F-car mechanics I can rely on in/near Connecticut

Bill Pollard is well known for being an excellent place to service older Ferrari's (pre-355's seem to be his specialty). I have no first hand experience there but many others do, all good.

 

You might want to check out Vantage Motors in Stamford. While they are a general high end and older car shop, they work on a lot of Ferraris, know them thoroughly and are honest, competent and fair. Their capabilities include all mechanical work plus top quality body and interior work.

They did very capable work on my 400i until I sold it last year.

Marjan, the father, and Mike, the son, are very skilled mechanics and terrific to deal with. I would recommend them without reservation.

Vantage Motor Sports

 

Vince...congrats.

For proximity purposes check out Black Horse garage in Bridgeport. Horrible neighborhood but very secure facility.

 

Holy sheet, speak'n of Black Horses, Lane is that you....
How the heck are ya?

 

Bill is vey good with vintage Ferraris. He has been good to me and my 308. SportAuto By Bill Pollard.inc - Home

 

I try to keep up with mechanics Bill Pollard has an excellent reputation Auto Turismo Sport ltd is well known in Milford Wecome to auto turismo sport Capozzi's new Britain Capozzi's Custom Car Line Inc | Auto Repair New Britain CT | Engine Repair 06051 | Brake Repair 06053 | Auto Electrical Service New Britain CT | Alignment Service 06051, F40 in Portland, Francois Sicard 143 West Mountain Road
Ridgefield, CT 203 431-4824 famous restorer,
** I hear Black Horse Garage in Bridgeport, CT is good with TRs Black Horse Garage
Nino's Foreign Automobile Service in Simsbury. Nino's largely part-time but was one of the earliest Ferrari mechanics in the US
British Auto Repair Llc 3266 Post Road Southport, CT 06890 does work on Ferraris

 

Bill Pollard did the PPI on my car. Great guy; professional and honest.

 

I am in stamford area and take my car mostly down to vinny and mark at auto elite, tenafly nj, and have been very happy.

Doubt he is scared of TRs - snapped this last time i was there. One thing i like is he had a large spacious workshop with room for more than a few cars. Thus the pressure to get yours out the door is not as great as other specialists (non fcar) i have experienced. Within reason, you can leave the car there, they will get to it, and you pick it up when you can.

I haven't made saturday lunch there but i have heard its good...
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Vincent,

I would use Black Horse Garage in Bridgeport as Lane suggested. I used them on my '86 and they did very good work. Here is the link to my posts on the car and the major service:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/boxers-tr-m/241461-86-tr-vin-62119-official-thread.html

As for the independent shop you reference, the individual is supposed to be one of the best, but unfortunately I know at least one individual that had a very bad experience there very recently (almost hard to believe how bad the work was for someone considered to be regarded as one of the best).

 

Personally, I had poor experiences with BH twice with my GTC, including them damaging the panel (without telling me) while in service. Classic Coach in Elizabeth rectified it. That said, Auto Restorations in Stratford knows the classic Ferrari's very well too.

There is a newer shop in Stamford that may have merit: Car Performance CT | Auto Maintenance CT | P1 Motorcars
Next time I'm on the east coast, I plan to meet with them and form my own opinion for vintage and newer service. To me, selecting a shop is like interviewing someone for a job, but need to go to their shop, look for organization, attitude of workers, cleanliness, equipment, cars in shop, how much stuff they throw away in the garage (without repair), and most importantly gut feel. I personally like the techies, not the salesperson type pushing their services.

 

Do you know any of those guys? The website has no real information about them or their training on the brands that they say they specialize in, which is extensive. They look more like an aftermarket accessory installer at the moment but maybe when they give us some more background information we can see what they are capable of.

 

I'm aware of a repetitive horror story with Bill Pollard so I guess its all in the throw of the dice. Find a mechanic you can trust and go with your gut.

 

I understand/hearsay, the owner worked for Miller in the past and has a good reputation. But no personal experience. Positive it is competition for other shops to step up.

 

For the past few years, I've used Auto Turismo Sport in New Milford. They have excellent people, and they charge what I consider to be fair prices. Conversely, I've had only one experience with Black Horse (Which is considerably closer to my Fairfield house), and it was unfortunately not very good.

 

My good friend Kelin is a mechanic at Bill's shop SportAuto, now I don't have an F Car but I've been to the shop and the track with these guys and the cars look and run beautifully. They tend to focus on the older F cars but you can always find a car from every decade being worked on there.

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I dropped by P1 Performance today. Nicely set up shop, with some very interesting cars inside and had a good chat to Tommy (I didnt get his card, think thats correct). Excellent attitude IMHO and gave me the impression he was a straight shooter. Dyno set up as well which is something I'd like to put my car through IN THE RIGHT HANDS.

He wasnt dismissive of a lowly Dino Gt4 either. I hope to try them out soon.

Guy

 

Without a doubt, suggest you talk to Bill Pollard at Sport Auto. Bill, Kelin and Ryan are all great mechanics and Bill's experience goes back to when they were new and he was the service manager at the dealership.

 

without a doubt, reach out to Tommy at P1 MotorCars in Stamford. Tommy used to be the head mechanic for Ferrari at Miller MotorCars and is excellent. Staff | Automotive Performance & Multimedia Fairfield County CT | P1 MotorCars

 

Having owned aboxer for 21 years I have been around the block a few times.
My advice if I were to buy a new car or do extensive EO work would be to send it to newman for full sorting. It will save time aggravation and money in the long run.

For local work, yearly maint, and an EO the best option is to take it to miller ferrari. There is one guy there, Lee who knows these cars and treats them right. Its his speciality and he looks after plenty of old ferraris and lambos for the serious collector crowd in greenwich.

He does his work well, and neatly, the car is returned runnign properly and wthout the usual dings grease stains etc. As Miller is a large company they can stand by what they do, instead of offering excuses. The car also does not end up sitting for months or years.

 

One more note be sure, where ever you go, the shop works exclusively or mostly on Ferraris and your particular model. I would not go to a shop that works on F cars occasionally, there are too many nuances.

 

I took my 599 to P1 last week for a new set of Michelins, an alignment, a small dent removal and adding Novitec wheel spacers. Work was done to my complete satisfaction and quickly. Greg and Tommy are great guys and they have some serious equipment in there. Certainly recommended.

 

Walter,
Peter is a great resource, know him well. I am sure I am not the only one who wants to know....who did you choose for service?