Classic Car Restoration in the Philippines
The largest collection of the classic Jaguar, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes and other premium cars for restoration may thought to be in the United States, maybe even United Kingdom, Australia or in UAE.
But never would come into the mind that the world’s largest classic car restorer is found in the Philippines, now on the former US airbase now Clark Freeport Zone.
Philippines is where Australian businessman Jim Byrnes established the Byrnes Motor Trust Restoration facility a few years ago.
He chose the location because of the skills and dedication of the workers, the affordable but efficient restoration of his growing classic car collection, and more importantly, Clark in the province of Pampanga is a tax-free zone.
Source: Malcolm McKay via The Telegraph
What that means for Byrnes is that he can import cars, restore and export them without paying taxes, except for the tax on profit made in restoring them.
He said that the economy and tax advantages in the Philippines allowed him to turn commercially nonviable projects into very profitable ones.
Byrnes started with 35 project cars to be restored. He expanded the space and improved on R&D; in two years, he was able to finish 400.
Jason Lemberg, the company’s chief executive, moved to the Philippines from California to join BMT.
He has reputable work in car restoration at Symbolic Motors where he is from, winning “best in class” twice at Pebble Beach.
He is impressed with the passion and attention to detail of the Filipino workers.
He said, “There’s a worldwide shortage of good metalworkers and the locals are incredible. We’ve got 45 female workers, too, from mechanics to metalworkers.”
The classic car restoration company has already agreed to train a mechanical, technicians and engineering team for a new museum of classics in China.
But for now, Filipino workers take pride in producing world-class classic car restoration services.
