00:00COMM COMMS With just a flick of a switch, 3,000 pounds
00:07of metal bounces up and down, 8 feet in the air. 25 year old Alex Toison creates these
00:15custom lowrider cars that defy gravity at his father's shop, Popo's Custom Suspension
00:21Works.
00:22ALEX We specialize in aftermarket suspension, particularly hydraulic and air suspension.
00:28The lowrider community emerged in the U.S. in the 1950s.
00:33We are actually a small, tight-knit group of family.
00:36Everyone knows everyone, whether you're from Canada, Alaska.
00:40I mean, there's guys that are lowriding everywhere,
00:42but overall, I mean, it does look like a bigger scene than it really is.
00:47The reason they got their name Lowriders is because
00:49they would actually be driving solo, scraping up their body,
00:52and then from there it eventually grew into the culture that we're in now,
00:56aftermarket hydraulic pumps, making the cars go up and down
00:59at a flick of a switch, so it evolved big time.
01:03Alex removes the coil springs from the car
01:06and replaces them with hydraulic cylinders.
01:09The hydraulic system is switch-operated
01:11and controlled with a remote or a dial on the dashboard.
01:16Building one of these cars costs customers anywhere between $2,000
01:21to a few hundred thousand dollars and can take years to complete.
01:25I personally know some guys that probably have
01:27close to $200,000 to $300,000 into a car.
01:31It always starts off wheels, paint, upholstery, undercarriage,
01:36hydraulic setup, and then from there you start going into
01:39detailing everything you just bought.
01:41So you buy a stock set of rims and then,
01:43hey, this looks nice, but let me do something greater.
01:46You've even seen a couple guys that are currently building
01:49Impalas with Ferrari motors and stuff like that, so it gets crazy.
01:53These heavily customized cars are clearly designed to stand out
01:57and Alex welcomes the attention.
01:59Being West Coast, you'd think they would kind of be used to it
02:02because West Coast is like car culture central right here.
02:06It never gets old for people.
02:07They see it rolling down the streets and you'll still get
02:09a thumbs up every once in a while.
02:11It's pretty cool, you get that reaction,
02:13especially when you put all that money into the car.
02:15Alex has been in the car business all his life,
02:18helping his father around the shop since he was a child.
02:21I've been doing this since I was in diapers, honestly.
02:24I grew up around it, in the shop, around the cars.
02:27Eventually, you grow into grab the tools and help this,
02:30you know, help that.
02:32My dad's been a big influence in my life as far as the car scene,
02:36but full-time, full-time, I've been into it about seven,
02:39eight years now.
02:41And he plans to follow in his father's footsteps
02:44and run the shop in the future.
02:46My dad owns the company.
02:47Of course, he's shown me the right steps,
02:49what to do in order to get to the next level,
02:51and not only building a car, but in the business aspect, too.
02:54So eventually, he's going to hand down the business to me.
02:58When you build one of these, you build it for yourself.
03:02It's fun driving a lowrider, man.
03:04You can't, there's nothing really else I could describe it.
03:07You know, you got to get in one and see the reaction for yourself.
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