Empire Restoration

In May 2025, we hit a deer near Cambria CA. It damaged the front of our 1961 Porsche 356 classic car. Rather than just do a typical body shop repair, i decided to do a complete restoration. In talks with others on our 356 Porsche club, I learned about the great work that Santiago and his brother Jose and there crew do in classic car restorations. It took several months to get everything associated with the claim resolved. I turned the car over to the crew they quickly began work. They took the car down to bare metal in most areas and removed any areas with rust and created new pieces to weld into place. This work took several months. During the entire process When ever a decision needed to be made they consulted with me first. I was welcomed at the shop whenever I stopped by to see how things were going. I had decided to change the color from silver to royal blue, a color option offered by Porsche in 1961. Santiago researched and found the formula to exactly match the 1961 color. When finished I had a very beautiful car. With perfect gaps between seams, no rust and an amazing paint job. Yes they are not a body shop and are more expensive than a body shop but I got what I paid for. I can’t praise them enough. If you have a special vehicle that you want restored you can’t go wrong taking it to Empire Restorations

These guys rock! Santiago goes the extra mile and then some. I couldn’t get my hood open and he spent two days trying to get it open without damaging anything. A pack rat had built a huge nest and the twigs were keeping the hood latches from working. It was unbelievably nasty and he cleaned it up himself So his employees wouldn’t have to deal With it. Who does that? A really good boss and decent human being.

Someone hit the rear of my vintage VW bus. Most body shops wouldn't take on the job because it's age. Then I found Empire Restoration. Santiago and his crew did an amazing job. Matched the paint perfectly. I took my bus in on Monday and got it back on Friday, as promised. Too bad I can't give them more than 5 stars.