Englewood, Colo. -- At the age of 16, Jack Farland's job was to prep cars for delivery at his father's Denver dealership Farland-Buell Chrysler Plymouth. Before the car was delivered, Farland said he'd also affix the Farland-Buell dealer logo on the rear of the car.
One of those cars sold on his father's lot at 1500 S. Colorado Blvd. during the early '70s was a rare "red-on-red" 1970 Plymouth Barracuda convertible. It found its way back to Farland and sits idle in his shop, Classic Restoration, with the same Farland-Buell badge he most likely placed there.
The roots of the Farland's shop reach back to '92, when he said he first opened a vehicle detailing business. Today, the shop continues to detail many modern and classic vehicles, but he said it has been superseded in volume by classic car maintenance and restorations on everything from Shelby Mustangs to vintage Ferraris and recently a Mercedes-Benz 300SL, known for its gull-wing doors.
"There are many shops doing this type of work, but nobody does the broad spectrum that we do," said Service Manager Doug Brown, who manages a crew of five technicians in the 15,000-square-foot facility at 3800 S. Kalamath St.
Scott Morton is the shop's complete-restoration tech, who can perform a job from start to finish, including powertrain, installation, body, and paint, Brown said, adding that Jose Moran is the shop's custom panel fabricator; Billy Taft does most body and polishing work; Luis Morales conducts most detail, buffing, and leather restoration, while Adam Alva, a recent WyoTech grad, handles mechanical repairs and muscle car maintenance.
Chandra Wheeler assists Farland's wife, Trina Farland, in the front office, while Ron Peterson conducts facility maintenance, Brown said.
During Parts & People's visit, Farland said he fell in love with American muscle cars as a teenager while working for his father, Fo Farland, and business partner Temple Buell Jr. in the '60s and early '70s.
The fuel shortages of the early '70s eventually forced his father and business partner to close their dealership in 1975, Farland said, adding that similar economic pressures affect his business today.
Producing a quality product has helped Farland and his wife overcome the economic conditions, he said, creating a stream of satisfied customers who spread the word about their shop. Word-of-mouth advertising, as well as exposure on their Web site www.classicrestodenver.com, are the two best sources for new business, he said.
"We'll have to work a lot harder in the next few months to keep the business going," Farland said. "This business requires huge overhead. We have to have projects continue to come in." That often means accepting partial work or unusual jobs, he said.
"You have to have an open mind, especially in this market," Brown said. "We get a lot of stalled projects from other shops."
Since many of the vehicles that find their way to Classic Restoration are not daily drivers, some owners may have to put projects on hold during tough economic times, Farland said. However, he added, many are unaffected by the current economy and spare no expense in their restoration project.
"This is a customer's third or fourth vehicle, not their primary mode of transportation," Brown said. "They look for perfection." When a vehicle is dropped off, a deposit is obtained and digital pictures are taken, he said. Customers then send checks twice a month, he added.
Paying attention to detail before, during, and after the project is how the shop is able to consistently produce quality restorations, Brown said.
Before each restoration project is taken on, Brown said the shop purchases the vehicle's original factory service manual from www.boosk4cars.com in Seattle, using it as a point of reference. They also research the vehicle on the Internet, reading blogs about specific vehicles, he said, adding that they also contact local businesses for advice, depending on the vehicle's make and model.
"We'll do the due diligence," he said, adding that enables them to blueprint the restoration.
"Once dismantled, the car's parts are bagged and labeled so we don't lose anything," Farland said, illustrating the importance of this on a recent rebuild with the rare parts on a 1961 Ferrari 250 PF Cabriolet that was sold for $675,000 after they restored it. "If lost, those parts were irreplaceable."
As the work progresses on a restoration, owners are e-mailed photos of their vehicle each week to show progress, Farland said. "Local customers like to come in and check it out."
The shop uses a variety of sources for parts, given the wide variety of vehicles they work on, Brown said.
The shop uses an English wheel to produce many of the body panels that are no longer available, looks in Hemmings Motor News for individuals and companies selling vintage parts; gets modern powertrain units from dealerships, such as Burt Chevrolet in Englewood, and rebuilt ones from Blue Oval Performance in Englewood; buys now-old-stock (NOS) parts from Streamline and Vintage Auto Parts in Denver; sources rebuilt manual transmissions from A-1 Transmission, and uses some salvage parts from nearby Svigel's Auto Parts, Farland said.
To finish each job, the shop sprays DuPont Chroma Premier purchased from Denver Car Color, Farland said, pointing out that they're great at producing many of the required custom colors. That includes signature paint jobs on engines with DuPont single-stage paint, he added.
