The best restoration shops in North America aren’t necessarily household names. When you’re good, when you’re really good, the customers find you. You won’t see them advertising in the popular magazines, they don’t have fancy-looking web pages; heck, most of them don’t even have a sign on the door. They don’t need to. We are going to try to profile some of the top restoration shops in North America here on the JCNA website and hopefully our readers will get a little insight into just who the people are behind some of the top prize winning cars in JCNA.

Tucked away in a little town just a few minutes northeast of Austin, Texas is a very busy, very professional 14,000 square foot facility built in 1918 as a Dodge Brother’s dealership that goes by the name of “Jeff’s Resurrections.”  No, it’s not a funeral home (more on that later).  It’s a highly respected shop that specializes in nut and bolt restorations on some of the area’s nicest pieces of rolling automotive sculpture. The “Jeff” in question is Jeff Snyder, a self described “self-taught” car nut who operates his shop with the help of five partners. Just about all aspects of restoration are done in house at Jeff’s; only engine machining and chrome plating are farmed out to specialists. Jeff is fully capable and set up to do his own welding, painting, interiors, mechanical work and anything else it takes to make a car truly “100 points”.

The shop doesn’t specialize in Jaguars only, but Jeff himself admits “I probably know more about Jaguars than I should!” Jeff is particularly proud of the 1964 presidential Lincoln Convertible that originally belonged to LBJ and was restored to perfection in Jeff’s shop in 1995. The car has been shown in the Lincoln Car Club national meets and continues to perform well in events where it competes.  Jeff’s eclectic interests have provided opportunities to work on historically significant motorbikes and vintage aircraft, the latest being a 1937 Harley Davidson and a 1937 Stinson.

Heading to the Triumph Club “Nationals” this year is a 1957 TR-3 that won its class at the Daytona Continental in 1964 and 1965. A truly unique and historic car, the restoration proved to be a unique challenge for Jeff as it required returning the car to “as raced” condition as opposed to “factory original.”  The car is scheduled to attend the Triumph Nationals in July.

Jeff is no stranger to success at the JCNA Championship level either. The  five-time, National Class 9 champion, 100 point 1966 3.8 “S” was restored under his guidance. A complete restoration on Mike Mueller’s 1961 XKE coupe, serial #008, was completed in 2001. This was the first production coupe available. Since restoration, the car has been a national champion. Mike has a rare collection of very early, outside bonnet latch E-types.  Jeff’s work has earned him praise from the highest echelons of JCNA judging and a string of 100 point scores and National championships.

Also restored last year was one of the last SS cars, a 1939 Drophead, which scored high enough in 2001 to become North American champion in class.

We mentioned previously that Jeff was a self-taught car restorer. One would normally expect that his father or at least a sibling was as passionate and talented when it came to cars as he is; that his ability and passion came from the “gene pool,” as it where. But in actual fact, Jeff comes from a multi-generational family of funeral directors. He is the first and only member of his family to break the mold and embark on a career in the automotive world. Jeff’s dad refers to him as “the ultimate body man.” We therefore note that the name of his shop, “Jeff’s Resurrections,” takes on a whole new meaning!

It is always interesting to ask a person who spends their whole life working on beautiful cars what they chose as their own daily driver. In Jeff’s case he proudly points to the Mercedes station wagon that has faithfully carried him over 350,000 miles. As Jeff points out “I don’t have to think about this one, I just get in and drive!”

Jeff’s Resurrections can be found at 106 Porter Street in Taylor, Texas. His phone number is 512-365-5346 and his email is jaguarjeff@msn.com He would be more than happy to talk to potential clients about restoring their pride and joy; but book early, they are busy!

Posted: 5/26/2002

[HOME] [MEMBERS] [CALENDAR] [LIBRARY] [STANDINGS] [CLUBS] [CLASSIFIEDS] [FORUMS] [ABOUT] [CONTACT US] [ADVERTISERS]

LEGAL NOTICES

REPORT PROBLEM WITH THIS PAGE

© 2001 JAGUAR CLUBS OF NORTH AMERICA, INC.