The Rise Of Lady Lowriders And Other All-Women Car Clubs In LA

The metal flakes painted onto Sandy Avila’s car glisten as she reaches under her chromed-out dashboard, flicks a switch skyward then back down — click, click — and the front end of her '84 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme starts to bounce.

Satisfaction spreads across Avila’s face. Since purchasing the car in 2018, she’s redone the suspension and engine, had it painted and reinforced, added hydraulics and chrome, and fixed up the interior. It's now a glistening cream color with beige pinstripes, whitewall tires and vinyl seats.

Customizing her car, which she’s named Simply Beautiful, is an expensive, all-consuming labor of love. But Avila doesn't do it alone; she's the president of Lady Lowriders Car Club, a six-member Pasadena-based group she co-founded in 2021.

“It's a lot of work,” she said. “Like they say, it's not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle. You have to have that thing, where you do this because you love it.”