Lowrider

A lowrider (sometimes low rider) is an automobile or other vehicle modified so that its ground clearance is less than its design specification. This can be accomplished by substituting tires with a smaller outer diameter or through more extensive modifications based on desired aesthetics or performance, such as altering the vehicle's aerodynamics, lowering its center of gravity, or changing the effective gear ratios of the drivetrain. The term "lowrider" can refer to both the vehicle and its owner or operator; the verb form "lowriding" can likewise refer to the process of modifying a vehicle in this manner, or to its operation.

Description of the subculture

There is no definitive date or location for the origin of lowriders, but likely began in the Mexican-American Barrios of Los Angeles California in the mid-to-late 1940s and during the post-war prosperity of the 1950s. Initially, some youths would place sandbags in the trunk of their customized cars in order to create a lowered effect. This method was replaced by lowering blocks, cut spring coils, z’ed frames and drop spindles. The aim of the lowriders is to cruise as slowly as possible, "Low and Slow" being their motto. By redesigning these cars in ways that go against their intended purposes and in painting their cars so that they reflect and hold meanings from Latin culture, lowriders create cultural and political statements that go against the more prevalent Anglo culture. The design of the cars encouraged a "bi-focal perspective-they are made to be watched but only after adjustments have been made to provide ironic and playful commentary on prevailing standard of automobile design." However, this resulted in a backlash: The enactment of Section 24008 of the California Vehicle Code in January 1, 1958, which made it illegal to operate any car modified so that any part was lower than the bottoms of its wheel rims.

Lowrider (disambiguation)

A lowrider is a car or truck modified to have less ground clearance than most other cars.

Lowrider may also refer to:

Music

Bands

Songs

Other

Low Rider

"Low Rider" is a song written by the band War and producer Jerry Goldstein, which appeared on their album Why Can't We Be Friends?, released in 1975. It reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart and peaked at number 7 on the Pop Singles chart.

According to the All Music Guide review of the song, "the lyric takes the cool image of the low rider — the Chicano culture practice of hydraulically hot-rodding classic cars — and using innuendo, extends the image to a lifestyle". The song's most distinguishable feature is its driving bass line, which is present for nearly all of the song. It also ends with a siren-like noise that then becomes a saxophone solo.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by many artists, including the following:

Judge Dredd

Judge Dredd is a fictional character who appears in British comic books published by Rebellion Developments, as well as in a number of movie and video game adaptations. He was created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, and first appeared in the second issue of 2000 AD (1977), a weekly science-fiction anthology. He is that magazine's longest-running character.

Joseph Dredd is a law enforcement officer in the dystopian future city of Mega-City One in North America. He is a "street judge", empowered to summarily arrest, convict, sentence, and execute criminals.

The character of Dredd is well known and his name is sometimes invoked in discussions of police states, authoritarianism, and the rule of law.

Publication history

When Pat Mills was developing 2000 AD in 1976, he brought in his former writing partner, John Wagner, to develop characters. Wagner had written various Dirty Harry-style "tough cop" stories for other titles, and suggested a character who took that concept to its logical extreme. Mills had developed a horror strip called Judge Dread (after the British ska and reggae artist Alexander Minto Hughes ) but abandoned the idea as unsuitable for the new comic; but the name, with the spelling modified to "Dredd" at the suggestion of sub-editor Kelvin Gosnell, was adopted by Wagner.

Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death

Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death is a first-person shooter video game based on the Judge Dredd character from the 2000 AD comic series, developed by Rebellion Developments. It was released on October 17, 2003 in Europe and February 8, 2005 in the United States. It was released at a budget price and received mixed reviews from critics.

Gameplay

The game is played from a first person perspective. The singleplayer campaign is made up of eleven levels in which the player takes the role of Judge Dredd and battles a series of criminals and undead vampires. Easy, Normal and Hard difficulty levels are available, as well as a cooperative mode.

The game features a 'law meter' which gauges the player's adherence to the laws of Mega-City One. This is depleted by firing on those who have not fired first, failing to challenge enemies before firing and firing upon civilians or criminals who have given up. When the meter is depleted entirely the game is over. After each campaign mission, the player is awarded a ranking of Cadet, Rookie, Street Judge, Senior Judge, or Judge Dredd. Completing singleplayer levels also unlocks at least one playable multiplayer character or map, depending on the player's performance.

Judge Dredd (pinball)

Judge Dredd is a four-player pinball game produced by Bally Manufacturing in 1993, based on the British comic strip Judge Dredd in 2000 AD. Nearly 7,000 were made.

An eight-page full colour promotional comic was released by Bally and Egmont in 1993, which reprinted the story Pinboing Wizard from the Judge Dredd Annual 1981, written by Judge Dredd creator John Wagner and illustrated by Mike McMahon.

Gameplay

There are 2 types of games to choose from in Judge Dredd. Regulation game for 1 Credit, or Super Game for 2 Credits. In Regulation, the player must resolve the 9 crimes/issues.

Completing these 9 modes will result the player entering the Ultimate Challenge, Being congratulated by Judge Death, Ultimate Challenge futures all the normal Crime Scenes and modes to be twice the amount. In Super Game, a fictional host named Anita Mann will dispatch you to one of 4 Crime scenes, Mad Bomber, Deadworld Attack, Traffic Jam, and Prison Break. Super Game uses 2 Balls and a Drain Shield with an Extended amount of time. Judge Dredd utilizes a 100,000,000 point super shot, this shot can only be achieved in Super Game. To do so, you must advance the crime level from Warning, to Class X Felony. You will have 3 Seconds to make the shot, if you make the shot, 100,000,000 points will be scored. Classic modes are found in Super Game but are doubled the value and marketed as Super.