A Sunday Afternoon Roll
Photos/Video/Story: T-Bone • Click to watch the video on Blacktop TV
Jared went on a Poker Run.
It may be his last for a while. He went and got his wife pregnant without club approval. But that’s another story for another time.
I think we won the winning hand on that run. The event was the annual Early Times So Cal Poker Run. One of the stops on the run was the unsung private collection of Price Transfer CEO, Rick Lorenzen. Jared made arrangements for our club; Mercifuls So Cal, to tour the facility privately.
The collection is housed in a corner building in Rancho Dominquez and includes nearly 100 vehicles. There are nearly 2 dozen Willys models from bone stockers to full customs in one room! A boneyard with more Willys and assorted hot rods. Full restoration shop with much of the equipment bought at auction from Boyd Coddingtons’ shop. They built a completely custom diner area with surf movie posters, and juke boxes. Rick had a Texaco gas station built in the same era as the one his dad owned and operated. A speed shop showroom at the entrance with a variety of motors, parts and memorabilia displayed.
The collection is operated by Rob Marchese and they currently run about 3 restorations a year building the collection with meticulous attention to detail. They are currently putting the finishing touches to a Willys delivery with beautiful graphics wearing the Price Automobilia brand. My favorite in the collection is a dark root beer brown ’39 Willys custom panel delivery. It was made from a 4-door sedan and just looks lean and mean. Rick powered up a big block street rod that sat next to it (check it out on the video here).
An incredible day and we are very fortunate and grateful that they opened the garage for us on this early Sunday afternoon.