Porsche Centre Saskatchewan wins Porsche Canada’s Restoration Competition.
The Wyant Group family stands behind our Porsche technicians as they beat out nine other Porsche dealerships from across the country to be crowned winners of Porsche Cars Canada’s Classic Restoration Competition. Vaughn Wyant graciously accepted the win in Quebec early this October after nearly a week of judging.
“To take this from where we started to a concours restoration of a Porsche classic really speaks volumes about our incredible team,” Vaughn says. “Winning the first Porsche Canada Restoration Challenge is just icing on the cake and completely validates the precision and expertise of our team. My thanks to everyone. Looking forward to the 2020 competition!”
Humble beginnings
The restoration began with a pile of car parts, a rusted-out body of a 1964 Porsche 356 and a committed team of Porsche classic enthusiasts in August of 2018. After over 1800 hours of work, the restoration team at Porsche Centre Saskatchewan is happy to share their hard work.
The body that served as the foundation of the restoration spent most of its life in the northeastern United States, subject to humid conditions ideal for the formation of rust. Much of the body was fully stripped in order to complete a period-correct refurbishment.
The team needed to handcraft over 60% of the parts in order to complete the restoration. Metal fabricator Jesse Rieger, says “the taillights were rusted out and we had to cut apart lots of the body. When we first got the pieces, it was kind of a hopeless project, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from looking at it now.”
As the project autobody technician, Greg Teichroeb, led the bodywork and is proud of the details in the vehicle. “My favourite part is the straight blocking of the body. That never happens, but it was important to us to put in that extra effort to make it special.”
The finished product
The brilliant sheen of the Porsche 356 is compliments of Byran Thiessen who oversaw the painting of the vehicle. Byran estimates they spent three weeks on the glossy finish. This included five wet coats of Porsche Slate Grey paint, six rounds of sanding, and two stages of polishing.
Team lead Wes Moskwa says, “I loved seeing the car progress month after month. It was great watching everyone work together to bring a little bit of classic Porsche onto the prairies.”
From left to right: Dave Salt, Greg Teichroeb, Jesse Rieger, Ian Janssens, Sergei Akhmetshin, Byran Thiessen, and Wes Moskwa
The restoration project was truly a team effort for the staff at Porsche Centre Saskatchewan. Team members Dave Salt, Ian Janssens, and Sergei Alchmentshin are excited to see customers witness the 356 for the first time.
Before restoration
After restoration
The Porsche 356 will displayed at Alloy Event Centre, where the rest of Vaughn’s personal collection can be admired. Search #PorscheClassicCompetition #Porscheoftheprairies #PorscheRestoration on social media to see the progression from scrap metal to national champion.
