From San Jose to East L.A and Beyond!
In 1977, three Chicano visionaries — Sonny Madrid, David Nunez, and Larry Gonzales — launched something from San Jose that would ripple across the country: Lowrider Magazine.
What started as a grassroots publication, pieced together in a local print shop (MAYA Press on Willow Street) became the national voice of lowrider culture. It wasn’t just about the cars — it was about identity, expression, and pride in the face of erasure.
Lowrider Magazine celebrated everything mainstream media ignored: candy paint, chrome spokes, smooth hydraulics, and the community, politics, and culture behind them. It gave a platform to stories from East San Jose to East L.A. — and beyond.
Published right here in the 408, the magazine helped transform lowriding from a misunderstood local tradition into a respected, global art form.
And it all started in San Jose. In fact, the artist Ricardo Cortez is also the author of The ABCs of Lowriding, a children’s book he wanted to create in San Jose for this very reason.