The saying "old is gold" is one that gets thrown around a lot. And this may indeed be true for many things: wine, heritage watches, music and film. However, in the case of cars, the idea of an old car is one that would more likely conjure up images of sputtering engines and smoking clutches rather than the rosy image of coasting around in a soft-top roadster with the wind in one's hair. Furthermore, with the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) regulations effectively imposing a fixed lifespan on cars in Singapore, it is unsurprising to see few classic cars on the roads.

The biggest gripe about classic cars, and indeed with most things old, is the maintenance. And with a small and niche market for classic cars in Singapore, finding the right parts and professional services can be a very costly venture.

With this in mind, 1^st Auto (Sembawang) has expanded and established a new specialist workshop, 1^st Auto (Premium). It is headed up by classic car specialist Jody Lowe to offer classic car owners a full range of services to ensure their pieces of automotive history continue to ply our roads.

1^st Auto (Premium) - Breathing new life into classic cars

Helmed by the owner Mr. Yap, 1^st Auto (Premium) is one of the workshops under 1^st Auto (Sembawang), one of the well-known and trusted auto servicing garages in the market, best known for its expertise in servicing European makes and models. With over 30 years in the field, his knowledge and reputation has garnered him the trust of many customers, and the reputation of the workshop has grown over the years.

In the second half of 2015, Mr. Yap contracted the services of Jody Lowe. As the Manager and Restoration Specialist of 1^st Auto (Premium), he brings his wealth of experience and technical expertise to the company. With more than 18 years in the automotive sector, Jody specialises in classic car restorations, along with European exotic automobiles and luxury car diagnostics, repairs, speciality services and tuning. With Jody in the fold, 1^st Auto (Premium) is able to offer a unique specialty service, not only for classic car owners, but also for car owners seeking any bespoke services.
Specialty services is the name of the game

The range of services that Jody and the workshop are able to offer is an extensive one. For classic cars, this ranges from full scale restorations and concours restorations (including original parts and restoring the car to its original form), to engine blueprinting and balancing. With a collection of classic cars back home in the Bahamas, Jody has a long-standing passion for restoring classic cars and bringing them back to life, and periodically takes part in vintage sports car races in his Porsche 356 Speedster and Jaguar E-Type. He explains how, especially in our Singapore market, it is a pity that old cars often get scrapped. He has a passionate desire to keep these cars alive and on the roads, where they belong. He believes in repairing rather than replacing parts, allowing the car to retain all of its original parts. With over 18 years in the industry, he is also able to source for any rare and difficult-to-obtain parts.

With each job, Jody approaches it with a perfectionist attitude and zealous enthusiasm. For example, he blueprints and balances engines by weighing and detailing the exact weight of each single part of the engine. No doubt a tedious process (adopted from racing technology), it enables the engine to be smoother and more precise, as well as reducing wear and tear and extending an engine's life.

A look around the workshop on any given day is testament to the quality of Jody’s workmanship and his attention to detail. The cars in the workshop range from classic Porsches and Ferraris, to incredibly rare models like the Renault 5 Turbo and MG MGB. Meticulous attention is paid to each car, with detailing done to every single part of the car, right down to the glass cover of each dial.

Besides classic cars, the workshop also periodically sees to exotic and luxury cars. With a full set of factory diagnostic equipment and software for brands from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Daimler and every European brand in between, Jody and his team offer a full set of services for these European makes. Additionally, he is working to implement a state-of-the-art working environment, to set a high bar for workshop standards. The workshop has a clean room, which is a controlled environment in which work on engine and transmission parts take place. Technicians also work on clean benches and each has his own workstation. Such high-tech processes are usually only found in large-scale factories, but Jody highlights the importance of setting high workmanship standards to ensure the quality of work, as well as to offer customers the peace of mind knowing they are getting the best service possible.

1^st Auto (Premium) is located at 10 Admiralty Street #01- 04 North Link Building, Singapore (757695). To find out more about the company, you can call 6556 1771.