When it came time to do something with my dad’s old 1960 two door Ford Falcon, I chose Auto Restoration & Customs on the recommendation of a co-worker. While Falcon’s aren’t particularly collectable, this car has a lot of meaning for me. It was the first car my mom & dad bought together. We drove it to church. Dad took me to pee-wee football practice in it. He had it sold once when I was a kid until I convinced him to keep it and fix it up. He and I spent a lot of time working on it together. It was never pretty, but always serviceable, and full of memories. Dad drove it back and forth to work practically until the day he passed away. Shortly after that, my mom was about to sell it when I decided I couldn’t part with it. So, it sat in my garage for about ten years until I was in a position to get serious about fixing it up right.
Ray, Dharla, & Tory do work on a lot of higher-end collectable cars, but they treated my Falcon with the same care and attention to detail as any other. They worked with me every step of the way, keeping me informed and indulging my visits to their shop to view the progress. They didn’t mind when I took my son up to listen to the engine after it was rebuilt, or when I brought along another of my co-workers who was a long-time friend of Dharla & Ray, or when I took my wife and mother up to have a look. Every time I went to their shop, I felt like I was a kid again – wishing Dad could have seen how great the old car was looking.
Needless to say, the Falcon is now in better shape than it was when it was brand new. That’s the kind of work that Ray, Dharla, & Tory do. They knew how much the car meant to me, and made me feel like they enjoyed fixing it up nearly as much as I did watching it happen. They’re top notch. Dad would have been very proud.