Classic Velocity

Snow, salt, and freezing temperatures are usually not the friends of vintage iron. They relegate the machines we love to the sidelines in places that have real winter. Thankfully, we have guys like Dennis and Bill that realize it is a public service to relieve us of our cabin fever and arrange some kind of Gearhead activity. And so it was that we descended upon the premises of one Gary Maucher, proprietor of Maucher Auto Upholstery. This was not the first visit (see The Undiscovered Bounty) but the shop had relocated a few hundred yards, and his motorcycle collection which literally adorned the walls of the old shop, was now more of a small museum space..

Gary is our kind of guy. He is at once the holder of a dream job involving vintage four-wheeled vehicles, and a passionate two-wheeled aficionado. By day, he upholsters vintage vehicles that most of us dream about. On this day, the shop had an Aston Martin DB4, a Mercedes 300SL, a Ferrari, and a Porsche 356, to name a few. The value of the vehicles assembled in his shop was astronomical. This speaks to the quality of his work and the clientele it attracts. I try to be careful around my garage so as not to add any more “accidental patina”, but working on someone’s freshly painted 7 figure machine must take a special kind of care and confidence.

A separate area of the shop now houses Gary’s collection of motorcycles. This brings up another reason that he is our kind of guy. He collects what he likes. This is a guy who clearly knows enough to just assemble the cream of the crop, but that is not the sense that you get from talking to him, or from walking around the bikes. There are a number of BMWs from a R90S in custom red, to an R1100S. There are also a number of Harleys and a number of Indians (he vintage races an Indian). However, there is also an MV Agusta Senna, a couple of Nortons, a wonderful survivor Triumph, a Ducati Pantah, a Brough Superior, a Moto Guzzi Eldorado, and (my favorite), a Gilera 250 with sidecar. And many more.

To top it off, he is a nice guy. He opens his shop to a bunch of vintage Gearheads, educates, answers our inane questions, and allows us to wander about freely amongst a lot of precious metal. This is exactly the kind of guy you want to apply his craftsmanship to your project, or to have a few beers with and swap lies.