00:00 00;01;10;12 00;01;14;22 COMM: With just a flick of a switch, 3,000
00:06 pounds of metal bounces up and down, 8 feet in the air.
00:11 00;01;14;22 00;01;20;22 25-year-old Alex Tuason creates these
00:14 custom lowrider cars that defy gravity at his father's shop, Popo's Custom Suspension
00:21 Works.
00:22 00;01;20;22 00;01;29;22 ALEX TUASON: We specialise in
00:24 aftermarket suspension, particularly hydraulic and air suspension.
00:28 00;01;29;22 00;01;35;02 COMM: The lowrider community emerged in
00:31 the US in the 1950s.
00:33 00;01;35;02 00;01;40;02 ALEX TUASON: We are actually a small,
00:36 tight-knit group of family, everyone knows everyone, whether you're from Canada, Alaska,
00:41 I mean there's guys that are lowriding everywhere, but overall, I mean, it does look like a bigger
00:46 scene than it really is.
00:47 00;01;40;02 00;01;50;02 The reason they got their name Lowriders is because they would
00:50 actually be driving solo, scraping up their body, and then from there it eventually grew
00:55 into the culture that we're in now, aftermarket hydraulic pumps, making the cars go up and
00:59 down at a flick of a switch, so it evolved big time.
01:03 00;01;50;02 00;02;00;02 Alex removes the coil springs from the car and replaces them with
01:07 hydraulic cylinders.
01:09 The hydraulic system is switch operated and controlled with a remote or a dial on the
01:14 dashboard.
01:15 00;02;00;02 00;02;05;02 Building one of these cars cost customers anywhere between $2,000
01:21 to a few hundred thousand dollars and can take years to complete.
01:25 00;02;05;02 00;02;10;02 I personally know some guys that probably have close to $200,000
01:29 to $300,000 into a car.
01:31 It always starts off, you know, wheels, paint, upholstery, undercarriage, hydraulic setup,
01:38 and then from there you start going into detailing everything you just bought.
01:41 So you buy a stock set of rims and then, hey, this looks nice, but let me do something great.
01:46 You've even seen a couple guys that are currently building Impalas with like Ferrari motors
01:51 and stuff like that.
01:52 So it gets crazy.
01:53 00;02;10;02 00;02;22;02 These heavily customized cars are clearly designed to stand out and
01:58 Alex welcomes the attention.
01:59 00;02;22;02 00;02;29;02 Being West Coast, you'd think they would kind of be used to it because
02:03 West Coast is like, you know, car culture central right here.
02:06 You know, it never gets old for people.
02:08 They see it rolling down the streets and you'll still get a thumbs up every once in a while.
02:12 It's pretty cool, you know, you get that reaction, especially you put all that money into the
02:15 car.
02:16 00;02;29;02 00;02;39;02 Alex has been in the car business all his life, helping his father
02:19 around the shop since he was a child.
02:21 00;02;39;02 00;02;45;02 I've been doing this since I was in diapers, honestly.
02:24 I grew up around it in the shop, around the cars.
02:28 Eventually you grow into grab the tools and help this and help that.
02:32 My dad's been a big influence in my life as far as the car scene, but full time, full
02:37 time I've been into it about seven, eight years now.
02:41 00;02;45;02 00;02;50;02 And he plans to follow in his father's footsteps and run the shop
02:45 in the future.
02:46 00;02;50;02 00;02;54;02 My dad owns the company.
02:47 Of course, he's shown me the right steps, what to do in order to get to the next level
02:51 and not only building a car, but in the business aspect too.
02:54 So eventually he's going to hand down the business to me.
02:58 When you build one of these, you build it for yourself.
03:03 It's fun driving a lowrider, man.
03:04 You can't, there's nothing really else I could describe it.
03:07 You know, you got to get in one and see the reaction for yourself.
03:10 [00;03;00;00] [Music]
03:10 [00;03;10;00]
03:15 (dramatic music)
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