Troy Staehler of Rollerz Only Car Club started his lowriding journey in the 12th grade. As Troy tells it, "I started with a Chevy S-10 truck. I lifted it at Orlie's, threw on some Daytons and a Nardi steering wheel, and quickly sold it to buy a '63 SS Impala." Early on, Troy was already exhibiting the "flip hustle," and no sooner had he purchased the '63, than he was ready for a candy paint job. "I bought a red candy and had it painted by my buddy Doug Stranno," he tells us. Unfortunately for Troy, Doug used the wrong base by mistake and the car came out pink. With that, Troy says, "That made me put a 'for sale' sign in the window."

Back in the day, it was common to find your next ride through the classified section of the local paper or the regional AutoTrader. Maybe that next ride would be sitting in a high-profile parking lot with a "for sale" sign on the window or it could just be as simple as word-of-mouth. Today, it seems more common that people are wheelin' and dealin' online. Take for example, one of the most well-known and largest Internet marketplaces, eBay, where more than three-million cars have been sold since its inception.

You know that old saying, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself"? Well, L.P. of Los Angeles, California, and a member of Individuals Car Club, knows the feeling. His pearly '99 Lincoln Town Car is the result of him not liking the other Lincolns that he was seeing around town.

Sergio Avila of Santa Ana, California, was bit by the lowrider bug at an early age. By 12, he was already building his first eye-catching ride: a Schwinn tricycle. Three years later, his older friend Peter (who was also the Klique Car Club president) drove by Sergio's sister's house where Sergio was hanging out. Peter rolled up in his lifted Buick Regal. Peter asked him if he wanted to go cruising to Whittier Boulevard and then on to Hollywood Boulevard. Sergio didn't have to think twice and jumped at the chance to go. Peter was even cool enough to let Sergio hit the switches there on the boulevard! It was a day that Sergio would always remember and he says that it was then that he knew that he was hooked on lowriding for life.

Projects and hoods across the country have people making choices every second of the day. Some of those choices are made right at the junction where life goes down one of two paths-one straight and narrow, and one whose branches and reach can grow quickly, but can break in the blink of an eye. The flash of the jewels, chrome and paint possessed by hood stars is enticing and can blind anyone to the facts.

The story of "La Revolucion" started when Chuy Barrera was a kid growing up in Fullerton, California. His mom and dad enjoyed taking the kids out to nearby La Palma Park, one of the first places in Orange County where lowriders could chill and cruise back in the day, especially when there were special events going on like the annual Cinco de Mayo festival. Chuy remembers that his uncle, a member of Savor Car Club, would cruise and chill in a '37 Pontiac that had a nice paint job and suicide doors. You might remember the car from the movie Boulevard Nights.

CalendarAug. 3 Portland, ORLowrider Magazine and Lowrider Events present the Pacific Northwest stop on the 2008 Lowrider Tour. This event will once again be held at the Portland Expo Center and will feature the best cars in the Pacific Northwest, live concert and hydraulics competition. For more information, including move-in times, call (714) 712-2100.

This past year marked a golden milestone in Toyota's history as the company celebrated 50 years of doing business in North America. They've come a long way since the first Toyopet Crown sedan reached American roads in 1957. Toyota opened for business in America on October 31, 1957, in Southern California, and started selling cars the following summer. By the end of 1958, it had sold just 287 Toyopet Crown sedans and one Land Cruiser-a far cry from 2006 sales of more than 2.5 million cars and trucks.

The South will rise again, they say, and we're definitely seeing a new day dawning for Dixie lowriders. Jose Reyes is a 28-year-old restaurateur down in Sharpsburg, Georgia, and when he's not on the job cooking up something hot for his customers, you can usually find him cruising his '87 "Homies Edition" Chevy Monte Carlo LS or helping out with a project build or event appearance related to his membership in Obsession Car Club.

The story of Leo Millan and his hot '61 Chevy Impala ragtop would have been right at home in the recent Lowrider Readers' Rides special. That edition carried the theme of "Heroes And Role Models" and focused on real people from all over the country (and world) who choose to cruise low and (sometimes) slow. Leo's a real estate investor now hanging his hat in Tennessee and his ride was definitely a wise investment, imported as it was from Southern California.

There's no substitute for experience, and that's as true in the world of lowriding as anywhere else. Trino Alfaro of Tracy, California, has been lowriding since he was a teenager, and his years of building cars, selling one to buy another, have provided him with the expertise to pull off a first-class cover car. His "Cherry '64" Chevy Impala SS convertible is the perfect vehicle for Trino to pursue his two favorite interests: building lowriders and cruising lowriders.

Growing up in Dallas, Texas, you knew that the hot spot for lowriders to cruise and chill was in Reverchon Park on the outskirts of downtown Dallas. That was the place for lowriders in "Big D" to see and be seen back in the day says Luis Morales. People would chill, cruise a little bit, park their cars and have a few hopping contests here and there.

