Classic car restorations, Testimonials for all our happy and extremely proud clients
Testimonials
Gregory Harrison's 356A Cabriolet
Jim Saunders's 356A Porsche Coupe
When I first came to Australia in 1981 I have watched Ohannes restoring cars. From the everyday to the exotic. He has restored 2 of mine also.
A 1958 Porsche 356A coupe I prepared for historic racing.
At its first meeting at Phillip Island circuit, this car received an award for best presented sports car. It was near perfect.
The other Porsche 356A was a Carrera coupe. Ohannes restored the body to perfection and painted it. The car was sold and final assembly was done in Melbourne. It won the top Award at the Porsche 356 annual national concourse in 2007.
I have recommended Ohannes to a number of car enthusiast friends.
Without exception they have all thanked me for my advice.
If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to call me.
Jim Saunders
(02) 9957 1658
Cameron Gordon's ’66 Mustang Coupe
I bought my '66 Mustang coupe in 2002 and enjoyed using it as my daily driver for 3 years, traveling to work every day into the city and cruising up and down the coast for holidays. Over time I started to notice some rust appearing and the paint was starting to fade from the previous restoration 12 years earlier, it was time to do something about it.
I knew I wanted to keep the car since I discovered the Mustang was one of only 161 original Ford factory RHD conversions completed in Homebush, NSW as a promotion for the launch of the XR Falcon in 1966 in Australia.
I wanted to see the car through its restoration, so I searched around in my local area for somebody who could restore the bodywork, remove the rust and repaint the car to its original condition or better. I discovered O and S Sportscars in Cromer and Ohannes, and went to see their current projects. I was completely impressed by the craftsmanship and meticulous approach to each of the restorations.
I decided to leave my Mustang in the hands of Ohannes in 2005 and before I knew it the car was stripped to its shell, it was amazing to see the hidden damage and rust. During the restoration I was able to see the progress each week and the detail that went into the handcrafted repairs to the body work. I really enjoyed being able to make decisions along the way with the people working on it and in turn learning more about the car.
The project was completed in early 2006 and I was thrilled at the result, best of all, was knowing that the car was original but it felt like it was new. It is our family car and we drive it as often as we can, complete with baby in the back seat. We always get comments when we stop and people wanting to talk about the car or admire the finish.
I would recommend O and S Sportscars without hesitation to anyone who has a car they love, want a craftsman approach to the restoration and be able to see and be part of the decisions along the way.
I would suggest visiting Ohannes at the workshop and have a look at what’s going on, you will be inspired.
Regards
Cameron Gordon
’66 Mustang Coupe
Bill Russell - Aston Martin DB6
I Came to O&S Sports car Restoration by recommendation after several establishments had carried out work on my Aston Martin DB6. Much of the prior work was redone at O&S, all of which was completed to the highest standard. I have seen many Aston restorations both here and in the UK, but I have not seen any finished to a higher standard than my car was at O&S. All aspects of the restoration were exemplary, but in particular, the metal work was of an especially high standard.
Bill Russell.
Ken Groening - Riley 1½
A Testimonial to O&S Sportscar Restorations and Mechanical repairs.
O&S have restored several of my cars and motor bikes. One car to concourse standard which subsequently won trophies at the "All British day" and Eastern Creek motor shows. These jobs were done over a period of 15 years and to my complete satisfaction. I would have no hesitation in recommending his work to anybody with similar projects in mind.
Yours Faithfully,
Matthew Downie - 280SL
Peter Hale - 1967 911 Porsche
O&S Sports car restoration.
Ohannes completed a full restoration on my 1968 Series Porsche 911S. Due to its age and my requirements for it to be trouble free in future use, I asked for the car to be striped down to less than just a shell. Ohannes even removed the inner and outer sills to rust proof and check for any corrosion of the area that can not be seen. The torque tube was replaced; lucky we found a new old stock one as the replacement ones are now quite different. We replaced some of the battery box area being careful not to change any of the original shapes or spot welds. The sills were spot welded with the correct original size and spacing. The floors were still in good original condition so were just tidied up where necessary and rust proofed. Some of the rear mud guard needed work and Ohannes was careful to retain the original curve of the body as the area from and including the door, does have shape tapering in as it as it follows to the rear of the car. We did take an original un restored SWB car to his workshop to check all shapes and measurements. Ohannes was very cooperative with the requests for the quality control in this respect. The biggest problem restoring cars is retaining the authenticity. Ohannes was very helpful in trying to match the original if possible and if unable to, then using a replacement part when it could be. At times these parts could not be found for several months. An example is the anodized door surrounds, we tried to match the style by having an old spare one anodized by 3 different Anodizers, not one of them could match the original. It took 3 years to find a good original. Ohannes is highly capable of getting the front mudguards gap to the door correct. 90% of the restored cars have that gap to wide. The model of this car was carefully researched before doing any work so as to check the small differences in the model run. Not many people check the running changes as the cars are produced and consequently they are restored with what owners expect them to be like rather than exactly how they were built as new. Many minor changes take place on the production run and it is vital that the chassis number matches the changes as they were at that time. Ohannes was helpful in the research of the little changes helped by confirmation in Dr Johnston’s book and the factory parts manual. My car was made in September 1967 build number 111 and as such had a few 1967 carry over parts which included the sun visors, non swivel, and the sill trim being narrow not full alloy type. There are many other small things that make the restoration a restoration to be proud of, this is where the advantage is in having an old school restorer do the job. The Porsche is now finished and even the paint is the correct shade of polo red. The time and effort was worth it and should I want another Concourse restoration on a special car I would have no hesitation in asking Ohannes to perform the work. I do have another car that I am starting on and Ohannes has already made an exact copy of a metal vent for the demister, he asked me to pick which one was the original one out of the two but it was not possible!
Thankyou for allowing me to tell some of the process of the restoration, I could write a book on the full process but it is not just a science but an art as well!
I can recommend O&S sports car restoration.
Kind Regards,
Peter Hale.
