CHINOOK – Got a classic car in need of some TLC? Then stop at Shelby’s Restorations, a new classic auto body shop which recently opened in Chinook.

Shelby’s owner is Bruce Shelby, who grew up with classic cars.

“I come from a long line of car families,” Shelby said, adding that his great uncle, Carroll Shelby, was a hot-rodder who designed the famed Ford Cobra in the early 1960s – undoubtedly one of the hottest cars ever to come out of Detroit.

Shelby himself has had 24 years of experience restoring all kinds of cars, from Porsches to Jaguars, street rods, race cars and indoor show cars. While living in Portland, he worked for Steve’s Auto Restorations, “a premier street rod and restoration business,” Shelby said. He also had his own restoration business in Portland.

“I was well-known for the quality of my work,” he said.

At his new shop in Chinook, Shelby is working on his “old family Mustang,” a vintage 1950s pickup, and a “very rare” 1959 Volkswagen convertible he bought from Bugs of Chinook. According to Shelby, this vintage VW is one of only 4,000 imported to the United States in the ’50s. Shelby is also restoring a 1969 VW for a customer in Astoria, in addition to combining a 1939 Chevrolet passenger car with a 1935 Dodge pickup that is “the only one in the country.”

“Nobody has ever put the two together,” he said. “It’s really unique.”

In 1990, Shelby restored a 1935 Ford delivery sedan that was featured in two magazines and at an auto show at the Tacoma Dome, – winning the 1990 Northwest Street Rod Builder Award.

Shelby will take on short-, middle- and long-term projects and hopes to get more shop space so he can take on insurance work.

“I do award-winning work,” he said. “I do paint, auto body, welding and detailing work. I use Blast to the Past, owned by Bill Webster in Chinook, for sandblasting.”

Besides restoring cars, Shelby has been producing steel yard-art sculptures and fashioning wind chimes from old acetylene and air tanks.

Shelby said he really loves the Chinook area, including the “great people” and the fact it is a great place to settle down.

Shelby’s Restorations is located at 771 Highway 101 in Chinook and is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 777-8809.