Meridel Rubenstein’s 1980 portfolio The Lowriders captures a specific element of local New Mexican culture. These double portraits of the owners and their creations—customized decorated classic cars featuring pristine paint jobs, painted murals, and velvet interiors—display the intersection between American consumer culture and Chicano identity.

According to the credo of Los Low Riders de Aztlan Car Club (1980): “Our lowriders, our way of speaking, our way of living and thinking, represent a Pachuco/Chicano culture.”