THE TEXICAN
Slabs and swangas at 8th Wonder.
The rolling fortresses of steel known as slabs — vintage American automotive iron taken to decorative extremes — have become a uniquely Houston phenomenon. Chronicle reporter Julian Gill recently went to the Houston Slab Holiday Car Show & Concert to check it out.
The image of a blue Oldsmobile Cutlass pulling into a McDonald’s in Bryan sticks in Carzavier Mosley’s mind.
It was the very first car he saw that was “slabbed out,” a style that involves vintage cars rebuilt with candy colors, loud sound systems, illuminated messages in the trunk and swangas protruding out of the rims like chrome carousels.
“Slabs” have deep roots in Houston’s hip-hop scene dating to the 1980s, and it’s not uncommon to see them rolling down a highway on a sunny day or crawling down a parade route. But Mosley and other slab owners say the cars are more than just tricked-out rides. They represent someone’s personality, status and style, he said.
Mosley, 35, was only about 9 years old when he saw his first slab at McDonald’s. He said he’ll never forget the 4-inch swangas, which at the time were harder to find after going out of production.
“That’s how you got your respect,” said Mosley, who now lives in Katy. “If you rolled (on swangas) and you paid for them, everybody knew you had some money, and there was more respect with that. They’d say ‘Oh yeah, he’s doing his thing. He’s getting his money.’ ”
The basics of a slab
On a hot and rainy Sunday afternoon, Mosley was among dozens of slab owners who gathered for the annual Houston Slab Holiday Car Show & Concert at 8th Wonder Brewery in EaDo. He touted his slabbed-out 1984 Cadillac El Dorado, which took him just over three years to rebuild, he said.
Mosley, who’s simply known as “Car” among friends, said there is a general formula to creating a slab ready for the street. However, to most slab owners, the cars are another form of personal expression that varies widely, depending on preference.
Overall, swangas are the biggest
detail that separates the cars from any other low-rider. The type of car is also crucial.
He said most traditional slabs are made from big-bodied, American-made cars from the late ’70s and ’80s, including Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Chevrolets. A younger generation might also use models from the early 2000s, when Houston tire shop Texas Wire Wheels made swangas available for a wider audience.
Slabs typically include redone upholstery, loud sound systems and a message lit up in the trunk.
“The sign is typically your slogan,” Mosley said. “With your slogan, it’s more like you’re making a statement. Like when you’re coming down the boulevard, you want to let them know who you are and what you represent.”
The message in Mosley’s trunk reads “UR DREAMS MY REALITY.”
“A lot of people dream about doing things, and they say they want to do it, but they never do,” he said.
Mosley’s slogan is just one of the personal aspects of his slab. He said he bought the vintage Cadillac just before his sister Charlene died, and building the car was part of his healing process, he said.
“R.I.P. Charlene” is inscribed in the trunk, and he named the car after her.
“I put all of my effort into my car because of my sister passing,” he said. “So to me, this is something I enjoy doing, and I put all of my grief into it.”
Mosley said he invested about $40,000 into rebuilding the car, from the engine to the upholstery to the sound system.
For him and other slab owners,
the experience of driving the car is inherently nostalgic. Mosley said it conjures up memories of slabs riding near his house in Bryan in the 1980s, when the neighborhood kids played games by picking out their favorite car.
“Once we got older, that was something we wanted to do,” he said. “So we just wanted to mimic what we saw when we were little … because it was kind of like a hood rich thing.”
Tony Davis, who grew up in Mosley’s neighborhood and participated in the car show, said he tries to feel like he’s back in the 1990s when he rides his slab, made from a vintage Oldsmobile.
At the time, the cars were rarely seen outside “the hood,” he said.
“One of the things I take pride in is, I’m dedicating the car to the guys who taught me how to put these cars together,” said Davis, who also runs local fabrication shop Creative Actions. “That’s why I like the old school.”
Mosley said the cars’ colors also represent the neighborhood the owner is from. But lately, he said the popularity of slab culture has grown, and he’s seen a wider variety of cars riding throughout Houston and Texas.
Mosley said he chooses the days where he rides his car carefully, but when he does, he has a network of slab owners to join him.
“Typically, a slab comes out on days like this — car shows or a special day like holidays or if it’s a nice sunny day and you want to just pull out and ride your car,” he said. “It’s very special.”