History

To truly understand what drives us to do exceptional work every single day, you just need to know Bert.

Bert Skidmore, owner of The Intrepid Motorcar Company since 1989, did not just wake up one day and decide to race or restore cars. He was born into it. The son of a vintage car enthusiast and DIY mechanic, Bert grew up working on cars with his dad. It was the beginning of a beautiful, lifelong passion.

His high school auto and metal shop class sealed his fate: Bert decided to become a mechanic. After high school, he worked at an alignment shop and a high performance engine machine shop before joining The Intrepid Motorcar Company in 1984. Here, he worked on many Ferraris. Admittedly, he did not initially appreciate the significance of the cars coming through the doors. Cars like the pontoon-fendered 1958 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, of which only 19 exist in the world. It was abundantly clear, however, that he wanted to race high performance cars, and he soon embarked on a successful racing career.

Bert first raced midgets on an oval track. After attending racing school in 1989, he changed to road racing in Formula Junior. Pretty soon, he thought, “This is fun, but how do I go faster? How do I get to the next level?” (Better, faster, cooler. Classic Bert.) He moved up to 2.0 liter cars by purchasing a Lola T210, which was completely disassembled and in boxes, and eventually graduated to Formula 1 cars. He even drove the John Player Special, Mario Andretti’s championship winning car, for a few years.

He rounded out his career with 3.0 liter cars when he traded his Lola T210 for Macumba, a 1976 Lola T286, which also needed a complete restoration. Bert painstakingly restored it to glory working nights and weekends for five years, and raced it successfully for nearly 10 years. Just a few of his notable results include a second-place finish with co-driver Dave Vegher at the 2008 Le Mans Classic, a 24-hour circuit race; he had previously campaigned the Lola in the 2006 LeMans Classic with Bobby Rahal but unfortunately did not finish the grueling race. Bert also enjoyed two wins at Road America; two wins at Watkins Glen; and two wins at Phillip Island in Australia, including a 2004 Q Sports track record that still stands today.

In 1989 Bert acquired The Intrepid Motorcar Company, just five years after he started working there. With great intensity, determination and attention to detail, he turned The Intrepid Motorcar Company into the world-renowned, high-end vintage car restoration shop it is today. Bert has fielded many vintage race cars at the iconic Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (previously known as the Monterey Historics) over the past 35 years. Many of the cars that have been to The Intrepid Motorcar Company have also gone on to Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, one of the vintage car industry’s most prestigious events.

While The Intrepid Motorcar Company has significant experience with preparing and campaigning vintage race cars, we also have a highly skilled team that preserves and maintains vintage street cars for notable collectors worldwide.

Since the very beginning, Bert has been on a mission to deliver the highest quality, concours restoration and maintenance of vintage race and street cars, and to do it with the utmost integrity and honesty. His mantra—rather telling of his character— is, “Is that the best you can do?” He expects and accepts just one answer: yes.

Bert’s vast knowledge, demand for perfection and genuine mentorship among his employees ensure that The Intrepid Motorcar Company will remain one of the country’s most elite vintage restoration and prep shops for generations to come.