Andy Montes and his wife Aracely have shared a dream since they married more than 40 years ago. It wasn’t about having children—they already have three. Nor was it about buying a home—they own one in National City. Their dream was to buy a 1964 Impala and turn it into a true lowrider.
“It was a dream that wasn’t easy to achieve,” said Aracely Montes, 62, who was born in El Paso.
When they met in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Andy Montes — now 65 — was a novice mechanic, and Aracely worked as a waitress, babysitter, and house cleaner.
They are among the thousands of Latinos who see lowrider as a form of cultural expression that goes beyond cars, said Denise Sandoval, a professor of Chicano Studies at California State University, Northridge. A leading expert on the movement, Sandoval has worked extensively to dismantle stereotypes linking lowriding to gangs or criminal activity. “Lowriding has three pillars rooted in Latino culture: family, pride, and respect,” she said.
After decades of struggles and bans — including a three-decade ban in National City that officials finally ended in 2023 — lowriding is finally receiving major recognition, and San Diego took a central role in the honor. The U.S. Postal Service on Friday unveiled its new “Lowriders” stamp series during a ceremony at the Logan Heights Library.
“A lowrider is a masterpiece of engineering and artistry — a rolling canvas,” said Gary Barksdale the Postal Service’s chief inspector and the official who dedicated the stamps. “They’re often painted with murals that tell stories of family, faith, and history.”
A lowrider is a modified car equipped with smaller-than-factory wheels — or “rims,” preferably wire-spoke — that lower its height. Many feature elaborate paint jobs, velvet upholstery, and steering wheels made from welded chains. Most also include a hydraulic system that lets the driver, at the push of a button, raise or lower the chassis or perform tricks such as driving on three wheels or hopping.
Lowriding surged in popularity in the 1970s, but its roots trace back to East Los Angeles and the Southwest borderlands in the 1940s. Facing discrimination, some young Chicanos rebelled by embracing and flaunting their cultural identity.
Inspired by African American jazz-era hipsters, they wore zoot suits, two-tone shoes, and wide-brimmed hats, calling themselves “Pachucos.” When some lowered their car chassis, they became the first lowriders.
During the Chicano Movement of the 1960s, lowrider culture became a highly visible expression of pride in an ongoing fight for dignity and self-respect.
Through the cars, their owners sent a message: I’m here, and I matter. Car clubs flourished—initially, most were for men only. But by the late 1970s, women began forming their own clubs. Today, lowriding is a family tradition.
The new stamps unveiled in San Diego Friday feature photographs by Philip Gordon of “Let the Good Times Roll/Soy Como Soy,” a blue 1946 Chevrolet Fleetline, and “Pocket Change,” a green 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme; and photographs by Humberto “Beto” Mendoza of “Eight Figures,” a blue 1958 Chevrolet Impala; “The Golden Rose,” an orange 1964 Impala; and “El Rey,” a red 1963 Impala.
“What do you think of the Postal Service’s tribute to Latino and Chicano culture?” I asked Andy. Presented with the federal government’s unveiling of a tribute to Latino and Chicano culture in San Diego, Andy Montes could hardly believe it.“Just ten years ago, we had to hide from the police when we were cruising,” he said, while smiling. “Today we even have a stamp. Times have really changed.”
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