1991 Toyota MR2 Complete Supreme Paint Job

Maaco Fremont car of the day is this 1991 Toyota MR2.
The customer came to Maaco Fremont looking to make his sports car shine in the summer sun.
He wanted something glossy that would last, stand up to the heat of the summer and would not fade or start cracking like the original paint. So Maaco Fremont offered him the Supreme single stage polyurethane with a 4 year gloss warranty and Maaco's Prep Plus.
Maaco Fremont also fixed some cracking in the rear bumper. This little sports car looks great. The customer was super happy and loves his car even more with a fresh new paint job. He is ready to hit the streets of San Francisco.                        

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

Attrocity: 10 Mazda Cosmo Sports Dying in a Japanese Field

This horrifying photo is courtesy of Komin's Photo Blog. Komin found 10 very rare Mazda Cosmos lined-up in a field, rotting. The Cosmo was Mazda's first Wankel rotary engined car and the first production 2-rotor Wankel in the world. Maaco-Fremont has listed it as one of the Most Beautiful Cars Ever Made. Mazda produced the original Cosmo series from 1967 to 1972 and a total of only 1519 were built. Only 2 exist in the USA, with Late Night Show's Jay Leno owning one of them. Someone needs to save what's left of these cars. If you can ship one to us, we'd be happy to help!

Photo of Mazda Cosmo by Taisyo via WikiMedia.org

2006 Maserati Quattroporte with Auto Paint Service, Wet Sand & Polish

Today's Car of the Day is a 2006 Maserati Quattroporte that came in with scrapes & scratches plus some minor original paint imperfections. Maaco-Fremont repaired the scrapes and painted the rocker panel using the same type of high quality waterborne finish used at factory. We then "cut and buffed" various panels to eliminate surface scratches and to provide a more premium gloss finish.

In-Process:

After:

In-Process:

After:

In-Process:

After:

After:

After:

Maserati Hood Emblem:

Totaled Ford GT

Speaking of the Most Beautiful Cars in the World, Jalopnik is reporting a Ford GT that was wrecked by a tuner at a total loss (of a $200,000.00 car!) They include a really sad set of photos.

Totaled Ford GT, photos provided by Jalopnik

We were fortunate to have had a Ford GT at the shop a couple of years ago. The owner let the entire crew sit in it (which was a very big deal because we are a dirty bunch after sanding cars all day!)

Ford GT at Maaco-Fremont

Ford GT at Maaco-Fremont

Bumper Repair on 2003 Mazda Protege 5--Bumper Special Sale

Today's Car of the Day is one of the many that comes to Maaco-Fremont from San Francisco, about a 30 minute drive. These San Francisco customers must park on very crowded streets and their bumpers really take a beating. So for many the trip to Maaco-Fremont is a yearly ritual. They gather a bunch of scrapes and parking "love taps" until the car starts to look worn. Then they take advantage of Maaco-Fremont's Bumper Special. It's worth the drive because they typically save $200-$300 and don't have to live with a beat-up car. Plus we are always happy to provide free rides to & from BART

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

The Protege 5 is one of my favorite cars and is included in Maaco-Fremont's list of Most Beautiful Cars. We know this will get some confused frowns & dismissive snickers. But I love the clean, simple, elegant design of the Protege 5. And it seems to be a perfect combination of good looks, sporty handling, economy and utility. Zoom-Zoom!-Frank

2011 Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black

More from the boys at Top Gear, here's the new Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black. We need one of these too.

If you fancy the color (or colour), we can make your car look like this. . . well, we can paint it the same hue. It's a special metallic & pearl black and available in all of our paint grades from the least expensive to our finest and most durable high-solids base-coat clear coat.

For the humorous (or is it humourous in "British"?) commentary plus more pics visit: http://www.topgear.com/UK/aston-martin/dbs/road-test/carbon-black-driven?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitter

Emerson's New Favorite Car--McLaren F1

Almost anyone who has visited our shop knows Emerson. One of our suppliers gave us a calendar and December had a car that he was unfamiliar with--probably because it went into production when he was a child. Still, it is to this day one of the fastest and even arguably THE fastest production car ever made (243 mph/372 km/h). And it is now Emerson's new favorite. We've told him to start saving his pennies.

We present, the McLaren F1.

McLaren F1 photo by robad0b / Robin Corps

Photo of McLaren F1 GTR by Przemek Jahr

Produced from 1992 to 1998. Only 106 were ever made. When new they were $1,000,000.00 each. They cost more now, a lot more, if you can get someone to sell one.

Here's a recent Automobile Magazine retrospective on the F1. . . we aren't the only ones who still think it is the next best thing to a ride on a space shuttle, or maybe better:
http://www.automobilemag.com/features/0809_1992_mclaren_f1/index.html

McLaren was formed in 1963 by racing driver Bruce McLaren. It is famous more for its decades of engineering amazing race cars. But McLaren also engineered and manufactured the 2003-2010 Mercedes Benz SLR and for those who missed out on the F1 and the SLR, McLaren recently announced plans for a new street legal supercar, the MP4-12C.

Maserati Wins 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship

Photo by FlashPhase

2010 FIA GT1 Champion Maserati Team & MC12s

Maaco-Fremont celebrates Maserati's win in the FIA GT1 World Championship. GT racing is, in our humble opinion, the greatest racing in the world because it features cars that can actually be purchased and driven on real roads. Previously Maserati has won 5 consecutive FIA GT Manufacturers Cups from 2005-2009 with their dominating MC12. In 2005 Maserati beat 2nd place Ferrari by nearly 2x in the points standing! And now they have won the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship, beating Aston Martin (another favorite), Corvette, Ford GT (okay, they are all favorites), Lamborghini & Nissan GT-R.







