8 minutes

Meet Martin and Melanie of MATS Classics: From a German Workshop to California Car Culture

Written by

Patrick Findaro

Published on

July 13, 2026

Martin spent more than 15 years in southern Germany buying, restoring, storing, and transporting classic cars and motorcycles. In early 2026, he and his wife Melanie packed up, flew to California, and opened MATS Classics, a collector vehicle services company based in Chatsworth, in the San Fernando Valley. They are clients of ours, and we could not be prouder to introduce them.

This is their story, and an introduction to a business that Los Angeles collectors will want to know about.

Falling for American car culture

It started with road trips. The couple crossed the United States several times over the years, and each visit pulled them in a little further. "I'm a classic car guy. I have a workshop, and I love the car culture in the USA," Martin says. Melanie had her own reason: "I love the beach. You don't have that in Germany."

The space mattered too. Melanie talks about the long distances of the American West, the feeling that "you have more space and the freedom is a little bit with you." In much of Europe you hit a village every five minutes. Out here you can drive for two hours and see nothing but open country.

By their third trip, the visits stopped feeling like vacations. "We need more time to establish our company and to be part of the car culture," Martin remembers deciding. "We have to be here."

Fifteen years of craft, transplanted

Back home, Martin had built something collectors rarely find in one place. What began as a classic car and bike workshop grew into a full operation: restorations, customer repair, car care, storage, transport, and all the paperwork that comes with owning collector vehicles. Germans have a phrase for it, service "aus einer Hand," everything from one hand.

Los Angeles made the case for bringing that model over. The metro area holds close to half of Germany's population, its collector community is enormous, and space is scarce. A city where garages are small and collections are large needs storage. A market where high-value cars change hands constantly needs someone trustworthy to handle the details.

What MATS Classics offers

MATS Classics brings that "everything from one hand" model to Los Angeles: classic car and motorcycle sales, consignment, storage, transport, and registration support, covering vehicles that are European, American, or Japanese made, plus vintage RVs.

Buying, selling, and consignment. Martin sources the vehicle or the buyer, vets the other side of the deal, and handles the negotiation. Sellers get professional marketing instead of a listing-site gamble; buyers get a machine that is what it claims to be.
Secure vehicle storage. Monitored space at the Chatsworth facility, with pickup and delivery. In a city where garages are small and collections keep growing, this is the service most clients start with.
Transport and logistics. Company truck and trailers move running and non-running vehicles alike, whether to a workshop, an event, or a new owner across the country.
Registration and paperwork. Title, registration, and the regulations that change from state to state, done for the client instead of by the client.
Restoration coordination. Martin acts as project manager, placing work with vetted specialist workshops and controlling quality, so owners get one accountable contact instead of five.
European sourcing and cross-border deals. Find a car in Italy, France, or Germany and MATS Classics manages the purchase, payment, shipping, and import paperwork until it lands at your door, or handles the same route in reverse.

Trust as the product

Ask Martin what he actually sells and the answer is not cars. It is certainty. When a collector wants to buy or sell a high-value vehicle, MATS Classics vets the other side of the deal first, then handles everything between the handshake and the delivery: logistics, payment coordination, and paperwork that clears regulations from state to state. "It's a no-brainer complete service when you need to sell or buy a very special limited edition car or bike," he says.

The range is wide. A World War II motorcycle might trade between $10,000 and $30,000. A rare classic can reach half a million dollars. And because Martin kept his European network, the company works in both directions across the Atlantic. Find a car in Italy, France, or Germany and MATS Classics brings it to your door in the U.S., or the reverse. "No matter where you are," Martin says, "you get your vehicle where you need it."

Then there is the access. Martin has personally tracked down collections of more than 800 cars and bikes, some sitting untouched for 20 years. "We have the ability and the opportunity to get cars or bikes you never see in your life," he says. For serious collectors, that means a line to vehicles that never reach public auction.

The move itself

None of it happened overnight. The preparation took about a year and a half, and the couple is honest about the grind. Melanie's low point was the paperwork: filling out the same forms again and again, including one session a system crash wiped out entirely. Martin remembers filing what felt like a hundred documents and ending eight-hour desk days drained. His approach was to stop staring at the summit. "You don't need to see the whole mountain you have to climb," he says. "It's good to see the process as a long path with several stops."

Along the way they flew over once to set up the office, the insurance, and a truck. Buying that one online was never a possibility. "You have to hear it and touch it," Melanie says of her husband's approach to vehicles.

What carried them through says a lot about how Martin runs his business. Asked at one point why they wanted to build a life in the U.S., his answer had nothing to do with money. "I want to be part of this community and this culture," he says. "I can share the same experience, the same passion, and I have more services to offer. It wasn't about money. It is about passion."

What comes next

The business is running from its Chatsworth base and Martin is settling into the local car community. Melanie, a trained kindergarten educator, has been interviewing with schools in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. "It's greener up there," she says. The couple may eventually live further north while the business keeps its Los Angeles footprint.

Their advice for anyone considering a similar move is short. "Do it," Melanie says. "Just decide and go. Be brave." Martin adds the part that carried them through a year and a half of forms and filings: "Stay on the path and don't stop. Look back, but don't go back. Then the dream comes true."

Connect with MATS Classics

If you own a collector car, motorcycle, or vintage RV in Southern California and need storage, transport, or help buying or selling, Martin is taking on new clients now.