ABSTRACT
In Robert Rodriguez’s 2010 film Machete, the eponymous hero recruits a cavalry of lowriders to storm the hideout of a white, nativist vigilante army. These cars and trucks, gorgeously painted, bouncing on hydraulic suspensions, some displaying chrome “plaques” identifying them with car clubs from the shooting location of Austin, Texas, roll to the battlefield with automatic firearms and rocket launchers mounted for the occasion. As the conflict ignites, one truck, apparently “juiced” with a particularly powerful hydraulic set-up, rears like a stallion and slams down to crush a cowering racist.
