Classics

BY: RENEA DAYTON

PHOTOGRAPHY: DUTCH DOSCHER

Bob Torre has always been infatuated with classic cars. When Bob was 14, he paid $500 to buy a kit from the Penny Saver to build a 1963 white Porsche 356B Convertible. “My dad and I unpacked the boxes, put the car together, and tested it as much as possible before deciding to take it on the road. When my dad drove it out of the garage for the first time a neighborhood kid ran into the road right in front of the car and my dad had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the kid…so we knew the brakes worked! …We never really finished that Porsche, but I sold it at a profit…and became addicted,” Bob recalls.

“My dad owned a lumber yard in Yonkers and always had cool stuff in the garage,” Bob continues. “I would help out around the lumber yard, and then use every penny I earned to buy another car, put it together, and sell at a profit. Then I bought a 1966 ‘Whale Tail’ Porsche that was drivable but needed a lot of work. My dad was always there to help…and to this day I credit him with fueling my passion.”

“Still, when I would announce that I wanted to restore cars for a living, my parents would remind me that ‘You have to get a real job first’ and ‘That’s no way to earn a living’,” Bob recounts. “My four older sisters had all gone to college, so when I graduated from high school I headed off to college at Paul Smith…and lasted for only three days! …My parents had paid for tuition, room, board, and all the books for the semester, but I just knew college was not for me! I didn’t really tell my parents and just showed-up at home a while later. My folks actually got all of their money back except the deposit for the sheets.”

“I got a job as a carpenter and working excavation, but when I asked for a one dollar per hour raise my boss refused…so, at eighteen years old, I started my own construction company, simply calling it RC TORRE. I built a roof for a friend. Then a dock on a lake. …I’ve been in business for 40 years, and today RC TORRE CONSTRUCTION has 40 employees and an established reputation as a quality builder,” Bob smiles with pride. “...But for some time, life got in the way of my love for cars. I was busy building my business. I got married…had two kids…got divorced…and was totally occupied raising a family.”

“I met Renee in 1999, when she was still active as an Interior Designer. We were married in 2001. We renovated and flipped several homes, finally settling in South Salem, where we still reside. Renee shared and supported my passion for cars…and I was impressed that she knew how to drive a stick!” Bob remembers.

“...We went to our first auction together and bought a 1965 green Cobra Replica, and we were ‘off to the races’! Funny enough, that was the first car Bob had ever purchased that didn’t need restoring! The next year we went back to the same auction and bought a 1964 maroon Ferrari 300 GT,” Bob recaps, “...and that really began our rabid purchasing of classic automobiles. …If my memory serves me correctly, Renee even bought a boat at an auction by raising the paddle while I was away in the bathroom!”

To celebrate Bob’s 40th birthday, he’d purchased a 1966 turquoise Amphacar - in boxes - and completed the assembly and put in the engine…but when he went for the first test drive - into Peach Lake in North Salem - the water came up to the top of the doors…and that was it for ‘off road’ vehicles.

“We bought at auctions, and traded cars online during the eBay craze in the 2000s ,” Bob recalls.

“…We bought a white 1969 Subaru 360. It was a little car with a two-stroke engine and when we went to pick it up four big guys just lifted it up and put it on our trailer! …We bought a 1956 black VW Beetle that Renee drove around for a while before we sold it. …We bought and sold an old 1967 Kaiser Ambulance. …And, long before Google translate, we went to an auction in Portugal and bought a 1966 black Lamborghini 400GT. …And the list goes on and on!”

“Then we went to the Greenwich Concours and I purchased a 1967 red Lamborghini Mura,” Bob declares. “I believe it’s still the lowest price ever paid at auction for a Miura in operating condition. It was really my first ‘fancy’ car. …My business was good, Renee and I were having fun. …And we resumed buying quality cars - at a pace of about one a year.”

“In 2012, we sold the Amphacar, the Subaru, the Beetle, and a few other cars - all at one auction. …And we used the proceeds as a deposit for our weekend home in Jamestown, Rhode Island,” Renee recalls.

“We bought a 1963 silver-blue Porsche 356 Emory Outlaw, mostly because of how much I liked it,” Renee starts the list, ”...and then a 2012 orange McLaren - the first car VW owned with paddle shifters - that I still drive around when I want to turn some heads on a trip to the grocery store! …We bought a 1973 BMW CSL, which we dubbed ‘The Green Machine’...and then a 1973 white and blue Porsche RS, which had previously been owned by Jack Heuer of Tag Heuer, that we acquired from Nick Sabrano. …Next ‘I bought’ - and I have to admit that I say ‘I bought’ generously, because I kind of accidentally raised the paddle on this one - a black and orange 2007 Porsche GT3 RS Porsche, with too many miles on it. …And then a 1955 silver/blue Aston Martin DB Coupe - like the one from the movie The Birds. We had a blast taking that car to show it at Hershey Concours. I dressed up in an outfit like the one Tipi Hendren wore in the movie, complete with birds sewn onto my suit and in my hair to match the car and fit the occassion. …At one point, we even bought a Fiat taxi which was shipped from Italy and takes Italian Lire!”

