Career Paths

Chuck Montoya is the owner of Classic Cars Low Riders Hydraulics auto-body shop. He has been converting classic cars into lowriders since the 70s.

“It’s a work of art,” he said. “I’ve been doing this since I saw lowriders out in L.A. I just got into it, and never got out of it, and now I own my own company and I have a lot of my own cars, too.”

Montoya said his shop is one of the few in the state that specializes in lowrider equipment.

“We are a custom shop; we do air bags, hydraulics, Lamborghini doors — we can do all kinds of custom stuff,” he said. “We are really the only ones in Albuquerque who can do that kind of custom work. We’ve been doing it for 31 years.”

Montoya said buyers from all over the world have purchased his work.

“I sell a lot to Germany and Japan,” he said. “In Japan they buy a bunch of Impalas and older Chevys — it’s a big fad over there. We ship them to Houston or L.A. and it’s about $3,000 to $3,500 to ship them. I would say the most popular are the ‘63-‘64 Chevy Impalas.”

Montoya said he has benefitted from the film industry in the state. He said his work has appeared on cars and motorcycles in the films “The Spy Next Door” and “Wild Hogs.”

Montoya said each lowrider is unique and that most cars are ongoing projects. Owners continue to add additional equipment and accessories to “trick out” their vehicles, but Montoya said every lowrider has some basic components.

“If you are looking at a lowrider, you would have to get you some wire wheels, and that’s about $800 at least,” he said. “Then some hydraulics — you are looking at about $2,500 and a custom paint job can be from $5,000-$15,000 depending on what you do, and upholstery and chrome plating.”

Montoya said some owners may have much more invested in a car than it is actually worth.

“I’ve seen some people that have $50,000 in their car and some people that have $350,000.”

Montoya said hydraulics, one of the trademarks of lowrider vehicles, is difficult to install.

“You have to take out the original springs and cut them down and put in the hydraulics,” he said. “You only leave in a little bit of the original springs. That’s what picks up the car and drops it from a switch inside the cab.”