waste 180 thousand dollars, pay for a 4 door 6 cylinder automatic to be masterly crafted into a 2 door Hemi dragster, then try to sell it because you are crazy. All true

 It's not restored, it would still be a 4 door, 6 cyl, automatic. This guy is not easy to talk to, because for the last 5 or 6 years I've seen him at car shows he is constantly angry about how the world is against him. Well, he's rich enough to waste money like this, but not smart enough to get an ASE certified, or BAR (Bureau of Automotive Repair) licensed car crafter to do it his way. It's a stunning example of big money, big troubles

Nos or reproduction parts were not used where original could be repaired or reconditioned to like new. The car is incredible really. But who else but this guy who wanted a car exactly like this but didn't want to buy one, would blow 175-180 thou for it? 

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Penn State mission affiliate Pennsylvania College of Technology is going to start a auto restoration major

The restoration of a 1965 Ford Mustang convertible for the Antique Automobile Club of American Museum in Hershey has led to plans for a new major at the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport.
Students at the special mission affiliate of Penn State restored the car for the museum in 2010. Last year, it won a first-place junior award at the club’s America eastern regional meet.

Because of that success, the college plans in the fall to offer a two-year degree in automotive restoration technology, which pleases Michael Barrett, executive director of the museum that will be a major sponsor of the program.
“It will teach a skill that has been lost over the years,” he said.
It is difficult for young people to get into the restoration field, only three other public colleges in the country offer such a course.

It is almost a recession-proof industry to work on high-end classic cars, unlike work in a body shop that often takes only days, restoration can take a year or longer and cost upward of $80,000. There are no computers or replacing a damaged fender with a new one, students will learn how to pound out dents and restore the cars to their original condition.

Williamson expects the first class to have 18 to 20 students. They will have to take collision-repair courses the first year, he said. Only students with at least a B average can opt to take the restoration course the second year.
They also could decide to complete their collision-repair degree and return for a third year for the restoration degree, he said.

Only serious students will be selected for the restoration program because classic car owners are very particular about their vehicles, Williamson said.

from http://www.pennlive.com/east-shore/index.ssf/2012/02/classic_car_restoration_leds_to_plans_for_new_major_at_pennsylvania_college_of_technology.html
via: http://multibriefs.com/briefs/vrl/index.php

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DeLisio’s Performance in Clyde, New York state.... rare restoration shop, specializes in 1964 Thunderbolt 427 Fairlanes

1964 Ford Thunderbolt 427 Fairlane. Ford built 100 of these cars. There are only about 60 left, and of those Delisio has restored 17 of them. 'Nazy Crate' is his favorite.

http://rochester.ynn.com/content/other_features/viewfinder/522939/classic-car-restorer-has-hot-wheels/

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Get college credits for restoring cars!

http://www.mcpherson.edu/academics/auto_templeton.php

Templeton Hall houses the nationally recognized Automotive Restoration Technology Program. The spacious 33,000-square-foot facility is equipped with specialized equipment and tools to support the unique curriculum of the auto restoration program.

America’s Car Museum (ACM - LeMay Museum) has established a partnership with McPherson College to promote both institutions and their work in automotive preservation and education.

Through the alliance, ACM, set to open in June 2012, will provide vehicles and educational opportunities for McPherson College, a liberal arts college located in McPherson, Kan., that offers the country’s only four-year degree program in automotive restoration

The relationship provides an outlet for ACM to expand on its educational mission, as the museum will offer regular internships to McPherson College students providing practical work experience with more than 500 vintage cars at ACM. The museum will also supply cars to McPherson College for on-campus use in automotive restoration and preservation courses, including work on project vehicles.

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porsche 356 saved from junkyard death

full gallery and story at http://www.build-threads.com/build-threads/porsche-356-back-from-the-brink/ via the terrific selction of interesting thing to check into at http://stipistop.com/ 

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Hot Rod Headlines has done the legwork and you can take a vitrual shop tour of about 100 of the best hot rod builders in the US

http://www.hotrodhotline.com/feature/shoptour/

It has photo galleries of Winfield, Alloway, Foose, Trepanier, Starbird, Rolling Bones, Alan Johnson, Coddington, and 90 more I'm not familiar with, but have work of such good quality that you might want to learn about the ones in your area.

Thanks Brian for getting me to look this up!

