Goodguys omits L-word at Del Mar car show

“Man I think that lowriders should have their own category here,” said Steve Polen, “they got restomod, 100% original, and others – but not lowrider.”

On the first weekend of the month, the Del Mar Fairgrounds was home to the Goodguys 17th Meguiar’s Del Mar Nationals. If one is into older cars before 1972; this is the show to come to.

It’s an indoor and outdoor car show with over 2,500 rides, including: rods, customs, classics, muscle cars and trucks thru ’72.

“But what about the lowrider,” said Ron, from the Nuestro Estilo car club, “we deserve our own category.” He drove in from Fresno that Saturday to drop off some parts (in Tijuana) to get chromed, then “checked out the lolos (lowriders) inside the show before heading back.”

On the promotional campaign for the car show, their fliers and the website do not mention the word “lowrider” as one of the 2500 cars, but they do recognize the other genres of customized and original cars.

“As far as lowriders are concerned, we would consider lowriders to be part of the customs that would enter for the event.” said Betsy Bennett, spokeswoman for Goodguys Rod & Custom Association.

Bennett’s email resonse on April 10 did not address the inquiry regarding why the word “lowrider” is not mentioned on their advertising campaigns — despite a "lowrider" presence at their national events.

Polen has been attending the Good Guys show for years. He owns Brightside Auto Detailing and details the raddest cars including some that are sold for millions of dollars at the coveted Mecum Auctions. “I really appreciate everything that goes into a lowrider; the paint, the engraving, the chrome, the hydraulics, the spokes,” he said, “nothing is untouched.” He’s detailed lowriders that “have had $500,000 invested into them,” and said that even on the undercarriage; the details are just as evident as the rest of the car.

The lowrider question even went on social media when a well-known lowrider owner posted a photo of the Good Guys advertisement. “The flyer doesn’t even mention LOWRIDERS even though we actively participate,” he said. “They’ll take your money but won’t even recognize.”

One then responded, “My husband has taken his muscle car to many of your lowrider shows and have been told from the other lowrider ppl (people) ‘you’re at the wrong show,’ so the lowrider community has done the same too.” Another mentioned that had they put the word lowrider on their campaigns, more lowrider owners will pay $45-$70 to enter the show and compete.

“It’s all good bro,” Ron said, “lolos, rat-rods, and old-school rice-rockets were not mentioned, it’s just their (Good Guys) style.”

To enter the custom section of the show, one must have a custom car made from 1936 through 1972. The award is designed to honor an exceptional custom car and is open to all styles and genres of customs (from traditional to radical to modern).

The top 12 awards are: “national bragging rights, a beautiful billet aluminum award, a custom-wrapped Snap-On tool box, a full color feature in the Goodguys Gazette and Yearbook, an announcement on good-guys.com and an exclusive invitation and travel accommodations to the season-ending Goodguys 20th Southwest Nationals, November 17-19 in Scottsdale, Arizona.”