California Chicano Cultural Periodical Lowrider Magazine, 8 Early Issues, 1981

Lowrider Magazine

Periodical

Chicano lowrider culture in 1981, documented through eight issues of Lowrider Magazine during the San Jose publication’s expansion from customized automobile coverage into a wider forum for Chicano history, music, art, fashion, neighborhood life, and regional community reporting. Founded in 1977 under editor and publisher Sonny Madrid, Lowrider used the customized automobile as one expression within the larger Chicano culture. The issues here record recurring departments including “Pasados,” “Cruising Into The Past,” “Lowrider Times,” and “Que Onda,” alongside features on Chicano Park, Chicano fashion, Tejano and California communities, car clubs, music, film, and custom automobiles.

Lowrider Magazine. Vols. 4 and 5. San Jose, California: A.T.M. Communications, Inc., 1981. Archive of 8 issues in illustrated wrappers, approximately 8 x 11 inches, extensively illustrated in color and black and white.

[1] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 4, No. 3. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, January 1981. The contents move between “History of Aztlan,” East Los Angeles, San Jose and regional car culture, “Cruising Into The Past,” and custom automobile features, establishing the magazine’s habitual movement between Chicano historical consciousness and contemporary street culture.
[2] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 4, No. 6. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, April 1981. Features include Rudy & The Cruisers, Café Con Leche, Beto Talent Search, Raul Heredia, Montclair High, Tequila Sunrise, Josie Lopez, Blue Oyster Cult, and other music, school, community, and automobile material. The contents page identifies cover model Evelyn Guerrero as a star of Cheech & Chong’s forthcoming Nice Dreams, placing Hollywood representation beside neighborhood reporting and lowrider coverage.
[3] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 4, No. 7. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, May 1981. Includes “Nite Owl,” “Monte Fever,” “Burque Chev,” “Roeding Park,” “Imperial Trike,” “Unity Happening,” “Classic Knights,” “Arizona Caprice,” and other regional features.
[4] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 4, No. 8. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, June 1981. Features include “Latin Attraction,” “Colores de Tejas,” “Las Cruces,” “Cinco de Mayo L.A.,” “San Diego ’37,” “Chicano Park,” and regional car shows and clubs. The geographic spread from Los Angeles and San Diego to Texas and New Mexico shows the publication presenting lowriding as a network of Chicano communities rather than a narrowly local California phenomenon.
[5] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 4, No. 9. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, July 1981. Includes material on Santa Fe, Chicano history, regional automobile culture, and music, while a prominent announcement solicits contributors for a September special issue devoted to “The Music of Aztlan."
[6] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 4, No. 10. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, August 1981. Features include “Life Style L.A.,” “San Jo Show,” “Ventura Show,” “Mexican Connection,” “Santana Bike Show,” “Imperial Valley,” and Steve Salas of Tierra, while another notice announces the forthcoming Aztlan music issue and requests photographs and résumés from Chicano bands, singers, and writers.
[7] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 4, No. 11. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, September 1981. The issue includes “Chicano Fashion Passion,” “Rockwood MECHA,” “Whittier Blvd.,” “El Valle Show,” “My Son El Vato,” “La Cucaracha,” and Eddie Olmos, while the contents page announces “Chicano Fashion: A Trend Setting Passion.” The cover is identified inside as a scene from the new film Zoot Suit starring Eddie Olmos, linking the magazine to the 1981 film adaptation of Luis Valdez’s play and to the revival of pachuco history within contemporary Chicano culture.
[8] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 5, No. 1. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, November 1981. Features include “Zoot Suit The Movie,” “Zoot Suit Premier,” “A Crowd Review,” “Union City Show,” “Oldies Car Club,” “El Paso Show,” “Houston Car Show,” “16th of September,” and other California and Texas material. The cover information identifies Danny de la Paz, Cheech Marin, and Yoya with a customized 1939 Chevrolet, while a late notice reports “STEVE SALAS QUITS TIERRA,” bringing Chicano cinema, music, cruising, and automobile culture onto the same editorial platform.

Published only four years after Lowrider began, these issues record a moment when the magazine was defining lowriding as a cultural movement beyond cars. Its pages repeatedly connect automobiles to Aztlán, barrio history, MEChA, Cinco de Mayo, Chicano Park, pachuco imagery, regional music, fashion, film, and neighborhood social life; its distribution offices and field representatives map a readership extending through California and the Southwest. Moderate toning and edge wear throughout, with scattered creasing, small edge tears, rubbing, and occasional wrapper loss or chipping; several issues more heavily worn at corners and extremities, May and July have detached wrappers. Overall good condition An eight issue record of how Lowrider Magazine used automobiles, barrio history, Chicano art, music, fashion, film, and regional reporting to define a shared Mexican American culture across the Southwest in 1981.

Item #23748

Price: $885.00