Restoring classic luxury cars means striking the balance between old and new

“My dad was always in the garage working on some old car, so you could say my ‘career’ began when I was about 12,” says Urban Eriksson, a Swede who moved to Estonia in 2000, back when he was working in the plastics industry. In 2011, he opened Urbans Garage, an ultra-cutting-edge automotive workshop where he and his employees specialize in restoring vintage Porsches – more specifically classic sports cars of the 356 and 911 model series.
“When my former employer and I parted ways, I decided it was time to go back to my roots,” continues Eriksson, adding that Estonia, with its long tradition of craftsmanship, was the right place to do it.
“In Eastern Europe, during Soviet times, you couldn’t just buy whatever you wanted. Instead you had to learn to repair what you already had. That’s a skill that’s largely been lost in the West,” he says.
Today, Urbans Garage works with customers from around the globe, many of whom are high net worth individuals, while most are collectors of luxury vintage cars. At any given time, there can be close to 30 vehicles in the workshop, each worth anything from 100,000 to several million euros. The team typically spends at least 2,000 man-hours on each piece.

To safeguard that vintage finish, Eriksson’s team still use an old gas welder, while the process gases, including Argon and MISON, are provided by Linde.
“The welding technique may be old but the gases we use are state-of-the-art – because they are better for the welders from a health perspective,” explains Eriksson, adding that the same goes for the paint products, which have to comply with the latest European Union environmental standards.
Respecting the original product, while, at the same time, moving with the times, is a delicate balancing act. Going forward, Eriksson intends to start retrofitting classic sports cars with electric drivelines, safeguarding the look of the past, while making them ready for the environmental demands of the future.
“Everyone knows driving cars powered by fossil fuels is going to get more complicated in the years to come,” he concludes. “Electrification is happening across the auto industry, there’s no reason not to get on board.”