First of all, how did the idea of opening Toro Classics Classic Cars Restorations come about?
I have always restored cars on a personal level and six years ago, seeing that the market was on the rise, I saw that I could make a living from it. I looked for a way to set up the workshop in this area, in Jerez, and I found a client who needed to restore six Lamborghinis in a row, and with that I was able to launch.
And how does a French fan of the classics think of setting up a business like this in this corner of Andalusia?
I arrived in the Province of Cádiz 10 years ago to work restoring boats. I always wanted to return to my passion, which is cars. I could have started this business anywhere in the world, but my home is here. And today, thanks to the fact that the classic car market is very globalized, clients are everywhere and for a long restoration, an owner of a classic car like the ones I work with doesn't mind sending the car to Paris, Stuttgart, London. or Andalusia. In addition, they have the opportunity to come and see how the restoration of their car is going in an ideal and beautiful place like our Province. Each of my restorations lasts a year or a year and a half.
In their portfolio they indicate that they are specialists in Italian cars…
Yes, we make a lot of Lamborghinis and Alfa Romeos, although we are also making a lot of Porsches. We are truly passionate about cars and in the end any project is an interesting challenge. However, by family tradition I am Alfista, so my roots go more in the direction of Italy -laughs-.
Some examples of specific models that you have restored, the most notable and interesting ones?
Well, all the cars that have passed through here have their interest, but the last one we have done is special, an Alfa Romeo 6C SS Touring Superleggera from 1949, which has been a very long challenge. We also made another very interesting Alfa, a 1954 1900 Touring Super Sport that turned out beautiful. At the Lamborghini level we have made the Jalpa and the Urraco P300. And now we are also with a very interesting project that is a 'backdate' based on a Porsche 911 3.2. I was making this car for myself, but a client was seduced by the project and bought it from me. It is a project that I do at intervals, combining it with other ongoing projects.
Is there a particular car that you would like to see come through the workshop door for restoration?
The interesting thing is that I think I am sharing my work in two ways: on the one hand, the artisanal level. I love cars from the 30s and 40s. Making a Delahaye or a Bugatti from that era would be the ultimate for me. That is a way, maximum originality and respect for what is truly historical. On the other hand, I love the 'restomod', cars more from my generation, from the 70s and 80s. Staying with the aesthetics that respect the era but then playing to improve the mechanics. For example, here we have a Volkswagen T1 that they want to convert into electric. The Porsche of the 80s is going to have more powerful mechanics than a 964. And then everything is hidden under the retro appearance. Those are my two ways of working, what I like.
Does Toro Classics undertake the restoration process comprehensively?
Yes, to do things well you have to do them from scratch. Jewels are cars that have never been touched and in those cases I am always in favor of preserving, but if a car needs to be restored and has been restored on previous occasions, it is best to dismantle it entirely and start from scratch. We disassembled it down to the chassis, left the body stripped and separated all the components into sections to do it individually.
Therefore, and at the level that they work at Toro Classics, how long does your restoration process take more or less?
Year or year and a half, depending on the condition of the car. For example, in a handmade car like the Alfa 6C there is a lot of research to do, since every hour of work is an hour of research. It took us a year and a half to make the 6C, but even for these cars it is not long.
I imagine they have a good professional team that supports them…
Clear! Without them, I am nobody.
In a business like this, is there a lot of demand to work with you?
There are people who want to enter, but I look for high and specific skills, so I am very selective. Of course, in the Province of Cádiz I have found people who work very, very well. People are surprised that I have my business in Jerez, it doesn't seem like the ideal place to set up a high-end classic restoration business, but I have found very competent craftsmen and people. Especially all the professionals who work for aeronautics. We design the parts for them and they manufacture them with our plans. And, most importantly, I ask for quality from my suppliers, I am very demanding, and they like it, they are even surprised that there is someone who is willing to pay for that maximum quality. If you are good at painting cars but they always ask you “good, pretty and cheap”, it is frustrating. But when they ask you for the best of the best, it's different. And in this way I believe that the best work relationships are built, with the love of things well done.
Do most of the orders come from outside?
Yes. I have foreign clients who live abroad, foreign clients who come to live here or Spanish clients who live abroad, but I don't have local clients yet, of course, I'm looking forward to one of them walking through the door, at Toro Classics all the time. world is welcome.
Are you happy with how Toro Classics works?
Yes, I'm happy. What stabilizes us is that they are very long projects. We have not noticed the Covid crisis like other workshops that have lost their day-to-day work. Here they commission us to do a year and a half of work and we also have a queue of cars. It is work for at least three or four years.
An exciting project
The latest project carried out by Toro Classics is a truly exceptional car, a 1949 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Touring Superleggera. The car arrived in the hands of Christian Thoma and his team completely disassembled. Restoring a Touring Superleggera body was quite a challenge. Superleggera alludes to the construction method of the Milan-based Touring bodybuilder, aluminum panels mounted on a microtube structure, in turn everything mounted on an Alfa Romeo beam chassis.
The bodywork restoration was carried out by a coachbuilder in Lago di Como and the car was delivered to Toro Classics in bare aluminum. The mechanics were in boxes. The car came from the United States and had been disassembled for 40 years. Christian says that everything had to be put together as if it were a puzzle, little by little. Many missing mechanical parts were made new, thanks to the talent of Juan Hidalgo, engineer and mechanic.
The interior was completely new and each of its pieces “has its story,” adds Christian. The upholstery was carried out by Lorenzo Justo, an artisan with a renowned career and perhaps the greatest reference in Andalusia in terms of artisanal automobile upholstery.
“It has been quite an adventure, since we have had to manufacture a large number of pieces and draw them up from photographs, but we are very happy with the result,” says Chistian.
Will you miss a car like this when it's not in the shop?
That's what they tell me, but I'm going to say no. It's a stress to have a car like that here. And having it finished is a danger, because the mere fact of passing by it in a hurry and accidentally making a small scratch or throwing a tool on it would be a disaster, since it would have to be repainted or something even worse and to do so, you would have to disassemble it completely. Imagine, from a scratch we would go on to a complete repair. Since its owner enjoys it, I enjoy the projects, I have no need for possession. I build a car, deliver it and move on to another, what I really enjoy is the project.”