Meet the First Lady of Lowridersthedigitalchaps

Tina L. Blankenship-Early, a street sweeper operator living in Los Angeles who is the first woman inducted into the National Lowrider Hall of Fame, on her 1966 “Game Killa” Chevrolet Caprice, as told to A.J. Baime.

I started out doing car audio for my best friend’s dad on a 1966 Chevrolet Impala in his garage many years ago. Then, he let me work on other cars in his garage. I had always wanted a lowrider because I grew up around them in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. One day, my friend’s dad said, “You need to build a car.” He helped me find a 1965 Impala, and that’s how it all started.