When Roman Matheja, with the master craftsman's certificate in his pocket, founded his company, he called it "Karl's Autowerkstatt". He chose the name in honour of his father Carol "Karl" Matheja. 35 years later, this name has become synonymous with the best Citroën restorations and conversions in the world.
More than 40 years of experience in bodywork construction stand out. Roman Matheja has restored and preserved hundreds of vehicles for posterity, but for the last 15 years his passion has been for Citroën DS models. He loves the beauty that lies in the form and the innovative ideas of this series. He also enjoys gliding along country roads on his free weekends in a DS Cabriolet, the summer wind at his neck, when the elegance of the car attracts people's attention. When the destination is a good restaurant, the world is fine.
He puts this love for the vehicle into his conversions. Roman Matheja always finds new details that he can refine and improve. No matter whether it is a limousine or a convertible conversion. Again, and again, he skillfully uses and improves his know-how to offer his customers not only a restoration, but a vehicle that resembles a new car in terms of technology, rust protection, comfort and luxury. The result is a Citroën DS that is better than the original and will therefore give its owner many decades of pleasure.
Innovative insulation materials, body reinforcements, fine balancing of engines and tasteful refinement of the plastic surfaces with leather are just a few of the many details that André Citroën would certainly have liked to have added to the cars at the time. Citroën DS Manufaktur cars win prizes at classic car shows all over the world - his father "Karl" would certainly be proud of what his son has created.
Vintage car restoration is primarily a question of experience, as there are many areas to cover, such as bodywork, engineering, painting and saddlery.
As a master craftsman in car body construction, Roman Matheja has over 40 years of professional experience in the restoration of classic cars. He worked for many years at Opel in the field of classic cars before founding his own company in Brensbach.
Meanwhile the company has a reliable and competent team of over 20 employees. Roman Matheja himself supervises the body shop, saddlery and quality control.
The technical department is managed by Frank Truppendörfer. For over 35 years he has dedicated his vocation to the maintenance and repair of Citroën DS models. You will hardly find another person on this planet who really knows every part of a DS as well as he does. Not only because he privately drives a DS - for many years and every day - but also because he has dismantled and reassembled hundreds of vehicles down to the last detail.
The paint shop is located in Darmstadt and is managed by Thomasz Matheja. As a coachbuilder and painter, he has been in charge of the paint shop at Karl's Autowerkstatt for over 15 years, where young vehicles are also repaired and painted every day.
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