COLLECTOR CAR ADVISORY · DARIEN, CONNECTICUT
Collector Car Ownership, Managed.
A collector car is a project that never quite ends. Service intervals, specialists, receipts, registration, insurance valuations, parts, projects, market values - and eventually, a sale. Shifting Gears is the owner’s side of all of it. We keep the record, manage the calendar, coordinate the specialists, and when the time comes, prepare the car properly for market.
The car never leaves you. We come to it.
Records • Calendar • Specialists • Market
A General Contractor for Your Collector Car.
You wouldn't hire a general contractor to swing the hammer. You hire one so the right trades show up in the right order, at a price you agreed to, and so somebody keeps the file. Same idea, applied to a car.
We don't detail it, we don't rebuild it, and we never take it away. We find the right specialist, agree the scope, watch the work, check the invoice, and put the result in your vehicle's record - so that four years from now, when it matters, the history is already written down.
The car stays where it is. We come to it.
WHAT WE DO
Three Ways We Work, Defined by When.
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DURING OWNERSHIP
Stewardship
Collector car ownership, managed.
Ongoing documentation, service tracking, market monitoring and owner-side coordination.
$350/Month
or $3,850/yr, plus $750 one-time enrollment
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BEFORE THE SALE
Market Ready
Before it goes to market.
Market analysis, history, preparation, photography, documentation and listing development.
Full Preparation, $4,250
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DURING THE PROJECT
Restoration Management
Owner-side project management.
Scope, vendors, budgets, documentation, decision-making and progress management for restorations and significant mechanical projects.
Quoted individually
ONGOING OWNERSHIP
Enjoy the car. We'll keep track of the rest.
Owning a collector car creates a surprising amount of administration.
When was the battery installed?
How old are the tires?
When was the brake fluid last changed?
Where is the invoice from the last major service?
When does the registration expire?
What did the car appraise for last year?
Which shop worked on the transmission?
What still needs attention?
Shifting Gears Stewardship keeps those answers in one place. We maintain the vehicle's digital record, monitor important dates, track service and condition, coordinate approved vendors and provide ongoing market perspective.
Three Principles
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One car. One living record.
Rather than spreading a car’s history across glove boxes, email accounts, file cabinets, phones and shop invoices, we organize the useful information into one evolving vehicle record. The record grows with the car.
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We represent the owner, not the invoice.
Stewardship doesn’t replace the specialists who maintain collector cars - it helps you manage them. Vendors perform their own work and invoice you directly whenever practical. We recommend and coordinate. The vendor performs and warrants the work.
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The car has a calendar.
Some collector-car problems aren’t caused by mileage. They’re caused by time. Tires age, batteries deteriorate and brake fluid absorbs moisture whether or not the car moves
MARKET POSITION
Not one number. Three ways to look at the market.
Collector cars rarely have one objectively correct value. Condition, venue, timing, documentation and your own priorities all move the outcome.
QUICK MOVE
$38,000–44,000
A market position designed around speed and immediate buyer interest.
EXPECTED MARKET
$46,000–55,000
The range we believe the car should realistically trade within when properly prepared and presented.
STRETCH
$58,000–66,000
A defensible upper-market outcome when the car, venue, presentation and timing align.
The number matters. The reasoning behind it matters more. Every Market Position explains what is driving value, what is holding it back, and what — if anything - is worth addressing before the car goes to market.
HISTORY & PROVENANCE
The Car Has a Story. Find It Before You Sell It.
Collector cars accumulate stories the same way they accumulate miles. Some are sitting in service folders. Some appeared in an auction catalog fifteen years ago. Some were photographed with a previous owner. Some were mentioned in a club publication.
And some information has been repeated for decades without anyone knowing whether it is true. Before a car is presented to the market, Shifting Gears works to separate what is documented from what is assumed - and assemble the useful history into one coherent record.
We don't create provenance. We document what we can support.
