Gearhead Nirvana: We Visit Porsche’s Atlanta Workshop Where Classics Get Reborn

Maintaining any car is a duty that different owners approach in vastly different ways. For some, a few zip ties and a rattle can of spray paint is good enough. Far on the other end of the spectrum are owners like the ones who take their car to the Porsche Classic Center in Atlanta. During our trip there to see the new Macan EV in virtual reality, we had the opportunity to tour the Classic Center as it was deep in the midst of multiple repair and restoration projects. 

To the owners of these cars and to the Porsche brand itself, what these mechanics, technicians, upholsterers, and painters are preserving is heritage. The center’s mantra “As good as new. But with even more character” is on display for anyone who visits the site.

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Directly south of downtown Atlanta and appropriately located at 300 Porsche Ave, the Porsche Classic Center is now a separate building from the main Experience Center that opened in 2015. 

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In fact, it was just over a year ago that the new Classic Factory Restoration building opened in January of 2023. “Our goal is to be a caretaker of dreams,” says Jonathan Sieber, Senior Manager of Porsche Classic about the site, “Not only do we want to encourage and inspire Porsche enthusiasts to keep their classic cars on the road, but in this beautiful new facility, we can literally make dreams come true.” Now, instead of having just three bays to work out of, the team has 14 and every one of them was full during our tour. 

The Atlanta Experience

The Classic Center isn’t visible from the road as one drives up to the Porsche Experience Center complex. Instead, you’ll have to get through the gate and then drive past the main building on the left and down a road to the right. 

You’ll pass by the Kimpton Hotel where many Porsche guests stay, then by an on-site parking deck before finally coming to the Classic Center. Throughout that short drive from the gate to the center it’s not uncommon to hear and see Porsches on the relatively new West Track. 

The Classic Center doesn’t look all that imposing compared to the rest of the center. The building has a medium-sized lobby area with a car or two on display. To the left of that space is a cafe bar and a room where Porsche showed us the Macan EV. Continue past the lobby though and you’ll enter the work area -and that’s where things get really interesting. 

Behind The Excellence

Before even entering the shop it was clear that this wasn’t anything close to your run-of-the-mill oil change and tire rotation sort of situation. As if by intention not one but two Carrera GTs in GT Silver sat in bays one and two in varying states of repair. Before we could go see them though we were escorted into the engine room where the attention to detail exhibited in these walls was laid bare. 

Inside were various engines from all sorts of different Porsche models. As you’ll note in the photos, these engines aren’t simply pulled from the car, rebuilt with new parts or repaired, and then bolted back in. Porsche meticulously cleans every part to restore it to like-new condition and that doesn’t stop at just hard engine parts. 

The team attempts to preserve every single piece they can from the original engine including clamps, connectors, nuts, bolts, and washers. Small parts like that will even get new plating before going back on the engine where appropriate. The gold/brass finish you see on the nuts and bolts in these photos are examples of the finished re-plating process. 

Once an engine is back together, the team can test it on a bench dyno to ensure there are no issues before it goes back in the car. That same level of detail is part of the process throughout the work that goes on for each car. Of course, once the car is fully rebuilt, the team puts a few miles on the completed setup to ensure that the owner can drive it immediately once they get it back. 

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Working In The Shop

Once back in the main work area, we had a chance to learn about the process that technicians use as they go about their day. Each car has its own idiosyncrasies and technicians must ensure that they follow steps carefully to properly preserve the car. For example, the Porsche Carrera GT has to be strapped to the lift system for engine removal. 

Without the straps you see above, the car risks becoming unbalanced during the engine removal/reinstallation process. The technician carefully labels each group of nuts and bolts and places them on a tray to keep track of what goes back where. In other cases, the protocols seem almost pedestrian. Where else could you ever see the rear bumper cover for a Carrera GT just lying on the ground, albeit with a blanket? 

This level of care isn’t simply provided to supercars though. Porsches from several different decades were represented in the shop. A 1963 356 B Cabriolet in Light Ivory was deep in the middle of a full restoration. A 928 had its newly rebuilt engine installed (notice all of the brightwork) and the tech was working on some wiring behind the dash. Even a humble 944 with an aftermarket rear lighting section was amongst the rest of its family for some electrical work. 

The Deeper Details

For those who select a restoration procedure, Porsche pulls out all of the stops. The vehicle is “completely disassembled and all parts are removed from the bodyshell, from the engine to the interior equipment,” according to Porsche. Why go to that much trouble for what might be something more surface-level?

“This is the only way to clearly determine the condition of the classic vehicle,” Porsche says. When Porsche finds an issue somewhere whether it’s with the drivetrain or something else, it does its best to replace the part(s) with genuine parts or parts that were replicated based on original drawings of the genuine part. 

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In cases where the team finds body damage or warping, they fix it, even in cases where that requires reshaping deformed areas, welding in new metal, and grinding away evidence of the repair. Then, these cars go into the paint booth where Porsche can either refinish the car as it originally was or give it a new shade based on the owner’s desire. 

That same level of customization is available when it comes to upholstery too. Buyers can have their car repaired with genuine upholstery surfaces or updated with whatever they desire. In fact, there’s a very special program that incorporates both and often goes unheard of because of its exclusivity. 

Recommission

It’s no secret that Porsche cars often change owners, but what happens when a discerning buyer acquires a Carrera GT that doesn’t quite align with their tastes? That’s where Porsche steps in, offering to dismantle the GT and rebuild it to the new owner’s exact specifications, from paint to upholstery to features. In at least one case, the team dedicated approximately 350 hours to meticulously sanding and refinishing the carbon fiber of a GT, including the monocoque. If that’s not a true testament to preserving excellence, then nothing is.

The Auto World