According to Denise Sandoval, Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at California State University, Northridge, a Chicano man named Ron Aguirre put the first hydraulic system in a ‘56 convertible. The hydraulic parts were surplus parts from World War II fighter planes, and thanks to Aguirre’s work, they allowed the car to be lowered and raised with the flip of a switch. As Sandoval writes, “The surplus was soon a valuable asset to the low riders since they could ride as low as they wanted on the boulevard and if they saw the police, with a flip of a switch they were ‘street legal.’”
http://remezcla.com/lists/culture/bajito-y-suavecito-a-look-back-at-lowrider-history/
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