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WMS Slotcar Club Visit – Great Fun!

WMS Slotcar Club Visit – Great Fun!

We had a group of Middle Schoolers come out with my friend Ana Alarcon Ben Holzem today. New trainees. A ton of fun with these guys. Super enthusiastic about everything!!! We need to hook them early. Nice kids!!!


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With a Little Help From My Friends

With a Little Help From My Friends

  Ten years used to feel like a lifetime, these days it seems like the blink of an eye. (except for April 2020, it felt like a lifetime—but I digress.) My ten-year ownership of Sport and Specialty has been equal parts fun, aggravation, gratification, and...

read more
The Proper Color for the Car

The Proper Color for the Car

There was a story I read some years ago that Ford had a computer program that wouldn’t allow them to order and build a car with odd looking interior and exterior color combinations. In the restoration business we are those computers. When customers bring their cars to...

read more
The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

Some years ago my friend Andy Reid invited me to bunk in with him at The Hilton Head Concours. We had a great time and have mostly roomed together when our schedules allow. For Amelia we have been doing VRBO places with our friends Peter Singhof and Dirk De Jager,...

read more
Sport and Specialty featured on the SEMA Car Builders Series hosted by Sabra Johnson

Sport and Specialty featured on the SEMA Car Builders Series hosted by Sabra Johnson

 

Early in 2022 I received a call from the marketing chief at Moss Motors asking me if I’d like to work with SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association) helping them produce a video showing an example of a British restoration business to their members. Of course, being the PR hound that I am, I couldn’t say yes fact enough.

I soon received a call from Sabra Johnson, a well-known retro-mod shop owner in Texas who works with SEMA as a producer to set up the dates and times. At this point I had virtually no idea what to expect, so we cleaned up the shop at the edges and wore our twice-a-year uniform shirts.

Sabra and his crew did a great job of setting the stage and presenting Sport and Specialty as a group of professional craftsmen who are serious about their work and take pride in their outcomes. Obviously I couldn’t be any prouder of my crew, or the way we are presented here.

Please take a look. I really think you’ll enjoy this……


Read More of My Blog Posts


With a Little Help From My Friends

With a Little Help From My Friends

  Ten years used to feel like a lifetime, these days it seems like the blink of an eye. (except for April 2020, it felt like a lifetime—but I digress.) My ten-year ownership of Sport and Specialty has been equal parts fun, aggravation, gratification, and...

read more
The Proper Color for the Car

The Proper Color for the Car

There was a story I read some years ago that Ford had a computer program that wouldn’t allow them to order and build a car with odd looking interior and exterior color combinations. In the restoration business we are those computers. When customers bring their cars to...

read more
The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

Some years ago my friend Andy Reid invited me to bunk in with him at The Hilton Head Concours. We had a great time and have mostly roomed together when our schedules allow. For Amelia we have been doing VRBO places with our friends Peter Singhof and Dirk De Jager,...

read more
2022 Open House & Car Show – July 23rd!

2022 Open House & Car Show – July 23rd!

2022 Open House & Car Show – July 23rd!

Put Saturday July 23rd on your calendar for the 2022 Sport and Specialty Open House and Car Show. Bring any marque, model, or year of car, but get there. Daily drivers welcome! Bring a friend, take a drive, and see what we’re working on and finishing up. We expect many of the usual suspects with their really cool cars to be there so come out and let’s catch up!!

Punch in our address to your favorite mapping app and be here between 11-3 on Saturday, July 23rd.
9169 Forest Preserve Road
Durand, IL 61024

Shop Phone: (815) 629-2717

 

Meanwhile, check out some pix from our previous events. As you’ll see, it’s a great time.


Read More of My Blog Posts


With a Little Help From My Friends

With a Little Help From My Friends

  Ten years used to feel like a lifetime, these days it seems like the blink of an eye. (except for April 2020, it felt like a lifetime—but I digress.) My ten-year ownership of Sport and Specialty has been equal parts fun, aggravation, gratification, and...

read more
The Proper Color for the Car

The Proper Color for the Car

There was a story I read some years ago that Ford had a computer program that wouldn’t allow them to order and build a car with odd looking interior and exterior color combinations. In the restoration business we are those computers. When customers bring their cars to...

read more
The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

Some years ago my friend Andy Reid invited me to bunk in with him at The Hilton Head Concours. We had a great time and have mostly roomed together when our schedules allow. For Amelia we have been doing VRBO places with our friends Peter Singhof and Dirk De Jager,...

read more
Catching up with the Sport and Specialty crew

Catching up with the Sport and Specialty crew

Catching up with the Sport and Specialty crew

Sport and Specialty blogFor 9 years now I’ve managed the website for Sport and Specialty and one of my favorite parts of the job is that I spend time with the guys catching up on their work, their goings-on, and drooling over the cars under their care. This year was no different, but the variety of cars has definitely picked up and man, are they busy.

Opening the door you’re welcomed by a freshly stripped Porsche 911 and a nearly finished Austin Healey 3000. On the other side, Cameron is working on the floor pan of the newly acquired BMW 2002 race car, next to an Alfa GTV and Alfa Spider Veloce. Ken and John are on the computers off to the side talking about a parts order, and then in the middle of the shop is a beautiful Volvo P1800 facing a mammoth 1950 Mercury – more on the Merc later.

Further in, Bill is prepping for some work in the paint booth and George has a table full of Weber parts he’s cleaning for a rebuild beside the rest of the Alfa engine. In the next room Ryan is fabricating a new fender for an Alfa Giulia as Max is wresting a new suspension onto another spotless Alfa GTV. Oh, that suspension is sexy.

