BEST IN SHOW

2010 New Hope

 Automobile Show

POST WAR

 

 

2010 Best in Show

Kenneth Concours

Best in Class Post War European

Cars Amelia Island Concours

d'Elegance

2009 Eastern United States Concours

 

d’Elegance

20^th Anniversary Division

 

Previous Major Award Winners

 

BEST IN CLASS

 

2009 Greenwich Concours d’Elegance

 

Most Distinguished Open Car

 

Meadowbrook Concours

 

Multiple Award Winner

 

2009 New Hope Auto Show

 

Queen Elizabeth 11 trophy

 

BEST IN SHOW

 

 

 

 

 

1947 Bentley Franay Restoration

 

1947 Bentley Franay is finally finished after undergoing a full 8 year 8000 plus hour restoration after winning Best in Class at two Bentley Concour events.

One of two 1947 Bentley Franay's made. This sleek bodied vehicle has just been refinished (for the fourth or fifth time) .Finally we can find no flaws.

The body was removed from the frame and every visible flaw on the chassis was brought to the highest standards. 90% of the wood framing beneath the metal body was taken apart and painstakingly duplicated in top hardwoods then replaced by exacting craftsmen.

Even though this car won Best in Class at two Concours it was totally dismantled when the owner felt something was not right.

The former restoration which was completed in Europe appeared fine at first.It was shortly discovered that it had been extensively filled with Bondo and for over two years each piece of metal was stripped and repaired or hand made to the world's highest standard.The interior was handsome and striking but a closer inspection showed incorrect lines and poor internal coil springs.The entire trim from the carpets to the door panels to the seats and jump seats and finally the top was replaced…After a hefty bill which exceeded all quotations we noticed that the top,rear window and upholstery did not have a perfect fit. Yet once again much work was needed to correct the problems.To achieve the highest standards in plating each piece was hand worked by Frankford Plating in Philadelphia even though it had been plated prior Frankford brought it to an even higher standard. To get the correct tires for this car we researched every supplier in the UK and USA and as usual Coker Tires did  it again finding the most perfectly suited tires for this car.Our thanks to Corky Coker and his crew. 

 

Numerous parts had to be made over totally and this incredible work was performed by Jacob Schmidt Stainless Steel in Harleysville Pennsylvania. Dean Wampole,General Manager and Vice President, spent days making certain that we achieved the highest standard of perfection that would surely pass the test of time.Dean's company has made several running board channels in stainless steel for owners of vintage Rolls Royces and Classic cars and has duplicated inticate pieces with the strength of highly polished stainless steel. His company has also made custom stainless bins and shoots for a major office furniture equipment design firm.They don't come any better.

The final color two tone is " Chocolat aux Creme" which took two years to come up with. After having 40 pints of color samples were made and sprayed on test panels for general effect it turned out the a wrapper from Hershey Chocotale bar was the perfect color.Please see YouTube video of color and detail work.You can also now view the finished product proudly displayed at the Amelia Island Concors d'Elegance.