Lorin H. Tryon Jr.; Classic Car Collector, Show Organizer
Lorin H. Tryon Jr., a leader of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and president of the Blackhawk Automotive Museum, has died. He was 71.
Tryon, an international collector and judge of classic cars, died Friday of a heart attack at the San Ramon Valley Medical Center in Danville, Calif.
A third-generation Californian born in San Francisco and educated at UC Berkeley, Tryon began a lifelong fascination with “things automotive” as a child when his grandfather was one of the state’s first automobile dealers.
By age 7, Tryon was operating his own 10-cent carwash at his family home and driving his customers’ cars. He developed a passion for mechanical and construction detail and particularly for one-of-a-kind, coach-built classic era cars he referred to as “rolling sculptures.”
He helped organize and judge myriad car shows throughout the world and became the driving force in the revitalization and continuing growth of the Pebble Beach show.
A wool broker by trade, Tryon served as co-chairman of the Concours d’Elegance with his friend, furniture designer Jules Heumann, for 27 years.
“I will miss not only his friendship and his humor,” said Heumann, a friend of Tryon for 40 years, “but above all, his incredible knowledge of the collector car movement, resulting from an entire life devoted to it.”
In Danville, Tryon served as consultant and, since 1996, president of the Blackhawk Automotive Museum, overseeing care and display of its 120 cars on exhibit and its considerable collection of art focusing on automobiles.
He helped organize a 1997 conference at the museum, the Fifth World Forum for Motor Museums, as well as the Blackhawk Museum’s 10th anniversary celebration last year. Tryon had recently worked on a two-day international automotive design forum scheduled at the museum next Aug. 31.
Tryon is survived by his wife, Dolores, and two children, Catherine and Bill.
The family has asked that any memorial contributions be made to the Blackhawk Automotive Museum in Danville or to the American Heart Assn. at 11200 Golf Links Road, Oakland, CA 94605.