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West Coast Metric brought a 1/2 restored bug to the Bugorama, drivers side restored, passenger side old... cool to see how much better a car can look

West Coast Metric has restoration parts for 1946-79 bugs, Ghia, Things, Busses, and type 3's
https://shop.westcoastmetric.com/index.php

very fun to look at, reminded me of the other 1/2 restored car I photographed, the Falcon at SEMA 2 years ago http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/11/half-done-falcon-from-fins-customs-and.html

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If you have a classic Chevy musclecar, and didn't get the build or broadcast sheet, dealer window sticker, protecto plate, a perfect replicas are here

http://www.oldchevydocumentation.com/

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Of the 12 futurliners built, 8 exist, and one is getting restored in Sweden, here is a dedicated website to it's 4 year, 10 million dollar, resto

the website is in Swedish, but no problem from Google to translate to your language, just switch to Google Chrome for a web browser, and put http://www.classicmotor.se/futurliner/ in the address bar, and once the page loads... the browser will pop up a small bar at the top of the page and ask you if you want it translated. Simple. I recommend switching to Google Chrome, because lately Windows has not worked at translating for me

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The best BMW restorer in America. Tim Stafford. I stumbled across his shop, and the Von Dutch painted BMW he's going to mechanically repair.

Click on the lower pic for FULL size legible size to read the whole thing. Or read from the same author on his website edition http://motos.home.att.net/stafford.htm

"The 2006 Las Vegas motorcycles auction clearly set new highs for the value of fine old BMW motorcycles. The $20,000 brought by Tim's white R50/2 was probably a record for a slash-2 without a sidecar. But I believe as well that the three BMWs Tim brought to Vegas has shown vintage BMW motorcycle cognoscenti a level of restoration perfection previously unseen."

He would have been wrenching, but I was interviewing him. Nice guy who took the time to swap some stories and didn't mind me taking photos...

That is a cool office display... no question.

The surest sign of utter respect from your customers is them trusting you with irreplaceble treasures from their collections... like this Von Dutch painted bike, it's in for a mechanical. Nobody touches the paint.

The cracking paint on the tank, never going to be messed with, the rock chip? Who cares about them? No one. Those stripes were applied at the hands of the Da Vinci of pinstriping. They won't be restored.

Notice the subtle light shade inside the red?

This seems to be the BMW auctioned off in this article : http://thevintagent.blogspot.com/2007/11/von-dutch-auction-los-angeles.html

The above was intentionally composed with the poster reflecting the actual Vespa it portrays beside it

That is a sweet showroom floor display! 1949 if I recall correctly

Still has the 1970 papers... now that is cool!

Most of these are wall paper size for your computer, or to print.

I'd never heard of Zundapp, but learned from Tim that they made a nice 4 cylinder 4 stroke bike for the War effort, of superior design over what BMW had at the time... but Zundapp could not make enough for the war, so Zundapp was forced to give up their right to the design, and BMW went on to make the bikes for the war, and established the name recognition of a great engineering design for bikes.... and Zundapp didn't.

Similar situation to the Bantam company designing the Jeep, but being so unable to mass produce them for the Army's high demand, that the US Govt gave the designs to all the high production capable factories.

I forgot to include Bill H's comment here for everyone to see:

"Magda Goebbels, wife of Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels, was at one time (through most of the '20s') married to Guenther Quandt, whose business holdings included a very large chunk of BMW. Even after the divorce, Magda and Guenther had a very friendly relationship, which likely made BMW a natural choice for German Army motorcycle contracts."

Bultacos.. the above is one serious racer.

From Tim "The Bultacos are all mid to late 1960s 250cc 5 speed Metralla (model name). The one above with a glass tank is the race kited one called kit America by most. Un-kited this model was tested by David Dixon (for some bike mag) and he nicknamed them the Barcelona Bomb. At 103 mph it was the fastest 250 single of that time. At least for a production street legal bike.
In 1967, the first year the IOM (Isle of Mann) had a production class this bike took 1st Bill Smith, 2nd Tommy Robb, and 6th with Kevin Cass. The bikes all used the over the counter race kits much like my bike. I however do not think they were the underdog for the 250cc production class but have not read much more. By the way, their average speed was 88.63 and 88.62 (1st and 2nd) for 3 laps of the 37 3/4 mile mountain circuit. This fact raised quite a stir at the time."

This is some cool decorating!

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