Period Magazine Page
Old Service Receipts
chassis plate close-up
chassis plate close-up
Previous auction appearances
Marque registries
Prior online listings
Event participation
Archived photographs
Awards
Ownership documentation
Period magazine articles
Service history
Road tests
Restoration history
Books & catalog references
Factory information
Original advertisements
Build & specification records
Historic sales literature
THE DELIVERABLE
Every Car Leaves With a File.
The final Vehicle Dossier brings the market research, documentation and history into one organized record — the thing a serious buyer asks for and most sellers can't produce.
Vehicle Identification
Specification
Market Position
Comparable Sales
Ownership Timeline
Service & Restoration
Provenance
Previous Market Appearances
Publications & Period Material
Known Modifications
Known Imperfections
Documentation Inventory
Preparation Recommendations
Sources
Evidence Key
DOCUMENTED
Supported by original or authoritative records.
OWNER REPORTED
Information supplied by the current owner.
CORROBORATED
Supported by credible secondary sources.
UNVERIFIED
Possible history that could not be independently substantiated.
THE PROCESS
Five Stages, in Order, Every Time.
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STEP 01
Know What You Have
Review the car, the records, the condition and comparable transactions. Establish Quick Move, Expected Market and Stretch — and determine whether selling now actually makes sense.
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STEP 02
Find the Story
Organize records and investigate the vehicle's history, provenance, previous market appearances and relevant publications. Separate documented history from assumptions.
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STEP 03
Do the Right Work
Determine what is actually worth doing before the car is presented, then coordinate it. Do not spend $10,000 trying to create $5,000 in value.
Detailing
Paint correction
Inspection
Licensed repair facilities
Specialist vendors
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STEP 04
Present It Properly
Create a transparent, enthusiast-grade visual record — photography and video designed to answer questions rather than hide them.
Exterior
Interior
Flaws
Details
Underside where accessible
VIN & data plates
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STEP 05
Hand It to the Owner
Deliver the completed package. From that point the owner controls the listing and the sale.
Vehicle Dossier
Market Position
Listing narrative
Photo library
Video
WHY SHIFTING GEARS
One Point of Contact. Dozens of Details.
Otherwise you are coordinating one researcher, one detailer, one mechanic, one photographer, one writer, one market-data subscription and one pile of records — yourself.
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Owner-Side
Shifting Gears works for the vehicle owner. Nobody else.
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Transparent
Known flaws are documented rather than hidden. It is what makes the rest of the file credible.
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Independent
Our fee does not increase because the vehicle sells for more money.
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Local
Based in Darien and able to work directly with owners and their vehicles.
SERVICE AREA
Shifting Gears is based in Darien, Connecticut, and works directly with collector-car owners throughout Fairfield County and lower Westchester
Local to the Cars We Serve.
Greenwich
Stamford
Darien
New Canaan
Wilton
Norwalk
Westport
Fairfield
Weston
Ridgefield
Lower Westchester County, New York, and surrounding areas by arrangement. Being local means we can see the car, review the records, meet the shop, coordinate the detail and photograph the finished result — rather than trying to manage the entire process remotely.
SELECTED WORK
Cars, Projects and Stories We’ve Had the Opportunity to Work With.
PRICING
Flat Fees, Published, Before You Commit to Anything.
Every engagement starts with Market Position. From there, choose the path that fits the car: keep it, or prepare it for sale.
LONG-TERM OWNERSHIP
Stewardship
$350/month + $750 enrollment
Ongoing record-keeping, an ownership calendar, specialist coordination and an annual market review. One point of contact for everything that isn't driving it.
SALE PREPARATION
Market Position
$650
Know what it's worth before you decide anything else.
DECIDED TO SELL
Full Preparation
$4,250
Market Position credited in full
Preparation, professional photography and video, and a platform-ready listing package.
Already completed a Market Position? Ask about applying part of your recent inspection toward Stewardship enrollment.
No Sales Commission. No Percentage of Your Car.
Shifting Gears is paid for the work required to prepare the vehicle — not a percentage of its eventual sale price. Our fee is based on scope. You decide whether, when, where and for how much to sell.
Start With What It's Worth.
Before spending money preparing your collector car for sale, understand where it sits in the market and what is actually worth doing.
Darien, Connecticut