Majestics

Original Majestics members in 1973. Joe Rivera can be seen on the right side. Joe was the first Vice President for a short time. "TJ" and "Lil Jimmie" left the Persians car club in Bellflower to start the Majestics with Lil John. Photo courtesy of Lil John.

Lil John's 1966 Chevrolet Caprice of La Mirada, California. Lil John is the founder and first President of the famous Majestics Lowrider car club mother chapter of Southern California. Lil John's list of Lowrider show cars representing the Lowrider Majestics car club helped set the standards in the 1970s and they each were ahead of their time in paint design, patterns, and murals. The Caprice was completed in 1978.

The Majestics is a Southern Californa lowrider car club founded by by Giovanni "Lil John" Bertoldi in 1973. Lil John is also the first President of the club. Joe Rivera was the first Vice President for a short time. When Lil John formed the club, several members of the Persians left their club to join Lil John. David Romero was one of the Persians that joined Lil John. "David was responsible for bringing so many of the neighbourhood from Santa Fe Springs to the first Majestic meeting. Andy Telles brought others from the neighbourhood of Pico Riviera to form Majestics." Many men from several neighbourhoods started joining after that first official meeting. The first meeting was held at Bellflower High School.

The first club shirts were baby blue.

The Bronze Plaque

Vice President Ernie Lopez helped Lil John execute the design for the plaque. "Ernie was excellent at drawing letters." Lil John wanted to achieve an identifiable look that would hold up for decades. The plaques of clubs such as the Imperials, Klique, New Wave, Groupe and Lifestyle served as inspiration for the design. The Bronze casting plaque was made by Koehler Foundry in Bell, California.

Club House

In the mid 1970s the club rented a clubhouse in Downey. "We had two of our members, Rags and Tulo, staying full time there." The club spent a lot of time at the clubhouse, throwing parties and having a good time.

New Chapters

By 1977 the Majestics had grown in membership and solid cars. In 1978 Lil John began forming new chapters. Delano was the first chapter, run by Abel Sr. Compton became the second chapter, and Orange County the third. Huntington Park and Arizona followed. The Majestics was the first club to franchise Lowrider chapters and spread beyond the So Cal mother chapter.

Traditional Lowrider Cars Only

In 2008 Reinaldo M. Robinson wrote a story about the club for Lowrdier Magazine. At the time the club was still active, only accepting traditional lowrider cars, like two-door Chevys (Impala, Caprice, Monte Carlo), Big Body Cadillacs (two- and four-door), and G-bodies (two-door Regals and Cutlasses). To start a chapter, it was required that there were at least five clean and complete cars.

Past and Present Members

Andy Telles
Art Garcia
Bob Terrietta
Carlos Vasquez
David Romero
Doug Burson
Ernie Gonzales
Ernie Lopez
Frank Rodella
Joe Rivera
Joey Mariani
John "Lil John" Giovanni Bertoldi
Joseph Huan Amaro
Louie Vasquez
Ray Mejia
Roy Elias

Club Cars

Art Garcia's 1966 Chevrolet
Lil John's 1966 Chevrolet Caprice
Louie Vasquez's 1968 Chevrolet Impala
Roy Elias' 1968 Chevrolet
Doug Burson's 1973 Chevrolet Caprice
Carlos Vasquez's 1976 Chevrolet
Ernie Gonzales' 1976 Chevrolet Caprice