From Cops to Doctors: This Video Series Proves That Lowriders Are Not Just for Cholos

Everyone has a vintage dream car. Mine is a 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider. Dream cars are unattainable, they’re the stuff of projections, of alternate lives we will never live. With their new web series Roll Models, however, Lowrider Magazine proves that dream cars do come true. They require passion, hard work, and lots of love.

Six episodes deep and directed by Kico Velarde, Roll Models is a series of portraits about people throughout the American west who own lowriders. Long perceived as the premiere mode of transportation for gang bangers, the folks featured in these mini-documentaries couldn’t be further from the stereotype; they’re parents, working professionals, and servicemen. They all belong to car clubs such as Groupe, Klique, and Bridge Town, organizations that really act like families providing everything from mechanical to emotional support to their members.

Each episode contains lots of engine details for motor-heads as well as slow-mo shots that linger over the pristine bodies of these well-cared-for vehicles. More importantly, we see the deep connection each owner has to their car and how they go from being simple machines to works of art that tell each person’s story. These bonds also extend to the people in their car clubs. The members form communities that live by a simple, old-fashioned, righteous set of values that, like the cars themselves, never go out of style.