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Ron & June Lorenzo

Ron grew up in Northern California where he met his wife June while working for Albertsons. He spent nearly 50 years with the grocery chain before retiring in February of 2018.  Ron and June have 2 children, 5 grandchildren and enjoy traveling and camping in their RV along with their dog Choco. 

Ron had a natural attraction to automobiles. His father owned and operated two auto repair/gas stations in Northern California and his maternal grandfather was also an auto mechanic. Ron enjoyed the time spent with them both working on autos and boats. 

Ron’s first car at age 16 was a 1957 MG A and that was followed by a 1957 Chevy stepside pick up.

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Ron’s father, Rupe, belonged to the local Model “T” & “A” car club and he attended many parades. Rupe purchased the 1931 Ford Model A Deluxe Roadster in 1992 from a friend that bought it in Hollywood.  It was believed that this was the car that Ryan and Tatum O’Neil drove in the Paper Moon, but it was later discovered that they actually drove a 1930 Model A in the film.

When Ron’s father passed in 2018, none of the other family members had any interest in the car. Ron was always excited to drive the Model A and was very willing to make it his own. In September of 2018 he towed it from Northern California back home to AZ.

It wasn’t running when Ron got it but after a new battery, carburetor rebuild, new coil and a fuel tank flush it was on the road again.

 

 

In 2020 Ron decided to have the car repainted by Ryan Romero from Stil Swangn’ Collision. The work was done in Ryan’s home garage here in Goodyear and lasted 7 months.

First thing was to dip and then powder coat the wheels. Then fenders were removed before the rest of the body was disassembled for work.

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The car was dismantled, blasted, sanded, primored  and then finally painted back to the original color scheme. Ron also reupholstered the interior to update the original black to a saddle brown. 

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When the new paint and reworked chrome was complete, it looked good, but Ron’s wife June suggested that white walls may look better, so to keep peace, he agreed (whole heartedly). 

Ron joined the Estrella Mountain Car Club in October 2018 and has generously contributed his enthusiasm, time and talent to the club. In addition to being a constant presence at club events, Ron served in leadership roles with the club’s car show committees as well as being the club’s past Treasurer. 

The club would like to congratulate Ron and June on the excellent job done restoring Rupe’s Model “A”. The Ford draws a crowd wherever it goes and Ron always takes time and patiently answers the questions from the car’s many admirers.