Aaron Hodgson of Oxnard, California, kills 'em when he pulls out his '57 Chevy Bel Air. The aptly named "Lethal Injection" at first glance appears to be just another '57 on wires. But lift the hood and it becomes obvious that this is probably not the '57 that you want to get into a stoplight battle with.

"Sin City"-a place where dreams are dreamed up and then dashed to pieces at casinos all over town. The streets of Las Vegas, Nevada, are littered with shattered people caught up chasing faded dreams. But in the mire of despair, there are plenty of stories of triumph and Tyrone Daugherty is certainly one of them.

"Cruising down the street in my six-fo"... yeah, Eazy E said it back in 1988 and many of you were living it. Most everyone remembers the days when you would spend all of Saturday charging the batteries, waxing the paint and cleaning the interior for that honey who you were going to pick up later that night. Cruising, crawling or (these days) just dipping, it was (and is) all about getting out in the car and showing what you have. Keishiro Hoshino's '64 Chevy Impala convertible, "Big Dipper," was built just for such a Saturday night cruise. Being a convertible is a big plus. With the top down, there's no doubt that a SoCal cruise is in order.

It seems that some people are just stuck in the '70s. That's not necessarily a bad thing as sometimes it's just comfortable to go with what you know. The owner of this fine ride, Jaime Tapia, would be one of those people. being a driver for UPs, he's used to making deliveries of other peoples' packages and dreams, but he also knows how to fulfill his own too. Jaime's been in the lowriding scene since the age of 17 when his dad got him into it. he started with a bike, then moved on to a euro and finally started building traditional lowriders, favoring the fine lines of the '70s.

Francisco Chairez, or "Cisco" as most of his friends and family call him, got into lowriding through his dad and uncles. Cisco is originally from Escondido, California, but moved up to Los Angeles where he was further exposed to the lowrider lifestyle and culture. His '67 Chevy Impala fastback, "American Woman," is a rolling testament to his lowrider dedication.

Robert Robledo from Pasadena, Texas, has been into the lowriding scene since '96 when he joined Latin Kustoms Car Club, an organization that was started by "Tonka" in Houston, Texas. The club is now centered in Pasadena and is one of the strongest clubs in the Lone Star State. Their quality cars are frequently driven to barbecues, car shows and special events. Robert is one of the few original members still with the club.

We first spotted Andre "Dre Ghost" McGee's Las Vegas, Nevada, '57 Chevy Bel Air convertible a year ago. What caught our attention was the freshly built 383-c.i.d. small-block. Word on the street was that a new LS engine was going to replace that engine. Well, we had to see just how true that was. We recently caught up with Dre and he did a complete engine swap. Actually, the whole car has been redone and the result is one custom '57 convertible that just we had to show you.

If you have a hydraulics setup that hits back bumper or is making you "go for broke," e-mail some images along with basic information to: saul.vargas@sourceinterlink.com.

When this vintage vehicle arrived at the studio everyone kind of milled around, looking at the detail and how clean it was. We all know how some things can look good from afar, but are far from good on close inspection. Like the cleaner that it's named after, "Simple Green" cleaned up rather nicely. Considering what it looked like when Louie Negrete of Anaheim, California, brought it home 10 years ago, this truck stands as what could be labeled a miracle.

Dartrell-better known to his friends and family as "Red Rum"-grew up in Regal Estates on the north side of Las Vegas, Nevada, and has been around lowriders for as long as he can remember. One of his earliest memories is cruising Las Vegas Boulevard with his dad in his custom-built money green '67 Buick Skylark that sported Rocket wheels, swivel bucket seats and a color bar.

The sun-baked calles of Phoenix, Arizona, are home to some of the hottest cruisers and street hoppers that you'll find anywhere across Aztlan. One such passionate pavement pounder is Mike Jones' heavily gold-plated '86 Olds Cutlass, "Todo Oro" (so named because, as photographer Saul Vargas tells it, "everything that could be gold plated was gold plated"), a car that represents Individuals Car Club in the "Valley of the Sun."

Much of a particular project starts out as a picture in one's head. Luckily, everyone's head is just slightly different and that gets translated in the cars that we build. "Bear" and Kisa Evans set out to do it their way and combined all of their favorite tricks to come up with "The Formula." Bear's passion for lowriders goes back to his early days, living down the street from "Porky" from Supernaturals. Riding around in his clean Cadillac Brougham, Bear got intoxicated from the feeling of having "all eyes on me" as they cruised through the hood with heads turning and nodding.

When LRM photographer Saul Vargas covered the Obsession Car Club show down in Atlanta, Georgia, last September, one of the more colorful cars on the lot was Emmanuel Avila's '96 Cadillac Fleetwood, "Calling Shots." It's hard to miss Emmanuel's bright yellow big-body with its eye-popping graphics, generous amounts of gleaming chrome plating and numerous custom touches both inside and out. A photo shoot was arranged on the spot and now everyone can examine this clean "dirty South" lowrider.