How lowriding’s ‘First Lady’ carved her own path in South LA

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

In a subculture long defined by masculinity, chrome and hydraulics, Tina Blankenship-Early carved out her own lane as a lowrider pioneer.

For more than 30 years, Blankenship-Early has been immersed in a scene historically dominated by men. She’s been featured in publications from The Wall Street Journal to Essence Magazine.

There are many firsts attached to her name. She’s known in the culture as “First Lady,” she was the first woman member of her car club, Super Natural Lowriders, and the first to be named Woman of the Year for Lowrider magazine in 2023 — appearing on the magazine’s cover the following year for a special edition honoring women lowriders.

She was even inducted into the National Lowrider Hall of Fame in 2012, according to the Peterson Automotive Museum, and her cars include a 1966 Chevrolet Caprice named “Game Killa” and a 1961 blue Impala featuring a painting of Michelle Obama on its trunk.

“The cars are the main focus, but it’s the people of the community for me,” Blankenship-Early said. “The realness and the people who are all about the cars and the culture made me want to be deeply involved.”

Blankenship-Early’s legacy highlights a shift within lowrider culture where women are no longer viewed as just passengers or eye candy but are celebrated as creators and competitors. Because of her influence, women are joining car clubs that specifically cater to them, like the L.A.-based Girlz in the Hood and Thee Lady Lowriders.

Women began creating their own car clubs in the 1970s, according to the automobile magazine Motor Trend. Over the past decade, there’s been a resurgence of all-women car clubs in California.

Les Riley, longtime lowrider and member of the Super Natural Lowriders, told The LA Local he didn’t see a lot of women in the culture nearly 40 years ago when he first started, and he knows having a lowrider is not an easy or cheap hobby.

“She’s doing everything that the men are doing and probably doing it better,” Riley said of Blankenship-Early. “So I take my hat off to her.”

Blankenship-Early went from watching lowriders to building them

Blankenship-Early, 58, said she was about 8 years old being raised in Watts when she first saw guys lowriding.

Her chance to work on a lowrider came with her best friend’s father.

“I’ve always wanted to lowride, but what actually made me go ahead and do it — my best friend, her dad, me and him built his ’66 Impala in his garage, and he would take me riding with him all the time,” she said.

In 1988, she said she bought a Nissan 200 SX, and after watching her neighbor install an audio system in the car, she taught herself and began installing them for local car clubs.

After installing an audio system for Super Natural Lowriders' then-President Andre Jones, she was asked to join the club as its first woman member in 1998.

Former club Vice President Gerald Hill gave her the nickname “First Lady.” Today, she holds the title of vice president, a role she said she’s using to plan food drives for unhoused people in the community and backpack giveaways for local students.

And the sense of community she’s found within lowriding has extended far beyond South L.A.

“Since I’ve been doing this, I’ve made friends in other countries that I chat with on a regular basis,” Blankenship-Early said. “It’s opened up worlds for me that I probably would’ve never encountered.”

During a Super Natural Lowriders meeting at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro on March 15, member Kenneth Jones told The LA Local that Blankenship-Early has been in a leadership role since he joined the club.

“When I came into the club, Tina was already here influencing the club and doing a lot of things,” Jones said, adding that having a woman in the car club’s leadership is cool and she knows what she’s doing.

Blankenship-Early owns a lowrider named ‘Game Killa‘

Blankenship-Early has owned at least three lowriders in her lifetime.

“The first lowrider I bought was a 1984 [Buick] Regal, and that was a whole different experience for me,” Blankenship-Early said. “I remember being excited to pick it up from the hydraulics shop.”

She bought her award-winning lowrider, a 1966 Chevrolet Caprice named “Game Killa,” for $500 in 2005. It took her three years to transform it from a shell into a car built for cruising and competition.

The car was named by fellow club member Ivan Lopez, who told her she’d be “killing the game” after seeing photos of the car’s transformation.

Game Killa has earned dozens of awards, appeared in music videos and even appeared in ads for the 2015 film “Straight Outta Compton.”

Blankenship-Early was given the nickname “First Lady” after becoming the first woman to join the Super Natural Lowriders in 1998. Her second car, a blue 1961 Impala also named “First Lady,” pays tribute to former first lady Michelle Obama.

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LaMonica Peters

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The LA Local

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Blankenship-Early owns another customized lowrider: a 1961 blue Impala fittingly named “First Lady,” that sits in her home garage. The car has painted murals of former First Lady Michelle Obama on the trunk.

When she isn’t driving one of her lowriders, Blankenship-Early operates a street sweeper for the city of Los Angeles, a job she’s had for the past eight years.

She said she likes to spend time with her husband and family, while helping to take care of her aging mother. But Sundays are for cruising.

“They know Sunday is my day,” she said. “You have to have some time for yourself to just breathe.”