You know you were born into the custom car world when your father pulls-up in a custom '56 Chevy with tuck and roll interior, chrome show pipes, and dummy lights to his own wedding. That was the case for artist Marcos Gaitan of San Jose, California. As a kid, Marcos grew up cruising with his parents, going to many Rod and Custom shows. In the 70's, when the Lowrider scene began to take off in Northern California, Marcos began going to Lowrider events, even attending the first ever Lowrider Magazine Show in Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose, CA.
As a kid, Marcos did a lot of artwork before getting into Lowrider bikes. After learning how to drive in his brother's lifted '64 Impala with a chain steering wheel, Marcos got his license, and a '62 Oldsmobile Starfire. He ended up customizing the Starfire as a Lowrider with everything in it, except for hydraulics. With his new driver's license and '62 Olds, the sixteen year-old was ready to hit the boulevard with his older brother during the golden age of Lowriding. Marcos, who was fortunate enough to be out on Storyand King during the peak of the cruising scene, would spend his weekends hanging out in parking lots and hitting on girls on the boulevard.
"Back in the '70's I was into Punk Rock music, and I still am," explains Marcos. One day, Marcos went to visit one of his buddies in Berkley. "As we walked down the street, there was a band by the name of Psychotic Pineapples playing on the street," he remembers. "The band had someone there dressed up in a Psychotic Pineapple costume smashing into the crowd and bumping into the people there. I remember that made me laugh, and since then, that name always stuck with me," he says with a laugh.
During the second half of his college years, Marcos drifted away from the Lowrider scene to pursue a career in art, but he still kept a watchful eye in the Lowrider scene. After earning his Fine Arts degree, Marcos started focusing on the work part of his career. Becoming a professional artist gave him the opportunity to travel all over the country, doing original paintings and murals for customers in their houses or place of business. "I would travel a lot for work and would always go to museums, but after a while, I found myself going to car shows again," says the artist. He would find out about nearby events, as well as people in the Lowrider scene through a website called LayItLow.com. Although he wasn't fully immersed in it, in a way, Marcos never really left the Lowrider scene "My heart was always in it," he says. When spectators would go and see his gallery, they'd find that all his work was about Lowriders, including a piece of the Jack in the Box on Story and King. The famous corner hangout spot on King and Story was a very popular nook during the iconic era of Lowriding.
In 1999, Marcos finally gave in to the desire of again having his own Lowrider, so he purchased his '66. His search for a club to join began immediately as well. Feeling that he didn't fit into the clubs from San Jose, Marcos contemplated joining a club from Southern California. "My vision was different than what the guys were doing these days, I was more into what was happening in the '70's," he explains. Being a little older, Marcos started Hightone Car Club with his brother Martin Gaitan, and some of his longstanding friends from high school. "All the guys in my club are guys that cruised Story and King in the 70's," he remarks proudly. "There are nine guys in the club, most of them are friends from school, but all of the members are around the same age (mid to late 40's). Everyone in the club is seeing what I'm seeing, and wanting that classic style," explains Marcos.