A Classic Car Culture Just Landed on USPS Stamps—See Them All Here
The United States Postal Service is putting the spotlight on lowrider culture with a brand-new set of commemorative postage stamps.
The collection, which arrives on Friday, March 13, pays tribute to the lowrider movement that first took shape in the 1940s among working-class Mexican American and Chicano communities across the American Southwest.
See the Stamps
The stamp set highlights five eye-catching rides: a blue 1958 Chevrolet Impala called “Eight Figures,” an orange 1964 Chevrolet Impala known as “the Golden Rose,” a green 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme dubbed “Pocket Change,” a blue 1946 Chevrolet Fleetline titled “Let the Good Times Roll/Soy Como Soy,” and a red 1963 Chevrolet Impala named “El Rey.”
USPS art director Antonio Alcalá created the designs using photographs taken by Humberto “Beto” Mendoza — editor in chief of Centerfoldz Magazine — and photographer Philip Gordon. Artist Danny Alvarado added the detailed pinstriping that gives each stamp its distinctive style.
“ I’m gonna buy my stamps, but I’m never giving ‘em away,” said Jovita Arellano, president of the United Lowrider Coalition. “ I wanna keep ‘em, they’re forever for me.”
Every car in the series features its own intricate artwork, the kind that's typically intended to be shown off at public gatherings or while cruising slowly through city streets. For years, that kind of cruising was banned in many California cities, with critics linking it to gang activity and violence. That changed in 2024.
Release Lines Up With Important Legal Changes
The release of the stamp collection comes about a year after California’s AB 436 took effect. The law officially legalized cruising statewide and removed restrictions on vehicle parts that extend below the rim line.
Arellano’s group, the United Lowrider Coalition based in National City, played a key role in pushing for the legislation. She recalls a much different time decades ago, when simply driving her car could lead to trouble.
She remembers being pulled over, forced to the ground and handcuffed after police said her car matched the description of a vehicle involved in a nearby robbery.
“You knew that you’re taking a chance back in the 1980s to go cruising without being pulled over or accused of anything,” said Arellano. “But it was still, it was more of the good moments than the bad.”
Now, with the lowrider stamp series designated as Forever stamps — meaning they’ll always be worth the current first-class one-ounce postage rate — Arellano says the recognition means something bigger than just a collectible. To her, it signals that lowrider culture is finally being acknowledged as an important part of American culture.
“That’s our lifestyle,” says Arellano. “So to have a forever stamp, it just signifies that we are lowriders forever.”
To mark the release, USPS is hosting a free outdoor celebration Friday at 11 a.m. at San Diego’s Logan Heights Library.
Another community event — complete with a car show — will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood at 1300 Evans Ave.
The stamps are available at USPS offices nationwide.