Lowrider Show Draws Families to Convention Center

Custom cars and classic motorcycles filled the Albuquerque Convention Center on Sunday for the Route 66 Burque Battle. The event brought together local enthusiasts to display hand-built vehicles and share the history of lowrider culture in the city.

Organizers provided free access to career resources and activities for children. The program aimed to connect younger residents with the trades and traditions that define the local automotive scene.

Nehemiah Anaya, 18, displayed a bicycle built by his grandfather. Anaya said the family has shown the bike since he was a boy. “My grandpa completely built this bike for us when we were little boys and we’ve been showing,” Anaya said. “We love the history of low riders.” He added that the family maintains the vehicle by waxing and cleaning it regularly.

Jaden Velasquez also presented a motorcycle with deep family roots. Velasquez noted that his grandfather built the bike for his mother when she was young so they could exhibit it together. Victoria Saldana, a diesel mechanic, built her own lowrider. Saldana credited her grandfather, also a mechanic, with inspiring her to work on cars. “So my grandpa was a mechanic. He raised me to be a mechanic. And so I started building my car. But he loved low riders,” Saldana said.

Filimon Pino has participated in lowrider culture for nearly 30 years. He described the event as a gathering of the community. “It’s just one, our motto for us that we have here in Albuquerque is one team, one dream,” Pino said. “And that’s where we have, we all come together as a unity just to show off what we do, our cars, our bikes, there’s Harleys out here and venues, people come out here.”

Julia Pluemer, an organizer, said the event aims to preserve the heritage of building and working with hands. Pluemer emphasized the importance of children continuing these traditions. “So it’s important that our kids, you know, continue these traditions and our heritage of building and working with their hands and learning the trade to eventually build a car one day,” Pluemer said.