Majestics Car Club President's '64 Impala | LOWRIDER Roll Models Season 5 Episode 6 | MotorTrend

(upbeat music) - My dad suggested painting it black, painting it green, or painting it pink. So there's no way he's going to paint them black. There are too many of those. I don't like green and what does the adult want a pink Impala? And he knew how passionate I was about it. And so, I set out to find that color, which was created in the 1970s by my father and a friend of his. I never saw the color, but there is a color they made. It was in a 1963 Impala. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out this color.

We had 57 fumigations. And 57 was the closest. And when we got to 58, we knew we had hit the nail on the head. We were able to show this color to some family members. And immediately when they saw it, they were filled with joy and said: My God, that's the color your dad always talked about. And I knew, through tears, that we had hit a home run. And that's how we ended this, and now I have a pink 64, called Concrete Rose. (upbeat music) I have a 1964 Impala Super Sport. All the engraving is done by Crazy Cutting. It has four pumps, eight batteries and the hydraulics are manufactured by About That Life Hydraulics.

Fully chrome suspension. It has a three twenty-seven engine, completely engraved. It has a custom interior by RNR Designs. It is mixed with leather and suede. It has custom door panels, with LED lighting on top. (incomprehensible) It has a custom center console with Alpine digital EQ. It has a pioneer stereo, cup holder. My digital board is actually custom made. It is not the typical digital board you just bought. This is actually made with round digital meters. This gives the car a really stylish look. I also have a tilt column that is chrome plated. These chrome tilt columns are starting to become quite popular in a world of short passengers.

I kept the original steering wheel because it's more of a sentimental thing between my father and me. So it has a nice pink steering wheel, a little embossed, just to enhance the interior. All interior decorations are actually engraved. The seat covers are engraved, all done by Crazy Cutting. And it gives it a wild look inside. I'm still trying to keep a subtle look on the outside. (upbeat music) - My mom is an immigrant from the Philippines. She and my father were actually pen pals. My mom worked at the clerk air force base. My dad, he spent some time, part of the Black Panthers group.

And my dad knew that she was the woman he wanted to marry. Then he said: I am going to the Philippines to look for you. And he went to the Philippines, he asked for the hand of his parents. And they agreed. He brought her back to the United States in 1974. Only after that did the family start. I have a younger brother and a younger sister. And I don't think she knew what she was getting into with respect to the

lowrider

scene. In 1975, she became pregnant with me. And in April 1975, about five people attacked her. And that was something my father couldn't let go.

And he felt that he had let her down. Then, sadly, he found the people who did it and made decisions that would take them out of our lives for 31 years. And my brother was born while my father was away. He was imprisoned in 1980 and my brother was born in July 1980. So, my father had to be a father from a distance, while he was away. And I remember that at a very early age, starting in 1982, he sent me letters. And in those letters he said that I would have to be the man of the house. But also in those letters he also reminded me of the love we have for cars.

I remember when he was four or five years old, he would go to his car

club

meetings, see pictures, even now, you know, it still amazes me. But in those letters, he would take cars off the loader, cut off the tires, and then tape them to the car to make them look like

lowrider

s. And he did it from, maybe, the young age of six or seven until I was about 15, in the mid-1990s. And it was always something that we were going to do. Growing up in the south central, you actually grow around two things that are pretty popular.

One was low-level and the other was gang-related. You really didn't have a choice. And if you weren't going to do that, then you wouldn't be anyone. And my mom decided that she wanted to move us to a better area. Which would be the San Fernando Valley. And, having grown up around cars and seeing gang life, she couldn't steer me away from either. She knew she wanted to make the cars, but I was very attracted to the gang life. So, at the age of 15, I joined the Crips in the San Fernando Valley. And it was difficult because, having the same passion today that I have as a low-rider, that passion actually comes from being a gangbanger.

So in a sense, it's almost as if low driving has saved my life. Because I knew I wasn't going to be here much longer. I had faced prison sentences several times. And, if you can't take a step back from what you know is going to kill you, how are you going to move forward from what will possibly save your life? And I said: I have to take a step back from this. The year was 1992. My grandmother had died and the family decided to sell her house. So, my dad called one day from prison and said, you know, I want to get you a low-rider.

