Tempe History Museum debuts lowrider exhibitYou may have seen them driving by or caught a glimpse of the sparkles in the paint, but lowriders are more than just a modification; it’s a lifestyle.
The Tempe History Museum debuts “Ranfla Vida” — Spanish for “lowrider life” — on March 22 accompanied by a showing of an expected 80 to 100 cars.
“It’s a community in itself, of other riders that work on their cars and build them because it’s a support system,” museum curator Marco Albarran said.
Albarran has been part of the lowriding community since the 1970s and even has his jacket displayed in the museum of the group he is affiliated with.
Lowriding car clubs started in Los Angeles in the 1970s and made their way east to the Phoenix area. By the 1980s, there were lowriding clubs in Japan, and today there are several in Australia, Mexico, and throughout the Southwest.
Some even made their way to Tempe.
Domonic Sepulveda, owner of one of the vehicles displayed, said he wanted to incorporate the parts of Tempe he felt closest to on his 1963 Chevy Impala.
The visual on the back trunk shows the intersection of Victory and George Roads in the neighborhood of Victory Acres, where he grew up. It also depicts the Hayden Flour Mill where his grandfather worked as well as a neighborhood market where he spent time as a kid.
“I grew up seeing them and they really caught my eye, and I said, ‘I want to build something like that one day,” Sepulveda said.
He would soon be part of a growing community that brought together Chicano, Latino, and Indigenous cultures throughout the Southwest.
The inside exhibit describes the history of lowriding and how it became a culture through fashion that was carried through generations. Suits, fedoras and jackets identified members of each group, each with names like the Little Mafia, Klique and Pharaohs.
The Tempe History Museum is always free and open to the public 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. The exhibition runs from March 22 through Dec. 31.
Madeline Bates joined Independent Newsmedia in 2025 as a Phoenix/Tempe reporter. Before graduating college, she spent a semester in Washington as a Congressional reporter in the first 100 days of the second Trump administration. But local news is where her heart is. She is excited to be in Phoenix full time and exploring new parts of the city (as long as they have AC).
Community: After living in East Phoenix for two years, she fell in love with Paradise Valley, Mesa, Tempe, and everywhere in between. She recently discovered the beauty of the South Mountain Reserve and hopes to continue exploring should the weather comply.
Education: Madeline has a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and a certificate in Political History and Leadership.
Random Fact: She is a self-taught nail tech. No, she cannot do your nails.
Hobbies: Hiking (when its not 100 degrees), fiction writing, cooking, baking and trying new coffee shops.
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