As a teenager David's Brother Jerry bought an Alfa Romeo Milano, which David fell in love with. After college David bought one for himself and his 1987 Alfa Milano is still his daily driver.
In 1988 David spotted a Fiat X-19 rusting away in a neighbors yard. David and his father painstakingly restored the vehicle over the next few years. The Fiat received intensive bodywork, a re-built head and a re-built transaxle.
David studied Automotive Design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Although a career in Automotive Design was David’s original direction at Pratt his focus shifted soon after graduation. The Automotive Industry was not making vehicles with the same level of integrity as the vehicles that David had fallen in love with.
After college in Brooklyn, NY David and some friends embarked on a road trip in an old 1 ton Dodge van. As they traveled through 34 of the lower 48 states David put much of his mechanical knowledge to the test . After hitting an Elk on the Oregon coast David completely rebuilt the old van and also acquired a Datsun 510 wagon that he towed all the way back to the east coast. David’s Datsun became his daily driver while he was living in Brooklyn and it made multiple trips from the east coast to Michigan and back.
Before leaving Brooklyn, David bought a 1971 BMW 2002 for his wife Juliet. The 2002 needed almost as much bodywork as his Fiat X19 had. The 2002 looked great but unfortunately some vehicles are just too rusty underneath to make a restoration feasible.
When David & Juliet moved to West Michigan, David decided to devote his time to restoring old European vehicles, with an emphasis on models that were being overlooked by vintage car collectors. In 2002 he began buying, restoring and selling older European cars out in a small outbuilding in West Olive, MI and European Auto Restoration was born.
In the spring of 2003 David acquired a 1960 Fiat 1200 Sedan from the original owner complete with photos, documents and other Fiat paraphernalia from the 60’s. Only a few weeks later he found a 1960 Fiat 2100 Sedan, which unlike the 1200 needed much restoration. As the current spokesmodels for the business these 60’s Fiats are the foundation of the collection.
In the unseasonably cold and wet fall of 2003 David and his wife Juliet built their first house and a new facility for the growing business.
David built a large storage building in the summer of 2006. It currently houses a collection of potential restoration projects and parts.
On December 13, 2007 at 11:45 am the littlest member of European Auto Restoration joined the team. Isabella Eagle Michele is currently the gem of our collection, and loves to help out in the shop.
