his wife Chan who is the Vice. Street Mentality is a small but large in the heart positive club, that is focused on family and giving back to the community when possible.

Inglewood, California
In Southern California on New Year's Day most people are either recovering from the night before, watching the Rose Parade, or attending the first lowrider event of the year: Majestics New Year's Day Picnic. This year, the event was moved to the world-famous Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California, because it had outgrown its previous venue.

The weather in Southern California is, for the most part, pretty predictable. Throughout the year it's sunny and pleasant with very few instances of rain or cold weather. On the eve and early morning of the much-anticipated Upland, California, car show, presented by Traffic Car Club, Mother Nature decided to rattle the nerves of the club and show attendees. Overnight some rain and wind appeared to threaten the show, but thankfully by the roll-in time the rain had moved on and the wind had calmed down into a nice fall breeze.

Plant City, Florida
Firme Estilo Car Club was established in 2003 by a group of guys who share a passion for the lowrider movement. Since then they have set aside one weekend a year where they give back to the community. This year the location was the Mike E. Sansone Park in Plant City, Florida, for the car show and hop off, with all the proceeds going to a children's charity. "There's still a lot of work to do," President Jose Alvarez says.

Once a year Good Times Car Club puts on a show to give back to the custom car community. The Florida chapter, in Sebring, Florida, decided this year to hold their annual show in the same city. Sebring, which is nicknamed the "City on the Circle," became the stomping grounds for hundreds of show vehicles and close to a thousand spectators.