WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY STEPHAN SZANTAI

Meticulously modelled starting line, complete with staging hot rods, is a visitor highlight.

American enthusiasts tend to idealise – if not idolise – California as it was in the 1950s and ’60s, when large and often outrageously styled automobiles ruled the streets and boulevards. It was a great time to be young, especially if you loved sports cars, muscle cars and hot rods. Having been in the midst of it all, Rick Lorenzen can certainly relate.

Growing up in Wilmington, near Los Angeles, Lorenzen had the good fortune of regularly visiting Lions Drag Strip, located a few miles away from his home, starting in the late 1950s until it closed in ’72. He took a liking for the Gas categories opened toa variety of hot rods, which originally prowled the streets of America and later evolved into track-only vehicles. These cars, nicknamed gassers, quickly became very popular with the crowds. The 1930s and early ’40s Willys models proved especially competitive, so Lorenzen bought a 1941 coupe in 1960 for just $65. He still owns it to this day, although it has remained untouched since 1964 because he never quite finished his own gasser project. It takes pride of place within his collection, housed in an industrial building in Rancho Dominguez, which is itself just a short distance from the original Lions Drag Strip site.

The large structure houses Price Transfer, a company founded in 1934 that specialises in the transportation of goods from the nearby Long Beach harbour. Lorenzen, who has been CEO since the ’70s, bought a few Willys through the years and, as their numbers grew, he decided to convert a corner of Price Transfer’s warehouse into a workshop – along with a place to store his cars. The real metamorphosis began around 15 years ago, when he decided to properly display his fleet in an appropriate...