Having established its roots within the Hispanic communities of Southern California post-World War II, lowriding has since grown into a global pillar of car culture, with admirers as far away as our shores taking to the niche in a big way. With that comes a market that has steadily grown over the years, especially now that the Kiwi youth of the ’90s and early naughties are all grown up and can finally afford the cars they frothed over in the rap music lyrics and videos of the time, such as the ’64 Chevrolet Impala. The only trouble is, they don’t bounce from the factory.
So where do you go when you want to make ’em hop? Taranaki-based mechanic and panel shop RE Automotive is high on the list for pretty much everyone wanting to build a lowrider of their own, complete with a quality hydraulic system and a show-stopping paint job.
Todd Holland and his brother Scott founded the business in 2008, starting with a focus on Japanese imports while steadily building up a client base of American/Australian car owners over time. Although building muscle cars and classics to a high standard is still very much a big part of RE Automotive’s day-to-day operations, lowriders are what Todd wants to see more Kiwis owning and building. We sat down with him to go behind the scenes of the operation and discover what goes into lowriding the world, one car at a time.
RE Automotive covers sandblasting, panel and paint, mechanical repairs, and hydrographics for all kinds of vehicles — but has it always been about lowriders?
We have a full set-up panel and paint shop with an in-house fluid coatings system, a sandblasting booth, and a mechanical shop. It hasn’t always been lowriders — we started with a love for Japanese vehicles, and we still enjoy them, but a lot of our work has involved restoring American vehicles. I’ve always had a love for lowriders, as they’ve been in a lot of music videos — watching those as a kid, and the paintwork being a lot more detailed and expressive, is something you can’t really pull off on an old Japanese car.
Was building lowriders a personal passion from the start, or something that happened by chance?
Just a passion I’ve had, and I love a good challenge — being able to pull a car down to a million parts and restore or replace every one, while installing suspension you can have a bit of fun with. Along with putting smiles on heaps of people’s faces when they see them, inspiring a lot of kids is priceless.
Why has RE Automotive become the go-to place in New Zealand for lowrider builds?
As we’re a one-stop shop under the one roof, we’re able to strip the vehicle down and refurbish the car from start to finish, and also install the hydraulics, wire them up, and get the car certified and back on the road.
That one-stop-shop setup is really the backbone of the business — panel, paint, sandblasting, and mechanical work all under the same roof, with the hydraulics and certification handled in-house rather than farmed out. It is the difference between a workshop that can bolt a kit on and one that can take a car from a bare shell through to a warranted, road-legal lowrider without the owner needing to chase down three different specialists along the way.
Paint is arguably one of the most important parts of any lowrider build. What changes compared to a typical paint job?
A hell of a lot more masking — the part that can’t be rushed — but it’s the process out of the whole job I’ve always enjoyed the most. Blades, tapes, lace, candies, airbrush, etc.
How long does a full build typically take, and what’s a realistic cost range?
We can bang them out if the cars are tidy to start with, but if the vehicle is full of rust, it can take a lot longer — some older cars are rusty just from age, but some have been driven on salt roads, and it takes a lot of time to get them back to a solid base to start from. Every build’s scope is different, so the price range can vary. We also offer finance for all the projects we do, subject to lending criteria including Ts & Cs.
Do you import your own parts — hydraulics, switches, batteries, wire wheels — or is there a local supply chain now?
Yes, we import our own full hydraulic kits from Hoppo’s [Custom Suspension Works] in LA — we’re an authorised distributor. We’ve imported a few sets of wheels ourselves, but we’ve also got them from a few of the boys who bring them into New Zealand.
What’s next for RE Automotive?
We’ve got a few cool jobs in the pipeline, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for what’s to come.