You have to promise to stay in school and graduate. Unfortunately, when you give a child a lot of money to buy a car, it's not always the best decision. I went out and bought a 1984 Cadillac Deville coupe. I wrote him a letter and told him, I'll send you a photo. I was delighted. I think he just cared that I could continue with what he wanted to do. That's why it has always been, and even more so, one of my passions. In retrospect, he loved that first build, as bad as it was. And I don't mean bad, I mean good. (Man laughs) It was in 1997, the Majestics opened their arms to me and my attraction to the

club

emerged in 1996.

And what I saw was something that always inclined me as a biracial individual. Hispanics, blacks, Samoans and Caucasians, all in lowriders. And it wasn't about who was at the front of the line, who was at the back of the line. One thing I noticed was that all the cars were equally clean. They are all bad and they all have majestic badges. So when I got the invitation, there was no way in the world I was going to miss that opportunity. So, the great Don took my car home, started it up, and drove it to his house in Palmdale, Lancaster.

And he took the car out. In a matter of five or six months I had my first stately car. And it was painted. Again, it wasn't the best paint job or better than my first paint job. And the Majestics opened their arms to me. And, you know, they made me feel like this was the group I wanted to belong to. And I've been there since 1997. In 2015, I introduced my first Impala. It was a two-year construction. A good friend of mine, Louis O, built a car from the bottom up. And building an Impala is not easy. And my dad always told me that.

So, without listening to him, I went my own way. I built it. I was able to debut it in 2015. Then I was going to a toy drive in Antioch, California, and the axle broke, at about 50 miles per hour. And the car swerved. I lost control of the car, hit an embankment and the car was thrown two meters into the air. And I went straight to the retaining wall. Y. At that moment I knew my life was over. I knew I was going to die. And I remember turning in my seat and saying, God, I'm not ready.

After I was able to get out of the hospital and start the healing process, one of the first things my dad told me, after asking me if he was okay, a hundred times, he told me, you're going to build another one. 64? I told him, of course. Fresh off my injuries, I drove to Utah and told my dad I was buying a 64 Super Sport. And the first thing I told him was that I'm going to paint this car the same color. He said no. He said, you're crazy. I said I'll paint this car yellow. And he says, why do you want to paint it that color?

And I said, because I said a little cycling magazine said they wanted to do a centerfold on this. Then I'm going to give them what they want. Everyone loves this color combination of yellow and gray. And he says, no, that's bad Juju. I didn't care what he said. I was going to do it. So I just didn't tell him that. I followed his ideas. He said, let's chrome the floorboards, let's chrome the exhausts, let's do this. So with this build I have now, a lot of the ideas are his. And that November he became ill and his health began to deteriorate.

We didn't think much about it. We just said, well, you know, he'll be able to get it off his back. He is a strong man. And in February he was rushed to the hospital. And then I knew something was happening. I didn't stop the construction. I told the painter to proceed, let's do this. Because he wanted, he wanted to please him. I wanted him to see this new construction. At the end of February, the doctor said, we have to start, maybe making preparations because they said he had gone into a coma and was on a ventilator.

So I went to see him, talked to him and knew he was going to get out of this. There's no way he's going to get out of this, he'll be fine. And he did. When he did it, I remember my wife feeding him. When he finished eating, he said: How's the car? I said, it's okay, dad, I said, it's okay. You will like. And he says, okay. He says, what color are you going to paint it? And I, I couldn't tell him, had already painted it yellow. He says, as soon as he gets out of here, we have to get on with it.

I need you to put it down here. So I said, okay, dad, no problem. I told him, I told him, it's okay, dad. I said: I'm going to go ahead and go home. The children go to school tomorrow. I said, I'll be back on Thursday, when you're transferred to your next hospital. That Thursday I received a phone call at 12:10. And they told me that, they said that his heart couldn't take it anymore. And he died of heart failure. When I walked out to the hospital room, the last thing he said to me was, when you come back, bring me pictures of my four.

I told him, it's okay dad, I love you. The first thing he gave me in life was my love for cars. And the last thing he told me was about our love for cars. So he never knew I painted it yellow. After my father passed away, I completely lost motivation. I didn't want to build another Impala. I did it, I didn't want this one. Our plan was to always build a car together. And I didn't feel like I was honoring him by painting the car yellow and he didn't know it. So a good friend of mine named Z says, you're slacking.