Maserati is near and dear to the hearts of the crew here at Maaco-Fremont for 3 reasons.

The first, of course, is that Maserati has produced some of the most beautiful and fastest works of art in the history of man (we'll excuse them for everything that happened in the 1980s & 1990s.)

Second, since 2008 it has been a dream and is actually written into the employee manual & the business plan that Maaco-Fremont will procure a Maserati Quattroporte to use as a customer courtesy shuttle. It was supposed to happen in Dec. 2010 but the past couple of years have been economically tough for everyone in the world as well as us here at Maaco so the plan has been pushed back. 2011 looks to be a good year for business and we are hopeful.

Third, Frank Barnard, Maaco-Fremont's President, bought a Maserati-engined 1973 Citroën SM as his second car. Citroën is the French auto manufacturer that owned Maserati in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The SM was Citroën's flagship as well as a platform for the Maserati Merak.

Citroën SM

Congratulations to Maserati, the Vitaphone Racing Team and drivers Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini for their fantastic achievement. You are all welcome to stop by the shop anytime!

For more on the story, visit the Maserati website: http://www.maserati.com/maserati/en/en/index/maseraticorse/gt1-world/races/san-luis-magazine-2010/race.html?uid=6048745088&mid=600317332

Maserati MC12 Beats Ferrari Enzo

We have a soft spot for Maseratis at Maaco-Fremont. A Maserati Quattroporte is on our wish list as a shop passenger shuttle (it's been on the wish list for 3 years and counting). The Maserati MC12 happens to be one of the most beautiful cars ever made. That it is also one of the fastest is icing on the cake. This video is from our friends at Britain's Top Gear. Enjoy.

2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage: What I drove last night

From our good friends at AutoWeek, here's a nice article on one of our very favorite cars, the Aston Martin Vantage:

2011 Aston Martin V12 Vantage: What I drove last night

Frank's Cars: #1--1969 MGC GT

Frank Barnard is the President of Maaco-Fremont & Aene Automotive Corp. You may have already seen some of his cars on this blog (his 1964 Thunderbird has appear a few times during restoration & then at auto shows.) Frank has owned and driven some amazing cars. This is an occasional series that tracks his automotive history.

1) 1969 MGC-GT: 

I had to get a job when I was 15 so I could buy my first car when I got my driver's license at 16. I was looking for an MGB, Triumph TR6 or maybe a VW Bus. I had never heard of an MGC and drove to San Francisco more out of curiosity than any thought of buying this car--it was too expensive. Driving with my father, we turned a corner and there she was, a mineral blue hard top with wire wheels. I knew it was the car I was going to buy from a block away. The owner admitted that a noise under the hood was the water pump going out. It had body damage from the hood flying open while driving. But it was a 3.0 liter straight 6 in a beautiful, lightweight Pininfarina body. And on my first test drive, in San Francisco, in the rain, the rear end broke loose. I applied opposite steering, the car tucked in gently and we all survived. I was smitten. The owner told me he'd named the car Catherine. My friends and I called her "Cathy." It's the only car I've ever had that had a name. She had so much torque and such a sweet transmission. I would shame my buddies BK (Bernhardt Karlgunter) Maier, in his Camaro, and Chris Holman, in his Mustang, by beating them up the long, steep hill on Ygnacio Valley Road between Walnut Creek and Concord, California. I owned that car for about 20 years--quite a few of those years she did not run. I miss her. And I still have the original "MG" key fob on my key ring today.

Disclaimer: Many of the photos in this series of posts are taken off the web. Sadly, we can't find many or in some cases any pictures of Frank's actual cars. So we've collected photos that look most like the cars he owned including, to the extent possible, correct colors & options. Thanks to the folks that posted these photos. If anyone objects to my use of them, please let us know and we will remove them.

Join Us at Newark SummerFest 2010

Newark SummerFest

Visit us at the Maaco booth at Newark SummerFest for a chance to win some great prizes including a FREE PRESIDENTIAL PAINT JOB.


We will have our 1964 Thunderbird on display. There will also be Free live music, microbreweries, arts & crafts, car show, kids zone, food & fun!


Newark SummerFest
July 10, 2010
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Newpark Mall
Mowry Avenue exit off Interstate 880
Newark, CA


www.NewarkSummerFest.com


SummerFest 2009 Photos:

Maaco Car Before:

Maaco Car In Process:

Maaco Car After:

Washington High Car Show, Saturday May 1, 2010, 8:00 - 4:00

Come to the Washington High School Annual Car Show sponsored by Mission Valley Regional Occupation Program and Maaco-Fremont!

Approximately 50 great cars of all makes, models & vintages are expected to be on display plus motorcycles. 

Visit the Maaco booth for valuable coupons. In addition, sign-up for the club's raffle for a chance to win a free Presidential Paint job.

Event:    Washington High School Car Show

Date:      Saturday, May 1, 2010

Time:      8:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Place:     Washington High School

              38442 Fremont Boulevard

              Fremont, CA 94536-6084

See Maaco Fremont's recently restored 1964 Ford Thunderbird in its world debut.

Vehicle registration is just $20 + 2 Cans of Food.

For information contact:

Dough Nahale

510-505-7300 extension 67361

or see www.mvrop.org

The Maaco-Fremont T-bird in process of restoration in the shop.

In Process:

After: