The car I never stopped thinking about
Years ago I owned a 2000 Audi S4 in Nogaro Blue. It was stolen, and I replaced it with a light silver car not long after, but the Nogaro was the one that stuck with me. Some cars you forget. That one I thought about for the better part of a decade.
In the fall of 2012 I finally found another. A 2001.5 S4, Nogaro on Nogaro, picked up from a customer and fellow forum member with 72,000 miles on it. The maintenance records were all there, the interior was clean, and best of all it had barely been touched. A set of BBS wheels, a dimming rearview, and some springs were about the extent of it.
I told myself the body needed a little work. Maybe a bumper respray and a few dents pulled. I was very wrong about that, and what started as a tidy weekend car turned into a four year obsession.
Down to bare metal
Once we really started looking, the car needed a full exterior restoration. I handed the body over to Robert Tusell at Final Touch Collision in West New York, New Jersey, a shop that has done plenty of Ferraris, Porsches, and Lamborghinis for us over the years.
The car went through complete prep, an RS4 grille, the European front filler plate, new seals, new glass, fresh door sill trim, and a full OEM respray in the booth. Nothing about a factory color like Nogaro is worth faking. Getting it laid down correctly is the whole point.
When it came back, the body work was flawless and the paint was ready for us to do what we actually do best.
Making it perfect, then protecting it
Fresh paint is not finished paint. We compounded and polished the entire car to correct it properly, then sealed everything with a Nanolex coating so the finish would actually last. That correction and coating work is its own story, and we wrote it up separately.
The interior got the same treatment. A used RS4 steering wheel brought back to life, RS4 door pulls, a fresh shifter surround, Recaro Sportster CS seats in custom Alcantara, and carbon fiber trim throughout. Every faded or worn piece was either restored or replaced.
The part where it got out of hand
I will be honest. Once the paint was right, I could not stop. The car worked its way from a GIAC chip and Stage 2 up to a full 034 Motorsport Stage 3 build on Borg Warner RS4 turbos.
Along the way it picked up KW Variant 3 coilovers, H-Sport sway bars, an AWE DTS bar, a Challenge Motorwerks exhaust, a Brembo GT 355 big brake kit, and Stoptech ST60s. I even pulled the front and rear subframes, had them powder coated, and rebuilt them with fresh bushings, all because I could not stand looking at surface rust that nobody else would ever see.
That is the kind of thing that happens when a detailer builds a car for himself.
A car that actually gets driven
The whole reason I wanted this car back was to drive it, so that is what I do. It has seen New Jersey winters, salt and all, and because it was coated it cleans up fast and the finish keeps holding.
Four years, a lot of late nights, and more money than I will ever admit to. The car I spent a decade missing is sitting in my garage again, and this time it is better than the one I lost.
If your car deserves this kind of attention, whether that is a full paint correction, a ceramic coating, or a complete restoration, this is the standard we hold every car to. Reach out and let's talk about yours.
