The world of classic car restoration was rightly celebrated at Noosa’s Concours, and here’s why it could be the ideal career path.
Be you car or human, getting old sucks. Our bodywork looks battered and tired, our motor doesn’t run like it once did and we become more prone to breaking down.
Any reader over 40 will understand.
Cosmetic surgeons, doctors and physios do what they can to mask our ageing, but car restorers do a far more convincing job in their area of expertise.
In fact, so skilled are these artisans, they’re able to restore vehicles to showroom quality or better.
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Rest assured, the shut lines and overall finish seen on most exotica coming out of Italy or England in the 1950s, 60s and 70s wasn’t a patch on what expert resto firms achieve today.
But do we give enough credit to the craft of car restoration? At car shows – especially the most prestigious ones – you’ll often see a practically perfect prize-winning vehicle on the rostrum, and up comes the owner to receive the plaudits and trophy.
Of course, some owners will have performed the resto miracles themselves, but others will have used professional restorers.
Dusting off
These people or companies sometimes get credit, sometimes not.
For example, the world’s most famous Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach just crowned its 2025 champion.
The event’s press release for the world’s media mentions the car’s make and model and its owners – including joyful quotes – but not a whisper about who actually restored the thing to make it the ultimate winner.
A bit of digging reveals it was by Canada’s RM Auto Restoration, and allegedly some 16,000 hours of work were involved.
Sounds like a money-no-object project.
Australia’s Pebble Beach equivalent, the Noosa Concours in Queensland, did things a bit differently in 2025.
Organisers made a point of honouring car restorers and their work, while providing a separate area to showcase the types of crafts involved, and let car show attendees see what a classic vehicle or engine looks like when stripped back ahead of repairs and rebuilds.
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It proved a welcome initiative to give the talents behind those perfect shiny show cars proper credit where it’s due.
Popular motor sports presenter Mark Beretta was on hand in Noosa to host a question and answer session with restorers, who discussed the importance of preserving history while demonstrating the intricacies of their craft and explaining the modern techniques behind sourcing original parts or recreating period-correct details.
Gently Bentley
It’s important stuff to consider when ogling million-dollar classics.
That flawless metal work, immaculate paint finish and never-been-sat-in looking leather interior isn’t a miracle of preservation over decades.
It’s the result of hundreds or thousands of hours of meticulous craftsmanship, and the blood, sweat, tears and dollars are well hidden in the car’s perfect presentation.
An Australian company that’s had its restorations shown and win awards at Pebble Beach is Brisbane’s Sleeping Beauties.
At the Noosa event, the company’s James Millar presented a superb display centred around its show-stopping Mercedes-Benz car transporter with a 1934 Lincoln Model KA V12 on board in the process of restoration, and earmarked for the 2026 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
“You can see the amount of time and quality and effort that goes into the body, plus it’s wood framed as well,” James said of the Lincoln.
“This is not something just anybody can do. You can buy no parts for these things at all. Either you have to make it or if you’re lucky, find new old stock, but that normally doesn’t happen.”
James said this particular 90-year-old Lincoln is one of just four made with this particular body style, and features a mighty 6.8-litre V12 engine.
Key to its restoration is every aspect of the build taking place at Sleeping Beauties’ premises, where 31 members of staff are employed.
While many restorers specialise in only one or two areas, Sleeping Beauties has separate departments and experts for mechanical, engines, transmissions, body/panel beating, paint, trimming, electrical, instruments, assembly, injection pumps, and parts. James said he’s fortunate to have a superb, highly skilled team, but explained it’s very hard to find talented people in today’s climate.
Perfection in demand
With thousands of car enthusiasts and younger folk looking at future careers in attendance at Noosa, the restoration showcase has hopefully inspired a few to consider working in this in-demand field.
“I think it’s important for people to see how these incredible show cars got to where they are,” James explained.
“If you just have that side (the finished show cars) it’s not as interesting as if you have a bit of the getting there. Especially if it’s for a car that’s going to Pebble Beach. That’s like the Wimbledon of the classic car world.”
But how much work goes into a restoration to reach the very top level?
“It’s hard to say as it depends on the car,” James said.
“But maybe three or four thousand hours. We’re lucky as we don’t have to outsource anything, because when you do it’s on somebody else’s timeline and you must rely on them doing everything the way you want it.”
Time-wise, he said his goal was to get complete restoration project times down to about a year for the models Sleeping Beauties is most associated with: the gorgeous and high-value Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadsters and Gullwings from the 1950s.
More unique projects, such as the scene-stealing Mercedes truck on show, will take longer.
“We found it in a paddock where it’d been sitting for 30 years,” said James, “and it’s based on the car carriers Mercedes-
Benz had in the 1930s to transport W125 Grand Prix cars. But this is a 1968 truck because it’s a lot more useable than older ones. It’ll do 100km/h while a pre-war one would only do 55km/h flat out. Plus, the 1950s and 1960s were the best era for quality at Mercedes-Benz.”
Spit and polish
Another famed restorer at Noosa was Brisbane’s McKernan Restoration, which had on display a strike-me-dead gorgeous Porsche 910 race replica in white with blue stripe running the length of its curved body.
When we last caught up with company owner Brad McKernan, he said he’d been turning work away such was the demand for quality restoration, and that finding people willing and able to learn and perform this trade was very difficult.
A stripped-to-its-skin Maserati with V8 engine in situ also proved a popular draw courtesy of Sydney’s MotoRRetro custom design and restoration shop.
Interestingly, it also provides metalworking classes, where those interested can learn classic coachbuilding skills from professionals. Its classes on MIG welding, power hammers, English wheels, handforming and metal shaping look a great initiative for those wanting to dip their toe in the business.
While everyone in the car restoration game will admit the work can be very hard, dirty and requires patience, for mechanics and others in the wider car industry, it appears a nailed-on job for life that’s much in demand now, and sure to remain so in future.
As the generation of mechanics who worked on cars from the previous century retire or die out, there’s a gap that needs filled by enthusiastic newbies prepared to embrace and learn “the old ways”.
Much of a modern car’s diagnostics are all done through a digital plug-in, plus there’s a tendency for a mechanic’s life to be about parts replacement rather than repairing or rebuilding. That life won’t be for everyone.
For those with a passion for breathing new life into classic cars, not only is there work available, but those commissioning the work typically aren’t short of a dollar or three.
Many have more than one cherished vehicle, and as is the nature of anything getting older, there’ll always be work that needs done.
As our world leaps towards a future filled with digitisation and artificial intelligence, perhaps the smartest in our game will be those who learn the old-school techniques and crafts before they’re forever lost to time.