Black Lab Automotive paints and restores classic automobiles, from bumper to bumper and all the parts in between. But it’s the company’s one-of-a-kind furniture made from classic car parts that is likely to create a buzz at this year’s auto show.
The back end of a Cadillac is repurposed as a comfy couch, old car grilles are crafted into desks, or maybe your man cave needs a wet bar fashioned from the front of a car.
“I am very excited to participate in the Atlanta International Auto Show this year and am eager to get the reaction to our furniture from the car buffs and collectors who will be attending,” said Michael Bernstein, owner of Black Lab Automotive in Roswell.
Furniture for sale at the auto show will include a 1960 Cadillac couch with a license plate table, a 1948 F100 Ford bar with stools, an engine block table, a crankshaft table and a steering wheel table. People who visit Black Lab’s booth can also enter a free drawing for a pair of custom lamps and a side table.
Furniture prices range from $400 to $6,000 . The company also will create custom designs tailored to the customer’s personal automotive taste.
“Some people who love old cars will never restore one. We give people the opportunity to bring their classic car hobby into their home, office or man cave and use it as practical furniture,” Bernstein said. “To be able to sit and relax on a couch made from a 1948 Chevy Fleetmaster sedan and prop your feet up on a glass table (made from the) engine block from that same Chevy is exciting.”
The birth of Black Lab Automotive was serendipitous. Bernstein owns World’s Global Source, a hospital textiles company that makes commodity products like hospital gowns, towels and sheets. He needed more warehouse space and was shopping for commercial real estate when he learned that Roswell Collision had closed and the building was up for sale.
“The building had warehouse space, and it had a professional paint booth and the bones and structure for an automotive business. I knew immediately that I really wanted to jump on it to develop some automotive ideas. I’ve always had an affinity for cars,” said Bernstein, whose personal fleet includes two 1965 Ford Mustangs, a 2008 Mustang Bullitt, a 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8, a Ford Explorer, a 1941 Ford and an Airstream RV.
Although it’s not for sale, Bernstein will display the 1965 Mustang that he and his staff restored. He’s proud of the 100-watt solar panel that has been mounted on top of the trunk to power the air conditioning. The battery stores 4.1 kilowatt hours of energy, equivalent to 5.4 horsepower.
Bernstein opened Black Lab Automotive in March 2012 and named the company in honor of Duke, the family dog.
“Then I hired Ethan Ferguson, a wickedly brilliant designer from Conyers. I had met him through some big construction projects we did on my house,” Bernstein said. “Ethan is a tattoo guy with a significant amount of talent. I asked him to join this entity and he jumped at the chance.”
Bernstein and Ferguson enjoy trolling through junkyards to rescue auto parts for their furniture creations.
“We go to get trunk lids and hoods and I’m suddenly staring at an old BMW trunk lid, saying, 'Ethan, that’s not a trunk lid; it’s a desk.’ Then Ethan says, 'I totally see it,’ so we buy it, take it to the shop, strip it, paint it, and suddenly it’s a desk,” Bernstein said.
It takes about three weeks to complete each piece of furniture. Bernstein said he likes using parts from American cars from the 1940s and 1950s because of their curves. The furniture is a more affordable option for collectors, because whole cars from that period are increasingly hard to find.
“You can find a half-rusted car for $500 to $750, but most of the time they won’t even roll,” he said. “Some have engines. Some don’t. So we take them apart with the plasma cutter and work with the pieces.”
