SAN FRANCISCO —

Hundreds of lowriders are set to parade down Mission Street in San Francisco this weekend for a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. For the first time ever, San Francisco is hosting a parade followed by a "hopping" competition where lowrider drivers will compete to see who has the best hydraulics.

"I am all smiley," said Roberto Hernandez, president of the San Francisco Lowrider Council. "This is such an incredible moment for us to do this."

Lowriding has a complicated relationship with San Francisco. For years, San Francisco officials frowned upon people driving those cars in the city's Mission District. San Francisco Chronicle articles from the late 1970s and early 1980s showed tense confrontations between drivers and police officers. Reporters would describe bruta

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