(Re)Building the Million-Dollar Jaguar ROB VARNON

Frank, left, and John Buonanno with an
immaculate 1952 Mercedes 220A...
(CT POST / Brian A. Pounds )

BRIDGEPORT — What might be the world's most valuable Jaguar sits in pieces on the second floor of the Black Horse Garage. It's a machine purchased by an American in England and then shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to the Park City for restoration. Read More »

"It's an SS1 Two-Seater Walmsley," said John Buonanno, vice president of Black Horse. Buonanno would not identify the owner; the car was built in 1934 for William Walmsley, one of the Jaguar founders, but it is not, in fact, called a Jaguar.

Founded in 1921 as the Swallow Sidecar Co., Jaguar got its start making sidecars for motorcycles before expanding into making cars, according to Buonanno. Before World War II, the company used an "SS" symbol but dropped it for its now-famous cat because it looked too much like the emblem of the Nazi secret police, he said. For now, the car is not much to look at - it's lying in pieces on the second floor of the garage at 726 Union Ave., where the yearlong restoration is being meticulously carried out, part by part. To get cars up there, the company uses an outdoor lift. "It'll be a million-dollar car when we're through with it," said Frank Buonanno, founder and owner of Black Horse.

His son, John, handles much of the administrative work while Frank does what he loves best - working on engines and restoring cars. John Buonanno said this would be the most valuable car the garage has worked on since its founding in 1991. "That's saying a lot, because we've had a lot of valuable cars in the shop," John Buonanno said. Black Horse is a repair, maintenance, storage and full-restoration service company with six employees. The Buonannos bought one of Producto Moore Tools' unused buildings and moved from another spot in Bridgeport this year. Quid Blankley, owner of Quid's Auto Upholstery, moved his business into the new building as well.

The Buonannos said they make a comfortable living from the business but would not disclose financial details. Black Horse is expanding into sales, but only of unique cars it finds and restores, according to John Buonanno. Frank Buonanno said he loves the new place and the neighbors seem to enjoy seeing the Ferraris, Corvettes and other cars being driven around the East Side neighborhood."It's fun. They wave and smile," Frank Buonanno said.

That Black Horse was picked to do the restoration of the SS 1 shouldn't shock anyone, according to M.S. Koly, a car collector and past chairman of the Rolls Royce Owners Club Atlantic Region. He said the garage has developed a strong reputation, not only because Frank Buonanno is a man of integrity and competence but also because he's surrounded himself with people just as capable. Koly said Black Horse restored two Rolls Royces for him and he's won national competitions with his cars. "The garage pays attention to detail," Koly said. Frank Buonanno said he is very particular about who he hires to work in the garage. He said the garage is lucky to have the mechanics and experts it does, including Jack the shop foreman. Frank Buonanno said he is toying with the idea of starting a training program. He has two young men who work at the garage now who are learning the trade, Buonanno said, adding the three of them will sit down and study a carburetor for two hours straight. "It's good stuff," Frank Buonanno said. "It's important to know not only how to fix it, but why it works."

While Black Horse is packed with valuable and unique cars, John Buonanno said he'd like to find his one-of-a-kind Bonetta. The Bonetta is unique because Frank Buonanno built it himself from the ground up. He said he started building the car - with the help of a science teacher - when he was 15. He created the frame from metal tubes and built the engine himself. "I drove it from 1957 to 1962, until I got ," he said. He sold it to a relative and he's not sure where it is today. "I'd pay big money for that car," John Buonanno said.