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Collector cars stored at North American Motor Car in Danbury, Conn., on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022.

Chris Bishop, CEO of North American Motor Car, at the company's new auto storage and custom renovation shop in Danbury, Conn., on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022.

Chris Bishop, center, alongside a 1934 Ford Coupe in his North American Motor Car showroom for vintage vehicles, on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022.

A sign for general contractor Claris Construction outside the newly constructed North American Motor Car facility on Miry Brook Road in Danbury, Conn., during the vintage auto storage and customization shop's grand opening on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022.

Chris Bishop still remembers his first car that was not the Matchbox toy variety: a 1978 Land Cruiser that his brother had picked out for him but which he grew to love.

On Friday in Danbury, Bishop was driving a Cadillac Escalade, but is quick to add he loves a variety of cars — and as wide a range of the classic variety as one might imagine is now housed at the new North American Motor Car shop Bishop has built in Danbury.

The Danbury facility has space for close to 300 collector cars which are stored on a triple tier of racks in a climate controlled showroom. 

Behind its main showroom — where a Porsche was on display owned once by the late Eddie Van Halen — the company has a customization shop under the American Metal brand that can accommodate about 10 overhauls of vintage vehicles at any point in time. 

For Bishop and his staff of nearly 20, it is a labor of love but one that has been a challenge during the pandemic amid difficulties getting their hands on needed parts.

"Through COVID, one of the harder things was getting parts — it was difficult,"  Bishop said during a Friday tour of the North American Motor Car facility.  "One thing that's not difficult is when you treat people the way our grandparents taught us. It's not rocket science — we're going to listen."

Customers bring their own ideas about how they want the vehicles tweaked, which in some cases require outright artistry to achieve. American Metal's Ralph Baldwin said a reconstruction of a 1955 custom Chevrolet on display in the showroom took 19 months, with many parts of the engine reengineered from scratch.

If the customization shop and the storage garage are the revenue drivers, there are plenty of extra touches at North American Motor Car. The front showroom includes a turntable that can rotate newly rebuilt vehicles slowly for owners prior to getting the keys, providing a video moment for that individual. Upstairs, people can relax in a lounge with a fully stocked bar that includes the boots Elvis Presley wore on his 1968 comeback tour, and Peter Fonda's star-spangled helmet from the cult classic "Easy Rider".

In another section of the facility, a modest shop stocked with oil cans and other odds and ends of yesteryear has a secret door that opens up to a smaller lounge, equipped with a juke box and leather couches.

One does not need to be a vintage car owner to take advantage of the facility — North American Motor Car plans to offer up the showroom and lounges for private events, though it has yet to pin down prices.

Out back, several vehicles were at varying stages of completion, including a few that are being prepped for vintage car beach races next weekend at Wildwoods in New Jersey. And a 1950's panel truck is being overhauled to serve as the official North American Motor Car shop truck, after staff spotted the vehicle for sale.

"We all looked at it and said, 'Man, we got to be able to roll around in something that we've never seen here before -— let's do something fun,'" said Josh Allison, who leads the American Metal jobs insider the North American Motor Car facility.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; @casoulman