Classic City Motors

Original cars are most likely out of reach for most people, even car people! Even if you would get the chance to own your own, pure value would take the fun and enjoyment out of ownership, that sums up the need for classic car replicas.

CCM Design and Build Philosophy

We strive to live up to the legacy of Elegant Motors, who always seemed to lead the replica car pack. Not the biggest, but with a comprehensive line of quality built vehicles that catered to many tastes. All used steel support skeletons and currently available running gear to ensure proper handling and braking. In some instances, the chassis were made from a modular design, or improved on from stock due to the special needs of a body style.

Simple and robust could sum it up - these cars are made to drive, whether we build them or the customer does.

December 2007 Newsletter

We are very busy finishing out the shop here, as well as trying to build cars, so you can imagine the ensuing conflicts on a daily basis.

Work is finally nearing completion for the infrastructure here at the shop, and it is turning out pretty well. The layout hasn't changed from the initial flow that we designed, but the rest certainly has. The digging crew is going through the last stages of laying water and discharge piping for the rest rooms and water supply, and will then finish out the piping for natural gas. This will not only supply our heat, but it will complete our conversion to natural gas from propane for all of the buildings. We will use infrared heaters in the shop as they heat with no open flames. In the meantime, localized space heaters handle the shop temporarily.

We have also re-engineered and rebuilt the electrical supply to the East end of the building where the shop is located. Until now, we.ve had to overcome low voltage times due to the light duty light wiring that was installed. A new, large capacity electrical service will handle us well into the future. We currently have a more than ample supply of 110 V, as well as 220 V Single and 3 Phase. Thanks to Dennis and Charles for their efforts here.

The fiberglass layup room is also complete with the exception of the intake air filters and the discharge fan. they are both scheduled to be completed coinciding with the heater installation.

From a car build standpoint, we finally are getting to look like a car shop, with the exception of the dedicated paint booth, which is in the planning stages and not needed for some time. All of the molds have been organized, catalogued, and stored strategically in the shop, and custom storage racks have been built for the smaller molds to keep them safe and free from hanger rash.

The body prep area is ready and equipped with the right tools to properly prepare the bodies after they are pulled from the molds. considerable work needs to be performed even though our molds are first rate. All of the individual mold sections bolt together in order to allow removal after setup all of these parting lines where the mold pieces meet need a certain amount of work to remove after the bodies cure.

The metal fabrication area is also near ready and can now be utilized since the new electrical supply is completed. Although many components are purchased from premium suppliers, many have to be fabricated from scratch in order to make the replica body and associated components as robust as they need to be. This not only includes items like custom door and trunk hinges, but body support skeletons as well. These skeletons, along with the 5 layers of hand laid fiberglass, result in a strong body.

Immediately after the metal fabrication area is teardown and rebuild where we work on the donor vehicles, or we work on custom chassis assembly. We also use this area to mount the bodies on the frames and perform the final assembly. All of the support equip- ment really comes in handy here as this is where we do major rebuilding of engines and donor parts. It all centers on the lift, and spreads out from there.

The last area also stores finished components that are needed for final assembly.

That brings us to the custom flooring portion of the business. As this type of flooring is relatively new on the garage scene, it is finally starting to position itself against epoxy which is what most people are familiar with. The installation of over 15,000 square feet of Ribtrax tiles in the auction arena and the museum has really given us the information we need to properly represent this product. We have had thousands of people and all sorts of vehicles come in contact with our tiles, including a number of bouts with various farming equipment most recently, including combines and huge trucks. Where many other types of floor finishes would have been adversely affected and/or completely ruined, we just reposition and re-install our tiles. Not being totally indestructible, we've even had some break, but only a handful that ran up against some pretty heavy duty equipment.

Lastly, we are moving ahead with building of the web site which cannot come soon enough, as it is a great way to get information out about what we are doing.

We are preparing the content and the major layout so we can adequately show everyone what we are about. It will contain information about our replica cars, how we build them, what the shop looks like, and frequently asked questions. The flooring portion will include details about size, colors, and layouts, as well as a floor designer and calculator which allows the user to design his or her tile pattern and get it quoted.

Gene Daley and Staff
Classic City Motors
5540 CR 11 A
Auburn, IN 46706
(260) 402-7163