Bob continues, “In 2018, I met Randy Elber. He’d attended McPherson College to study in their unique program in Restoration Technology, and though only 32, he’d already worked doing restorations for the prestigious Paul Russell and Company, and for the famous Audrain Auto Museum in Rhode Island. …I had a large garage in Mount Kisco and had always dreamed of automotive restoration. I saw Randy as a unicorn of a car guy. And so I partnered with him in establishing our restoration shop, called R&R Automotive Restoration.

“Our first ‘house project’ at R&R Restoration was a 1958 white Mercedes SL Roadster we bought from a customer. I was enamored with the car, but Randy wasn’t thrilled that it had a non-matching motor that Mercedes had installed when the original had blown. …I still have the car and it drives great!” Bob smiles. “Next up, I found a 1955 green Mercedes Gullwing barn find that was purchased in 1974 as a graduation gift. The guy found the car in the New York Times and his father purchased it for him for $6,000. The kid used it to commute to college but only for a year. I later researched and found the ad in the New York Times archives. The car was sitting on a lift at a salvage yard in upstate New York and hadn’t been touched since 1975. Randy was pretty excited about how everything in the car was really tip-top spec and super original, including ridge wheels. It was a really early example of this iconic vehicle. …I took Renee out to dinner and regailed her with all the reasons we should dip into the bank account to buy the car and how the stars were all aligned, and was pretty relieved when she gave it the thumbs-up…as I’d already bought the car! …I promised the seller I was not buying it for resale and would be the new caretaker for this special vehicle, and I still have it today. We’ve serviced the engine and done some work inside, but the interior is all original. We focus on every detail. …It’s proved to be a pretty good investment!”

“Next up we bought a 1965 yellow Ferrari 275 with gray interior in an auction at the Amelia Island Concourse,” Bob says. “I’d always wanted one, and I think I got it at a decent price. …We took two years doing a full renovation on that 275. We wanted to make sure everything was perfect.”

“...Driving our finished projects around and putting them in a few local car shows has been R&R Restoration’s best advertising,” Bob continues. “I’m proud to say we’ve had many clients with plenty of repeat customers and that we handle an average of two complete restorations each year. Positive word-of-mouth keeps the automotive shop busy.”

“I feel that buying something you can make better is its own reward,” Bob reflects. “And I’m of course pleased that collector cars have been one of the highest performing asset classes over the past couple of decades. You don’t just get to use them and enjoy them - they’re a good investment. …Over the years, we’ve acquired well over 60 cars, and have 23 currently in our collection. …Asking me to pick my favorite car is a little like asking me to pick a favorite kid, but I’d probably have to say it’s the 1958 Mercedes 300 SL because it’s the ultimate cruiser. …Right now, I’ve got my eye on a customer’s 1964 black Ferrari Lusso.”

Renee contributes, “I’m all about the aesthetics, and my favorite car in our collection is still definitely the 1963 356 Emory Outlaw. It has a bud vase on the dashboard, straps and buckles on the hood, and my favorite number, 18, painted on the side. …We like cars that have patina. Our style, generally, is pretty rustic. All of our homes have been restored barns. …I get caught up in Bob’s projects and in the childlike joy he gets from buying, restoring, and driving each car. I help out by designing some of the interior finishes and workshopping the wearable outfits we make to be part of that car’s experience. …We laugh about how I once used old leftover Ralph Lauren wool plaid fabric from one of my design projects to upholster the seats and door panels in my 1986 G249 Danish Military Vehicle…but Bob hasn’t let me decorate the R&R shop with the kind of ‘wooden boat’ vibe I’d like to establish!”

“Bob and I try to drive each and every one of our cars, but we’ve definitely become ‘Sunday drivers’,” Renee comments. “We love going out for a good drive, with a great playlist blaring, and maybe some candy, just talking with each other, taking in the view, and looking forward to each next stop. We were recently invited to participate in the bespoke Pukkasport automotive tour through New York, and we plan to do a lot of traveling and hope to include driving a Ferrari through Italy on our itinerary.”

“I really only have two rules about all of this,” Renee concludes. “No American muscle cars, and no more track days! Otherwise, I never say ‘no’ to a purchase and I tell Bob to do his thing and enjoy it. …Although sometimes I do give my opinion on color!”

“...And I really only object to Renee’s no-going-back-to-the-track policy!” Bob laughs.