You need to build this car. And I said, I can't, I can't make it this color. He says: I want to go get the car, but let's figure this out. So eventually that led me to the story, I told him about '63, which my dad always talked about. And he says, well, let's do it. Several months later, actually the following year, I was in New Mexico and there was a magazine show about lowriders. And I met the guys from Crazy Cutting. And they are, a finished engraving products company. And they actually offered me a job. He says, but ultimately we want to be able to do something for you.

You do a lot for this lifestyle. They hooked up with one of my closest friends in life, Demac from Compton Majestics, and my wife, Alex Rodriguez. And they conspired to make a mural, inside the trunk, as a tribute to my father. So, on the mural there is a photograph of the last photograph that my father and I took was my 40th birthday. It was a surprise party that my members organized for me. The first photo of my mom came from the Philippines, standing with my dad's 64-year-old man, who is in the mural. But then the difficulties of being in prison for 31 years, which is a prison tower in the mural.

His Riviera was in the mural. And then in the background there is a boat sailing on the water. And to me, that's the most meaningful part of that mural because one of his favorite songs is Sailing by Christopher Cross. And the song talks about how your mind is always free. I know it's free. And I know, we're still connected by that song. The song was very meaningful because, he always said, the reason he loves that song is because he knew, wherever we were, if that song was playing, if we liked it and listened to it, that was his connection to us, which was the music. .

When the mural was finished, my wife, Demac and everyone knew it would be very important. Sometimes it's emotional. I just want to get in the car and play my dad's favorite song. I just want to ride. Without destination. Simply feeling the movement of the car. Just knowing that, that was his vision. This is what he talked about when he told my mom and his mom that he wanted to be in the magazine with the baddest car. I think about all those things. There is no feeling that can, it is impossible to describe. He is generally credited with using his ideas and lifestyle passions.

Although he didn't really care too much about the way we do it now. He was a lowrider from the seventies. But I can't describe it in any other way than emotional. And that's whether I'm alone or with my brothers. There is a love that is out of this world. When I got the Majestics, he was a very aggressive low-rider. There was no day of the week that you caught me driving my car, nor at any picnic or event. And in doing so, they looked at me like maybe I should become a leader. After about eight months in this San Fernando chapter, I assumed the presidency.

And I have maintained the status of

president

, since 1998 at the Majestics, until now. In 2011, I moved from the San Fernando chapter as

president

to Sacramento. That was the only time I reallyI resigned from the presidency, because it was difficult to be president of the chapter, 350 miles away. So I did a fundraiser in 2015 to start my chapter. That was our beginning. We were going to start this majestic chapter by doing a fundraiser. And so we did it, with my ambition and my unconditional passion for the Majestics. Not just to ride low, but only for the Majestics. I think the members recognized that and were comfortable with me being national president.

It's a difficult role, but you can show that you care about the Majestics community and not so much about the individual who is a part of it. I think it will take you much further than you want to be. You have to be a team player. Having 40 chapters around the world is a lot for me. I have started some of those chapters internationally as well as here in the United States. When you can go anywhere in the world and know that Majestics is there, you know that you have done something right, or that the leaders before you have done something right.

And I've been fortunate to follow in the footsteps of good leaders and learn from their successes, learn from their failures, and ultimately put my own spin on it. And I think that's what makes China Man the majestic, low rider that I am. If I'm in a leadership position, I want to be in a leadership position to make things better for all of us. Being in a San Fernando chapter for so many years, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to contribute. And, again, I was an aggressive low-rider. I was the guy blocking traffic, (unintelligible) jumping, whatever.

And as I've gotten older, as a parent, your level of responsibility changes. And one of the biggest things, which I always congratulate low-riders for, is that we do these toy drives all over California, the period of low-rider communities all over the United States. And that means a lot to me because I was one of those kids. One of my most sentimental memories is receiving a huge fire truck when I was a child. And it's not that my mom didn't love it. She simply didn't have the means. So, I wanted to contribute to those same programs because I know what that child feels.

And I know what it's like to not have toys for Christmas. I know what it's like next, having to go on a show and have a stranger give you a toy. My name is Chinese Man. I am a legal representative and a low-level role model. (upbeat music)