[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] 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.

[2] Women featured on the cover of Lowrider over the years include Alexis Amore, Anjanette Abayari, Jami Deadly, Staci Flood, Sunny Leone, Ashley Massaro, Nina Mercedez, Candice Michelle, Cherie Roberts, and Arban Severin.