Meet Don Ramsay

Our owner, Don Ramsay, has been building and customizing Porsches since 1971. What began as a passion has now transitioned into a full-time family operated business. Air Cooled Classics can take any Porsche, no matter the condition, and restore it to its former glory. Don takes pride in every restoration and backdate he does, and with over 50yrs experience, Air Cooled Classics is the best choice for any of your Porsche needs

Our History

Air Cooled Classics has been in business for over 30yrs and we’ve had some major milestones along the way. If you’d like to learn about our journey, check out the timeline below!

  • 1971

    Rebuilt ’58 Speedster

    Owner Don Ramsay has been working with Porsches since 1971 when he rebuilt his school teacher’s husband’s ’58 speedster in auto mechanics class.

  • 1971-1977

    University of Tennessee

    University of Tennessee while buying my first 356A restoring it and sell it to one of the professors in 1974. At time it was a hobby. Through this time I kept buying fixing and selling old Porches. I got my degree in mechanical engineering in 1977.

    1971-1977

  • 1977-1982

    ORNL

    While still buying fixing and selling restoring and starting racing Porsche’s, I worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

  • 1982-1988

    Air Cooled Classics LLC Is Officially Started

    Air Cooled Classics LLC  is officially started in my home garage. Providing service, restoration, fabrication, racing and support. All while still being a contract engineer at the Tennessee Valley Authority.

    1982-1988

  • 1988-2004

    New Shop

    Went full time and moved into our first real and still present shop location. Growing, providing service, restoration, fabrication, racing, and support. Buying a 248 DynoJett in 2000 for use for our racing clients. During this period, our racing history really took off and has been very successful.

  • 2004-2006

    Backdating

    This is when I thought of the concept of backdating a 964. So… I bought a 1990 964 C4 to convert it to a 1973 911 RSR look car. My team and I worked and figured out how to make it a reality. The rest is history!

    This concept became very popular! Even still to till this day! Little did I know that I had started a whole industry, with many other companies copying our original concept. We are proud to say we are the innovators of them and have been doing 964 backdates longer than anyone on the planet! Plus…we are still doing them! Along with our successful racing projects.

    2004-2006

  • 2006-Present

    Custom Porsches

    We have been building and designing 964 backdate Porsches. Along with building our Restomods, Outlaws, Racing and classics original Porsche restorations. We have been building the dreams of our Porsches clients! What is your dream?