As we have for the past two issues, we continue with our throwback segment, focusing on 35 years of the blood, sweat, and tears that is Lowrider Magazine. In this issue, we bring you flashbacks from 1981 and 1982, a time of great expansion within the culture and the country, respectively. After all, a former actor was elected President, New Wave music was the pulse of the street, and the process of downsizing began among many automakers as the country began focusing on efficiency, rather than the bigger-is-better approach that influenced the ‘60s and ‘70s. Gone were the giant Glasshouses, huge V8 engines, and rear seat couches. In came the concept of miles per gallon, and the term “compact car,” which would go on to dominate the era. Even Cheech and Chong traded in their classic Impala to hit switches in a modified Chevy Van in 1980’s “Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie!” While Lowriders have always kept up with the times, these changes didn’t keep us from scraping our land yachts on the Boulevards back then; as you’ll see in this photo spread. This was a really fun era and while many of you reading this may not have even been born during this time period, we are grateful to have these archival images for some of you to live vicariously through. We are humbled to have been around for 35 years, and while Lowriding has seen many changes and spread all across the map since our humble beginnings three and a half decades ago, we’ve enjoyed every minute of it!
Obviously, we can’t do justice to 35 years of memories in this section alone, so we’ve compiled the best of the best to appear from different time periods over the course of each of the 12 issues for this calendar year, in an effort to share with you some of our favorites. Each issue will focus on a different era, and give you a glimpse of what life in the culture was like back then. It is our sincere hope that these images will restore, renew, and revive the creator in all of you, and bring some history to the forefront of our amazing culture. Jim Morrison once said, “The future aint what it used to,” and we couldn’t agree more. Remember, this collection will be featured in all 12 issues of this year, so make sure to collect them all!