Businessman.
Family man.
Rotarian.
Councilman.
Lowrider.
Lowrider?
Jose Nuño, Manteca’s 48 year-old councilman, is a part of the family of motor vehicle enthusiasts whose passion are lowrider cars.
The customized vehicles have a chassis that has been lowered to narrowly clear the ground, typically including intricate paint jobs and distinctive modifications such as hydraulics that raise and lower the vehicle.
Lowrider roots run deep in California where those in the Mexican Amerian community in the mid-to-late 1940s gave birth to the genre in Los Angeles.
As the song “Low Rider” recorded by the American funk band in 1975 immortalized in its lyrics, the goal is “slow and low.”
In other words, cruise as slow and smoothly as possible.
But as Nuno can tell you, it has always been about more than that.
Creating a sense of family and belonging, to share friendships and their passion, and to sharpen both craftsmanship and pride is part of the gig just as it is with automobile enthusiasts that are drawn together by Corvettes, hot rods, or even PT Cruisers.
It isn’t just a Latino thing, although those that proudly call themselves lowriders are predominately Hispanic.
And as Nuno pointed out, the weekly gathering in Manteca on Fridays at 6:30 p.m. in the Cardoza Center parking lot at Louise and Main draws other genres of auto enthusiasts that join the cruising on city streets.
Profiled on ‘Lowrider
Roll Models’ series
Nuno, who was mesmerized at age 15 by the loud music and “interesting paint job” of a lowrider driven by the boyfriend of a girl next door in Waterford in eastern Stanislaus County, hasn’t displayed or cruised his lowrider car for a while.
“It’s gathering dust in my garage,” Nuno said.
And while he’s promised to dust if off and head down to the weekly family-style cruise night that is open to all as noted on the Facebook page for Everything Manteca/Manteca Cruise Night, Nuno and his rides have turned a lot of heads over the years throughout California and Las Vegas.
After his first lowrider encounter, Nuno was a freshman in high school when a friend came by to pick up some of his buddies driving a mini-truck with the music and the looks.
That’s when he thought to himself, “I think I want to have a car like that one day.”
Nuno ended up having three “cars like that” as well as a baby stroller — more about that later.
The first car was a 1991 Mercury Cougar. The second was a 1994 Cadillac Fleetwood. And his third, and current car, is a 2001 Lincoln Town Car.
Nuno and his 2001 Lincoln Town Car was featured in a September 2019 documentary series “Lowrider Roll Models.”
Nuno shares both the story of his car and his life in the 41st episode that is available on YouTube.
“Just like you work on your car and you make modifications to it to make it better, there’s modifications we do to our life and there’s modifications we do to ourselves to make ourselves better,” Nuno shares at the start of the 11 minute episode.
“I was encouraged by some, to be able to move on with my career. Now I want to help others know that I’m an example and they can do it.”
Family migrated from Mexico
to California for a better life
The desire to build a better life for his family brought Nuño’s grandfather to Manteca in the 1930s and 1940s to work the fields on his northern most swing as a migrant farm worker.
It is also what prompted his father, Antonio Nuño, to secure employment in Waterford in eastern Stanislaus County as a legal immigrant years later.
Waterford drew him as he had relatives already living there. Nuño’s father started his career with Dave Wilson Nursery — the nation’s largest provider of fruit trees for growers. He then brought his wife Teresa and their son and daughter Angelica to Waterford.
Nuño, now 48, immigrated from near Jalisco in the State of Guadalajara in Mexico as a 3 year-old.
Ultimately Jose and his wife Gabriela — an East Union High graduate — met at California State University Stanislaus in Turlock.
He secured a job in Stockton with the non-profit Visionary Home Builders and she finished up her degree and was hired in the admission department at California State University Stanislaus. She is now the director of the division of student affairs at CSUS.
Nuno has moved on from his 17 year career with Visionary Housing. He started his own housing consulting firm in 2022.
Nuño, the first Manteca councilman that’s a first generation American in modern city history, learned the value of earning an education one summer growing up.
His parents had him get up at 4:30 a.m. and had him working all day at their farm-related job.
“It was a real eye opener for me to see what our parents did to support us,” Nuno shared Thursday at Ernie’s Rendezvous Room with his fellow Manteca Rotarians.
Strong high school student, but
floundered as college freshman
Nuño grew up in Waterford and graduated from Oakdale High.
A strong academic achiever in high school, Nuño found himself floundering at CSUS.
“As a first generation American I didn’t know how to navigate college,” Nuño recalled.
He found himself floundering and opted to join the Army Reserves after struggling for two years.
His training for the signal corps brought him back to California where he was stationed at Camp Parks in Dublin.
After his eight years of service, he was hired as a police assistant for the Modesto Police Department where he was initially assigned to parking enforcement. That piqued his interest in law enforcement prompting him to train and volunteer as a Modesto reserve officer.
Nuño resumed his education at Modesto Junior College where he obtained several associate of arts degrees. He then returned to CSUS where he obtained a degree in psychology and eventually earned a master’s in public administration.
His decision to pursue a career in the development of housing projects aimed at helping working households struggling to keep a decent roof over their head was a natural
That’s because the importance of family and home ownership is strongly engrained in Nuño.
His parents were part of 10 families that qualified for a Habitat for Humanity type of program designed to provide workforce housing in Waterford that allowed them to secure their own homes by essentially using sweat equity.
By helping build their own homes that brought the price down enough that they could afford to purchase the home on modest wages.
“It provided stability,” Nuño said of the home.
Nuño noted that given “my father never made a lot of money” while working fulltime, the innovative workforce housing project made owning a home possible.
Nuño spent the 17 years as part of the non-profit Stockton-based Visionary Home Builders of California that has more than 3,500 affordable homes in five counties that represents a $150 million real estate portfolio.
His last five years with Visionary Home Builders was as vice president of programs and services.
Nuno was appointed in 2011 by then Mayor Willie Weatherford to the Planning Commission as an alternate to fill a vacancy when alternate Jeff Aksland resigned. He eventually was appointed as one of the five sitting members.
He was elected to the Manteca City Council in 2018.
Nuno did not seek re-election due to job commitments.
When then council member Gary Singh was elected mayor in 2022, Nuno’s employment situation changed.
He ended up being reappointed to complete Singh’s council term.
The term ends in December. Nuno could not run for re-election as the city has moved to election for council members. His seat was assigned to southeast Manteca where he does not reside.
As for that baby stroller, it is a 1955 Taylor Tot.
He acquired it when they were expecting their first child,
Nuno had it “chromed out” with a custom paint job and added white wall wheels.
The stroller has a “floor” that can be removed when a child gets older and is able to “power” the stroller with their feet.
The stroller turned heads just as much as his Town Car.
“I wanted to do it some my kids would have their own ride,” Nuno said.
And while he was excited about being featured on Lowrider Roll Models, he was more thrilled when he was contacted by a youth who saw it — plus the sharing of his life story — and was inspired to give his life direction.
“The world is more than you think it is,” Nuno said.
And that not only applies to those of different cultures and passion such as lowriders, but also what one is able to do in dealing with personal diversity to build a better future for themselves, their families, and their community.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
