Chicanas Car Club<\/a>, a group of women who say their cars are only part of the story. For them, lowriding is also about culture, family, empowerment and sisterhood.<\/p>\nRachel Duran Almanza’s 2000 Lincoln Town Car, covered in pearls, pinstripes and chrome, is one of the cars that turns heads.<\/p>\n
But the car means much more to her. Almanza built it with her late husband, a well-known figure in the lowriding community, who died shortly before the car was completed.<\/p>\n
After his death, joining the Chicanas Car Club gave Almanza a way to keep moving forward.<\/p>\n
“After his passing, when I got into the Chicanas Car Club, I decided to bring Purple Kush out,” Almanza said, explaining the name she gave her car. “Because of the color and it’s a custom new ride.”<\/p>\n
The club became an emotional outlet and, over time, a second family.<\/p>\n
Almanza even has a tattoo representing that connection.<\/p>\n
Elisa Trevino, the founder of the Chicanas Car Club, says that sense of sisterhood is at the heart of the organization.<\/p>\n
“It’s about the women in general. It’s the women behind the cars, and we all have a story. What’s our story?” Trevino said.<\/p>\n
For Rosa Maldonado, joining the club came after leaving an abusive relationship and starting a new chapter in her life.<\/p>\n
“The club has actually been very empowering for me as a woman, finding myself again,” Maldonado said. “It has shown me unity amongst women.”<\/p>\n
Maldonado has another tattoo representing strength and the people who inspire her.<\/p>\n
“They represent my daughters. I got it for them,” she said. “I want them to know that they can become strong women also.”<\/p>\n
Trevino founded the Chicanas Car Club in 2021 with a goal of empowering women while celebrating Chicana culture.<\/p>\n
She says that culture is rooted in generations of family traditions, including lowriders, oldies, Spanglish, slang, fashion, hair and makeup.<\/p>\n
“I’m like fifth, sixth generation here,” Trevino said. “The Chicana and Chicano culture is a little bit different to me than the Mexican culture. We grew up with lowriders and oldies. The way we speak: the Spanglish, the slang. The way we dress. The way we do our hair, our makeup. Culture means a lot of different things.” “<\/p>\n
Lowriding itself has evolved over generations, despite previous laws prohibiting cruising or the modification of classic cars.<\/p>\n
For the women of the Chicanas Car Club, it is also a way to challenge the idea that working on and showing off classic cars is a man’s world.<\/p>\n
“We go to schools and talk to these young women, letting them know, you can do this too,” said Terri Estrada, vice president of the Chicanas Car Club. “It’s not just a man’s world. It’s a women’s world too. You want it, go for it.”<\/p>\n
That message is already being passed down in the Trevino family.<\/p>\n
A 1983 Monte Carlo T-Top has now made its way through three generations of women.<\/p>\n
The car was purchased brand new in 1983 after Trevino’s grandmother spotted it at a dealership and admired it. The next day, her grandfather brought it home for her birthday.<\/p>\n
Now, the car has become a way for Trevino and her daughter, Angelina, to bond.<\/p>\n
“This car’s been sitting for 11 years. It’s my grandma’s,” Angelina said. “My grandma told me that when her and my grandpa were together, they drove by a showroom, she saw it, she admired it, she wanted it. The next day, my grandpa brought it home for her for her birthday.”<\/p>\n
Her mother is now teaching her daughter how to work on the car.<\/p>\n
“I’m teaching her how to change her rims, how to work on her car, what to do, what not to do,” Trevino said. “As a mother and daughter, the bond there is unreal.”<\/p>\n
While the women love their cars \u2014 from Almanza’s Lincoln Town Car to Estrada’s 1962 Chevy Impala Super Sport with a 327 engine \u2014 the club’s mission extends far beyond the cars themselves.<\/p>\n
The Chicanas use their voices to bring women together, give back to their communities and encourage the next generation.<\/p>\n
The club began in Merced and has since expanded to chapters in Yolo County and Nevada.<\/p>\n
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