California Chicano Cultural Periodical Lowrider Magazine archive, 1980

Lowrider Magazine Chicano/Latino Culture

Periodical

Chicano lowrider culture in 1980, documented through six issues of Lowrider Magazine during the publication’s early expansion from San Jose into a regional forum connecting customized automobiles with Chicano history, art, music, neighborhood life, and cultural politics. Founded in 1977 by Sonny Madrid, Larry Gonzalez, and David Nunez, Lowrider developed within the political and cultural environment of the Chicano movement, treating the customized automobile as both material craft and an expression of Mexican American identity. These issues show that editorial program extending geographically through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas and institutionally through car clubs, shows, artists, musicians, neighborhood correspondents, and local businesses.
Lowrider Magazine. Vols. 3 and 4. San Jose, California: A.T.M. Communications, Inc., 1980. Archive of 6 issues, 8 x 11 inches, varied pagination, illustrated throughout in color and black and white.

[1] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 3, No. 3. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, January 1980. Contents range across “Lowrider Lifestyle,” “Cruisin’,” “History,” “Raza Relations,” “Mexican Connection,” and regional material from Phoenix, San Diego, Texas, Albuquerque, and San Jose, with recurring departments including “Que Onda” and “Pasados.”
[2] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 3, No. 6. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, Inc., April 1980. Features include “The Elvis Presley Car,” “Cruisin’ into the Past,” “Los Estados Unidos de Aztlan,” “Pasados,” “Black Beauty,” “Yuma Car Show,” “Los Lobos Car Show,” and reports on automobiles and clubs from Ventura, Fresno, Arizona, and elsewhere.
[3] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 3, No. 8. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, Inc., June 1980. Includes “Tejas Tequila,” “Arte Chicano Show,” “Cruisin’ into the Past,” “Los Federales,” “Tucson,” “Pittsburg Car Show,” and “United Car Club.” An advertisement announces the “3rd NATIONAL LOWRIDER CAR SHOW,” sponsored by Lowrider Magazine and KBRC Radio for June 7 and 8 at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in San Jose.
[4] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 3, No. 9. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, Inc., July 1980. Contents include “Special: Lowrider’s History,” “Chicano Art Bay,” “Cruising Into The Past,” “Carnales Unidos,” “Colorado Times,” “New Mexico,” “Arizona,” “Pachuco,” and “Lowrider Times.” The issue places an explicit account of lowrider history beside Chicano art and pachuco culture while regional sections document communities across the Southwest.
[5] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, Inc., September 1980. Anniversary issue in burgundy pictorial wrappers, with the magazine’s fedora and sunglasses emblem centered on the cover and the legend “3rd Anniversary Issue.” Issued three years after the magazine’s founding, the number marks the survival and expansion of an independent Chicano publication built around lowriding as both automobile practice and community identity.
[6] Sonny Madrid, ed. Lowrider Magazine. Vol. 4, No. 2. San Jose: A.T.M. Communications, Inc., December 1980. Contents include “Iowa Low Rider,” “Ruben and The Jets,” “Victor’s ’52,” “Galaxie Show,” “Pasados,” “Monclair High,” “Bump City,” “Carlos Moreno Profile,” “Carnival of The Blvd.,” “Low Rider Times,” and “Que Onda.” The issue extends the magazine’s automobile coverage beyond the Southwest through “Iowa Low Rider” while retaining the mixture of music, profiles, clubs, cruising, history, and community reporting established throughout the year.

Published only three 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 wear to covers, with scattered staining, rubbing, creasing, and edge wear; some covers loose, with covers detached on the July issue. Overall good condition. An early six issue record of Lowrider Magazine defining lowriding through customized cars, Chicano history, Aztlán, art, music, clubs, and a regional network of Mexican American communities in 1980.

Item #23750

Price: $885.00