Chevrolet Forum takes you behind the velvet rope at collector Rick Lorenzen’s stunning private showroom of unforgettable classics.
Most of the beauties of California are easy to see. The blue ocean water, the clear skies, the spotless beaches, the canyon roads just begging to be rocketed down. However, there are some gorgeous sights in California that aren’t so obvious. Famed classic car collector Rick Lorenzen‘s private auto museum in Rancho Dominguez is one of them.
Lorenzen, owner of the customs examinations company Price Transfer, Inc., doesn’t open his collection to the public. However, he recently agreed to allow Mecum Auctions to invite members of the Motor Press Guild automotive media association to his facility. Fortunately, we were on the list. Mecum’s director of consignment, John Kraman, who is also an analyst for Mecum Auctions’ TV broadcasts, delivered a speech about August’s Monterey Car Week and the classic car market.
As interesting as those topics were, we couldn’t help but be distracted by everything that surrounded us. Carefully kept Corvettes, shiny Chevelles, and buffed Belairs sat on top of checkerboard floors, seemingly immune to what decades of age can do to vehicles. Vintage signs and automotive-themed artwork hung on the walls behind them. We managed to take our eyes off of the cars just long enough to notice that a lot of the space in the building was devoted to recreating Lorenzen’s childhood. There was a 1950s diner, a fully stocked ’50s hobby shop, and even recreations of street scenes you would’ve seen back in the Truman/Eisenhower days. The Texaco gas pumps were an especially nice touch.
Normally it’s hard — if not impossible — to get an eyeful of Lorenzen’s collection, but we made it as easy as possible for you to see by posting our photos of it in the gallery below. Enjoy!
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
