At the beginning of the year, I decided to spend some days in Barcelona visiting my good friends there. I always try to find places related to classic cars in the cities that I visit, this time I found Auto Storica. Gonzalo, a car lover and part of the team of this amazing place, gave me a complete tour showing me all the steps of the process of restoring an oldtimer. 

Auto Storica was founded by Olivier Le Scanf who is very renowned in the world of classic cars. His goal was to create a place that offers integral oldtimer restoration at the highest level. Auto Storica is located inside an old factory in Saint Boi del Lobregat just 20 minutes from Plaza España. On more than 10.000m2 there are approximately 32 professionals working on the classic cars in different areas like upholstery, paint, body, electricity, mechanic, sales of parts and of course classic cars sales. It has proven to be very practical to have all the process under the same roof because it avoids transportation and exposure of the car before it’s finished. The full restoration process will take 10 to 15 months with a total of 1.500 to 3.000 hours of labor from various craftsmen, starting with a meticulous disassembling and stripping of the whole car, inspecting all its components, down to the bare body shell or chassis.

Olivier Le Scanf has a crush on the Jaguars. “Is my favorite brand, I always loved these cars,” he told us. “What we work most with are the XK and E-Type models. We are currently restoring those completely. We also work a lot with Aston Martin, many of them very valuable cars, like a DB6 Volante with left-hand drive. Other brands that we restore are Ferrari, Lamborghini and some Mercedes.”

In the 2nd floor you will find an outstanding showroom with two big lines of oldtimers for sale from different famous and recognized brands like Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Austin Healey, Jaguar, Morgan, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Lotus, Shelby and Mercedes-Benz.

Taking photos of this amazing place took me around two days, I tried to be as thorough as possible to appreciate every corner of the space and the different phases of the restoration process, moving the cars from one place to another to create different scenarios and to hear the motors roar, a good example of these cars was an outstanding Shelby Cobra GT350 and a Mercedes Benz 280SL Pagoda with a plate number from Panama. One of my favorites areas was “The Fridge” which is where some classic cars are waiting for their restoration. I liked it because of its special light, the complete silence and the very impressive body shells that are exhibited there.

“The Fridge” was not the only area that I loved. “The Dominos” room -a name I came up with- is another showroom dedicated to special models, two of them my favorites by Mercedes Benz, the 280SL Pagoda and the 300SL Roadster in a very beautiful intense red.

Another place was the upholstery workshop, at the moment of my visit they were working on the interior of an Aston Martin DB6. The upholsterer explained to me that he was trying to preserve as much of the original parts of the seat as possible only replacing the parts with new foam that were in bad condition. He said that almost all the clients request to preserve the original patterns and structure of the seats. At this area, you can appreciate the high quality of the leathers, colors, and materials that they use to restore the interior of the car.

On every floor you can find different specialists working with amazing cars. They are so focused in their tasks that you can feel their passion for their work. On the 1st floor I found one specialist giving a special treatment to the leather seats and doors of a Ferrari Daytona. Next in line a Mercedes Benz 190SL was waiting to be attended to and a Ferrari 308 GTB and a Lamborghini Miura ready for pick up. This is a real paradise for Carphiles. 

All the restorations made by Auto Storica come with guarantees, certificates and also with an identification plate fixed on the body close to the original manufacturer specifying chassis, date of build, date of restoration and a label certifying a “Premium” restoration.

Spending two days in this place was an amazing experience that enabled me to learn a lot of new things about restoration. Thanks to all the team especially to Gonzalo for his time and kindness. I hope you enjoy my photo series and that the pictures reflect my enthusiasm.

www.auto-storica.com/en/