Sport and Specialty - Ryan
You also see a lot of smiles, whether it’s kidding around with each other or just generally having a good time. But make no mistake, there are some moments of frustration and choice words being thrown about at these stubborn old beasts they work on. These guys are mechanics, working on 50-year-old classics, not technicians plugging a laptop into the onboard computer.

When I’m not shooting pictures I’m usually sitting with John updating the list of new projects for the site, progress of the cars in the shop, and then documenting those that went home. Years ago we built pages on the site for what was “In the Shop” and “On the Road” but the fact of the matter is there are just too many cars for those pages. We’re now rolling out a feature that tracks the progress of each car on its page, telling its own story. You can filter the car pages by their marque and we’ll add some more categories there soon, too.

Back to the Merc. I couldn’t stop staring at it, walking around it and making way too many pictures. I asked the guys how a ‘50 Mercury ends up in a shop surrounded by Healeys, Alfas, Porsches, Jaguars, and BMWs. “It’s part of his collection. We’ve worked on his Kellison and his Jaguar, he likes what we do.”

Sport and Specialty blog

What’s next? More cars, more pictures, more fun. Make sure to attend the now-annual open house in the summer where you can see the shop, meet the crew, and drool over a few of the cars, too.

Meanwhile, enjoy some more of the images below from my day at the shop, and don’t forget about next year’s Open House.


Read More of My Blog Posts


With a Little Help From My Friends

With a Little Help From My Friends

  Ten years used to feel like a lifetime, these days it seems like the blink of an eye. (except for April 2020, it felt like a lifetime—but I digress.) My ten-year ownership of Sport and Specialty has been equal parts fun, aggravation, gratification, and...

read more
The Proper Color for the Car

The Proper Color for the Car

There was a story I read some years ago that Ford had a computer program that wouldn’t allow them to order and build a car with odd looking interior and exterior color combinations. In the restoration business we are those computers. When customers bring their cars to...

read more
The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

Some years ago my friend Andy Reid invited me to bunk in with him at The Hilton Head Concours. We had a great time and have mostly roomed together when our schedules allow. For Amelia we have been doing VRBO places with our friends Peter Singhof and Dirk De Jager,...

read more
Sport and Specialty Open House 2021!

Sport and Specialty Open House 2021!

Sport and Specialty Open House 2021

Reserve Saturday August 21 for the third annual Sport and Specialty Open House and Car Show. Bring any marque, model, or year of car, but get there. Daily drivers welcome! Bring a friend, take a drive, and see what we’re working on and finishing up. We expect many of the usual suspects with their really cool cars to be there so come out and let’s catch up!!

  • FUN AWARDS
  • FOOD and BEVERAGE AVAILABLE!
  • KIDS WELCOME (under adult supervision)

Punch in our address to your favorite mapping app and be here between 11-3 on Saturday, August 21.
9169 Forest Preserve Road
Durand, IL 61024

Shop Phone: (815) 629-2717

 

Meanwhile, check out some pix from our previous events. As you’ll see, it’s a great time.


Read More of My Blog Posts


With a Little Help From My Friends

With a Little Help From My Friends

  Ten years used to feel like a lifetime, these days it seems like the blink of an eye. (except for April 2020, it felt like a lifetime—but I digress.) My ten-year ownership of Sport and Specialty has been equal parts fun, aggravation, gratification, and...

read more
The Proper Color for the Car

The Proper Color for the Car

There was a story I read some years ago that Ford had a computer program that wouldn’t allow them to order and build a car with odd looking interior and exterior color combinations. In the restoration business we are those computers. When customers bring their cars to...

read more
The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

Some years ago my friend Andy Reid invited me to bunk in with him at The Hilton Head Concours. We had a great time and have mostly roomed together when our schedules allow. For Amelia we have been doing VRBO places with our friends Peter Singhof and Dirk De Jager,...

read more
Fuelfed’s Shop Visit on a Fine Summer Day

Fuelfed’s Shop Visit on a Fine Summer Day

Well, if variety is the spice of life, Saturday’s Fuelfed stop at Sport and Specialty for lunch was a real home run. Brian and Lorraine Hughes asked if I would entertain having their tour stop in for lunch on Saturday. I couldn’t say yes fast enough.

As a new sponsor, this was a perfect opportunity to show their community how great our shop is, as well as get to fill our lot with a huge variety of European sports cars. From Aston Martins to TRWs and Bentleys, not to mention the many Porsches models from a variety of years.

The S & S crew all showed up to answer questions and help entertain the visitors. Plus, we were able to source a bunch of picnic tables, and everyone had room to enjoy the great weather and cool cars. Bill Oakes had his camera in hand and took all of these great photos.

I think we all needed this short getaway and glad that we were able to partner with Fuelfed and their great membership! See you all soon!


Read More of My Blog Posts


With a Little Help From My Friends

With a Little Help From My Friends

  Ten years used to feel like a lifetime, these days it seems like the blink of an eye. (except for April 2020, it felt like a lifetime—but I digress.) My ten-year ownership of Sport and Specialty has been equal parts fun, aggravation, gratification, and...

read more
The Proper Color for the Car

The Proper Color for the Car

There was a story I read some years ago that Ford had a computer program that wouldn’t allow them to order and build a car with odd looking interior and exterior color combinations. In the restoration business we are those computers. When customers bring their cars to...

read more
The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

The 1939 Alfa 6C at The Amelia

Some years ago my friend Andy Reid invited me to bunk in with him at The Hilton Head Concours. We had a great time and have mostly roomed together when our schedules allow. For Amelia we have been doing VRBO places with our friends Peter Singhof and Dirk De Jager,...

read more

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