From the desk of Clark Rittersbach;
President of Concours Classics LLC and Managing Partner in Platinum Classic Motorcars.

Greetings friends and colleagues,

As this year flies by, the calendar spins off my desk and the days seem to pass quicker still, all the talk of the economy has made me reflect on how far we have come in the last year... in fact the last 3 years. Many of you that have been with us prior to our major move in 2006 from our former 5,500 square foot building to our new 27,000 square foot facility have experienced all of our growing pains with us.

Over the last 3 years we have added staff and greatly expanded our capabilities to perform virtually all restoration services under one roof now. Our restorations provided stiff competition at all the major concours events we attended this year, and 2010 will be even better with the unveiling of the Teberg Collection's 1931 Cadillac V16 Roadster on the lawn at Pebble Beach this coming year 2010. (body number 104 of the one-hundred and five ever built!

But now let's focus on the changes in the last year:

The Finds:

2009 has been a banner year for significant automobile sales. With the economy being at it's worst, I have never brokered so many significant and high priced automobiles in one year. Four Duesenbergs have found wonderful homes through my hands in the last 4 months alone, including the most significant automotive find of 2009; The LAST ORIGINAL FAMILY OWNERSHIP Duesenberg, a Murphy convertible sedan that we discovered and sold to the Don Lyons Collection. (This find will be a subject for a future newsletter, and was my first experience filming in HD for a possible TV spot. Watch out Wayne!)

For those of you that do not get to visit our shops that often, here are some of the major changes in the last 6 months...

The Facility:

We have added a fully expanded and modernized wood shop to enhance our coach building department thanks in no small part to Bob, our dedicated craftsman who is sanding away building quality wood coachwork as we speak!

We have also just added a complete sheet metal fabrication shop with a new Power Shear, English Wheel, Box and Pan Break, Bead Rolling technology, Metal Shrinkers, Benders, and our NEW P5 Pullmax. That's over 8000 lbs of metal shaping power to produce any panel or piece of metal necessary for automotive restoration.

Our upholstery department has just received a new long arm sewing machine that will allow us to do stitching on even the largest of all automotive door panels.

Internet and Marketing:

We brought our web development in-house and combined both company websites (www.platinumclassics.com and www.concoursclassics.com) into one comprehensive live-updated website. Either URL will bring you there, where you can see our current Cars for Sale listings with high-res slide shows and follow each resto with our newly expanded Ongoing Restoration section. Thousands of photos, updated frequently.

The Staff:

In the last 3 months we have nearly doubled our staff, including 3 new specialists hired in November alone. Let me take this opportunity to introduce them:

Bob is our new coachbuilder. He is a true craftsman with the keen ability to visualize and fabricate wood coachwork from scratch. Using the finest raw materials and our new state-of-the-art wood shop, his workmanship transforms these hardwoods into something truly remarkable and in many cases superior to the original framework.

Oliver (aka Butch). With over 30 years of mechanical expertise on everything from antique cars to cranes to you-name-it, Butch brings the kind of skills and creative thinking necessary to overcome the many mechanical challenges of restoring these behemoth classics, often with little or no reference material at all.

Jamie, an ASE certified mechanic and certified Mig and Tig welder who cut his teeth on sports car and muscle car restoration. With over 18 years of automotive excellence under his belt, he possesses a wealth of automotive knowledge and the metal fabrication skills that makes him a solid addition to our team.

Rob will head up our engine rebuilding and in house machining department (that we will be expanding dramatically in the months to come). Rob has 20 years plus of precision instrument prototype building and over 15 years of engine rebuilding and machining experience. In the months ahead the goal will be to have all machining and engine machine work taking place in-house.

Steve, my long-time associate and webmaster going back over 15 years, is now working in-house as photographer and web developer. Steve has been responsible for every website we ever had! His skill set and knowledge of our business are an integral part of communicating our work and inventory to prospective buyers and existing clients alike.

And last but certainly not least, my better half Mary has joined up to assist and organize the overall operation. Her contributions to the day-to-day are too numerous to mention but include everything from tracking ongoing work logs to making sure we don't forget to eat! If we were a machine, Mary would surely be the oil that keeps us running smoothly!

New automobiles:

Watch the website or feel free to call me with your specific wants and needs. We are able to acquire many great finds from Estates all over the world. With the way the market has been however, many of our acquisitions never make it up to our website as they are often sold before they even come in to our showroom.

NEW acquisitions (that will not last long) include a 1931 Cadillac V16 roadster project better than halfway restored and ready for mechanical and cosmetic work. This 100% complete Caddy is aggressively priced at $175,000 and we can complete the restoration for the new owner. Ask to see photos of the one we are restoring now for Pebble Beach 2010 to get your mind working.

Goals:

This year we have made quantum leaps ahead in staff and management to help move along the projects we have in a timely fashion. The infrastructure and capabilities of the company are constantly being expanded and invested in, to put out a show winning product and cut outside costs to save time and money for our customers.

I want to thank all of our new and existing customers and friends whom have made this year the best year in our history, and have been there to guide me with their great support and drive me to succeed. Thank You!

This newsletter is just the first in the upcoming year as our way to keep you all informed. So until the next time, watch our website and I look forward to an exciting 2010 with all of you.

Best Regards,