- First Ride Services -

Checkout the restoration services we offer and a glimpse into some previous projects Francis has been a part of.

Upholstery Restoration

You spend most of your time in your classic car behind the steering wheel which is why maintaining and restoring your upholstery is so important. We're here to serve you whatever your interior restoration needs may be. We can create and bind new carpet, build fresh door cards, reupholster that seat under your butt and so much more.

Sample seat back design recreation.
Patterning of an original door card on a '53 Mercedes 300S.
Creating the roll and pleat section of the door card.
Miniature door card samples.
Carpet binding sample showing both hidden and single reinforced stitching.

A Jaguar D-Type Recreation I helped create many panels for alongside a team of skilled metal workers.
Building the "shark fin" for the D-Type.
Close up of the joggle detail being installed on the "shark fin"
Detail shot of the hood bump and left side hood/fender reverse curve shaping.
Building a wooden buck to create a new door skin for a 50's Mercury.
Lower skin section fabricated and being checked on the buck.
Accurate shaping of the door skin sections is shown with tight panel fitment along the wooden buck.
Shaping a patch panel on the English wheel.
Carefully working the skin of a Lamborghini Muira off its superleggera inner structure.

Metal Work and Coachbuilding

As our amazing cars continue to age, parts and donors get hard to find and original sheet metal becomes more and more valuable. First Ride can help you save as much of that original sheet metal as possible by shaping new patch panels from scratch, insuring panel fitment the first time. We can build a buck to accurately reproduce an entire vehicle or a component of your car that you may need. When it's all said and done, your car will be expertly welded together, metal finished, and structurally sound so you can rest easy knowing you've got the best foundation to build on.

Automotive & Artisinal Woodwork

We create from the ground up, so if your car is a wooden framed Franklin or a burl wood trimmed Mercedes, we can make sure the originality of your vehicle is preserved as we craft new components and restore original pieces.

Creating an accurate wooden buck before shaping a new door skin.
Building a small wooden bench using hand cut dovetails and mortise and tenon joints.
Finished handcrafted bench showing hand-cut joinery.
Handmade assembly hammer.

Checking fuse panel continuity.
Diagnosing ignition system components.
Fuel gauge testing during restoration.
Servicing and cleaning an original speedometer.

Electrical System Diagnosis and Component Repair

We know how frustrating it is to hop into your classic car and remember the clock doesn't work or go to turn on your original radio and be greeted with silence. We specialize in getting your gauges back up and running, your radio bumping again, and tracking down and fixing those pesky little electrical gremlins that no one wants to worry about. From a full rewire to just repairing your original clock, we can do it all.