5 Automakers Who Restore their Classic Cars

These companies rely on historical documents to provide parts, service, and repairs for vintage models.

Ronan Glon | 

Jun 24, 2024 | 5 min read

Stellantis

Some carmakers have taken advantage of the growing interest in classic cars to get into the restoration business. It's a move that makes sense. Car companies often retain detailed historical documents about vintage cars and how they were built, so they're ideally positioned to make a classic new again.

Here are some manufacturers who will restore, service, or repair their older classics to keep them on the road.

Stellantis

FCA Heritage Classic Workshops

Located in a remodeled historic building in Turin, Italy, the Stellantis-owned FCA Heritage Classic Workshops repairs and restores Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Lancia models. FCA (the now-absorbed Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) strategically opened its Classic Workshops in the same complex as its Heritage Hub, which houses a vast collection of factory-owned vintage cars.

The same technicians servicing the carmaker's fleet of classics perform maintenance and restoration services on customer-owned vehicles. The shop includes 12 lifts, several brand-specific tools, and a paint shop equipped to spray anything from small parts to entire cars.

The FCA Heritage shop's proximity to the company's archives department is key. Technicians can access period blueprints and other technical diagrams needed to perform repairs.

They can also obtain a build sheet that details how a specific car was configured when it left the factory. This information is used to decide whether a certificate of authenticity can be issued and serves as a roadmap for a complete restoration.

While there are several ways for enthusiasts to obtain their car's certificate of authenticity, restorations and maintenance are performed in Turin. The cost varies depending on the car and what it needs.

BMW 

BMW Group Classic Center

In 2016, BMW Group opened its 140,000-square-foot Classic Center complex in its hometown of Munich, Germany. It's home to a restoration and certification shop that caters to BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce models and BMW Motorrad motorcycles. It also houses an extensive collection of classic vehicles.

The Classic Center's services are divided into four categories. It provides enthusiasts with basic information about their car or motorcycle, such as the model's history and the specific vehicle's original configuration. It also performs a visual inspection that analyzes the condition of the body panels and trim pieces (among other parts) and a more in-depth technical inspection that evaluates mechanical components such as the engine, the transmission, and the braking system.

Maintenance and restoration services are also available, and technicians provide a detailed account and photographs of the work performed.

BMW's technicians perform a wide scope of services ranging from annual maintenance to ground-up restorations. The Classic Center's list of partners includes more than 70 BMW dealerships scattered across Europe. It currently doesn't have a service partner in the United States, but classic parts are sold through U.S. dealers.

Lamborghini

Lamborghini Polo Storico

Founded in 2015, Polo Storico oversees Lamborghini's heritage. It's located next to the firm's historic factory in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy. It provides four basic services. It gives owners access to documents in the company's archives, certifies the authenticity of classic cars, performs restorations, and sells spare parts.

Polo Storico technicians perform mechanical repairs and restorations in-house. Retired employees are sometimes asked for advice about a vintage model they helped design or build, and they enlist the help of third-party shops for body- and interior-related overhauls.

Their work isn't limited to keeping customer-owned cars on the road. They maintain the vehicles in Lamborghini's collection and helped recreate the 1971 Countach concept in 2021, which required more than 25,000 hours of work.

Restoration and maintenance services are performed in Sant'Agata Bolognese, but spare parts are available globally through Lamborghini's network of dealers. The company notes that its catalog of classic parts covers about 65% of the cars it has built since its inception in 1963. If a part isn't available, the company can use period technical drawings to make an exact copy.

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz Classic Center

Mercedes-Benz opened its Classic Center in 1993 to provide maintenance and restoration services and spare parts. The original Classic Center is in Fellbach, Germany, and a second facility opened in 2006 in Irvine, California, to serve the North American market. Both locations offer roughly the same scope of services, and the Fellbach facility is responsible for maintaining the museum's collection of cars.

The restoration process is divided into four steps. After arriving at a Classic Center, a car is inspected, fully taken apart, overhauled, and reassembled. Mercedes-Benz claims its shop's quality standards are sometimes higher than the ones applied when the car was built. Technicians rely on documents in the archives and a catalog of more than 50,000 spare parts to bring a classic car back to its factory configuration.

Launched in 2015, the All-Time Stars program aims to give enthusiasts peace of mind by offering a selection of vintage cars restored and inspected by trained technicians.

Porsche

Porsche Classic

The German sports-car builder estimates that more than 70% of its built vehicles are still on the road, and it operates a global network of its Porsche Classic facilities to help owners maintain them. These shops perform repairs and maintenance on vehicles that have been out of production for at least a decade, supply historical documents such as build sheets, and have access to a catalog of more than 60,000 parts.

Porsche even sells a line of engine oil explicitly developed for air-cooled models ranging from the 356 to the 911.

The Porsche Classic locations in Atlanta, Georgia, and Stuttgart, Germany, are qualified to perform restorations. Porsche notes that technicians rely on original technical manuals, techniques, and genuine spare parts to ensure that cars are restored to the same standards applied when they were built. Finished vehicles are extensively road-tested before they're delivered to their owner.

Porsche accepts a wide range of projects, including engine overhauls and full restorations.

Ronan Glon

Ronan Glon is an American journalist and automotive historian based in France. He enjoys working on old cars and spending time outdoors seeking out his next project car.