[3] Lowrider was founded in the mid-1970s by San Jose State students Larry Gonzalez, Sonny Madrid, and David Nunez, "who sought to present a voice for the Chicano community in the Bay Area.

[6][7] In the early 1980s, Lowrider also featured cartoonist David Gonzales' monthly comic strip The Adventures of Hollywood, which eventually morphed into the Homies line of toy figurines.

[3] The magazine was revived in June 1988 by original co-founder Larry Gonzalez along with brothers Alberto and Lonnie Lopez.

[3] They moved the magazine's headquarters to Fullerton, California[3] (closer to the heart of lowrider culture), and began featuring customized trucks on the cover.

[3] As the magazine increased readership through the late 1980s and early '90s it spun off other titles, established a merchandising division, and began sponsoring multi-annual lowrider shows which took place all over the Western U.S.[3] Lowrider Publishing Group was acquired in 1997 by automotive periodicals conglomerate McMullen Argus Publishing, which was itself acquired in 1999 by PriMedia.