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<\/p>\nThe Tempe History Museum recently unveiled an exhibit that explores Arizona\u2019s lowrider car culture, which has been celebrated by Latino, Chicano and Indigenous communities across the Southwest.<\/p>\n
When you first walk into the building, you\u2019ll see a cherry red Chevy lowrider parked inside the main lobby. This classic cruiser is currently on loan to Tempe History Museum\u2019s senior curator Marco Albarran.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, actually,\u201d admitted Albarran. \u201cI had many other people [who] wanted to have their cars inside. They\u2019re family oriented, so they are open.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Gabriel Pietrorazio<\/p>\n
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KJZZ <\/p>\n
Model lowrider cars on display inside Tempe History Museum\u2019s \u201cRanfla Vida\u201d exhibit.<\/p>\n
Albarran\u2019s own Somerton car club jacket from his hometown near Yuma hangs inside a glass box. Also on display are model cars, metallic club plaques and an assortment of plastic collectible Homies figurines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually brought my \u201871 Monte Carlo when I first came to college. Eventually, I left the lowriding community for a while,\u201d Albarran shared. \u201cI got this job and I decided that I wanted to showcase the history of lowriding, because there was \u2014 so far \u2014 nothing that I seen here in Arizona.\u201d<\/p>\n
An adobe-style mercado along South Avenida del Yaqui in Guadalupe is typically home to a barbershop, restaurant and even a boxing ring. But each April, this fenced-off patio in the heart of the tiny town \u2014 just east of Phoenix \u2014 turns into a jam-packed parking lot.<\/p>\n
Despite a cruising ban remaining in effect by Phoenix and other Valley cities, Arizona is still home to some of the biggest lowrider shows in the Southwest, including gatherings in Glendale and Guadalupe.<\/p>\n
This exhibit running through December is called \u201cRanfla Vida.\u201d As Albarran explained, ranfla is essentially Spanish slang for car \u2014 often used to describe lowriders, \u201cand vida is life, so it\u2019s \u2018Car Life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
If you go<\/p>\n
Where:<\/b> \u201cRanfla Vida” exhibit at the Tempe History Museum, 809 E Southern Ave, Tempe, AZ 85282.<\/p>\n
When:<\/b> On display through Dec. 31.<\/p>\n