March 1, 2026
By Christopher Stella
Photographs by Rana Faure
“I believe cars can be a lens through which we understand the world and ourselves,” says Jason Doornick, founder of Motoriot, a vintage vehicle dealer and modification business in Kent. An increasing number of people are looking at the Litchfield Hills through the lens of vintage windshields as classic car culture accelerates, creating a community of collectors and service providers.
The growing interest in vintage vehicles in Litchfield County reflects a national one. The US classic cars market—comprising vehicles typically 25 years or older—grew from $7.2 billion in 2018 to $12.6 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach nearly $26 billion by 2032, according to Credence Research, a global market intelligence firm.
But the county’s winding roads have long been a hub of auto culture. Lime Rock Park, built in 1956 in Lakeville, stands as the third oldest continuously operating road racing venue in the United States, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The track has long been a destination for car enthusiasts, and this year marks the 44th edition of Lime Rock’s Historic Festival, a Labor Day Weekend celebration featuring vintage racecars.
This heritage is attracting enthusiasts and service providers. Doornick spent his teenage years in Kent, later moving to Hollywood, where he was introduced to actor and car enthusiast Paul Walker. This led to jobs as a stuntman on the Fast and Furious film franchise, and managing Walker’s fleet of vehicles until the actor’s death in 2013.
After returning to the East Coast to run his father’s robotics business, and later open an auto customization outfit in Stamford, he returned to Kent to found Motoriot with partner Charles Narwold in 2023. The business now works with partners in the US, Europe, South America, and Asia through which they source a variety of vehicles—from Land Rovers and Land Cruisers to Peugeots and Porsches. If a buyer can imagine it, Motoriot will strive to source it, transparently and ethically, and modify it according to the buyer’s needs—including engine upgrades, modern braking systems, even EV conversions, with each step clearly explained.
“The automotive industry lacks transparency and shared understanding,” Doornick notes. “We’re open with clients on how they’ll get their car, and where their money is going—every step is visible.”
A 30-minute drive north from Motoriot, adjacent to Lime Rock Park, Colter Rule runs Autogalerie, a premier listings and collection management service for specialty vehicles. At just 25, Rule has already established himself as a significant force in the classic car market. A serial entrepreneur, he founded Autogalerie in 2022 following a career in club promotion and co-founding event discovery platform Posh, which was purchased by Eventbrite. In 2025 alone, Autogalerie completed over 200 listings on automotive auction house, Bring A Trailer, amounting to more than $5 million in sales—a figure that reflects the robust demand for classic vehicles in the region.
Autogalerie provides meticulous photographic and video documentation of each vehicle’s features to maximize market appeal. The business serves a diverse clientele that includes executives from Lime Rock Park itself, and manages vehicles spanning sportscars to vintage 4x4s. With a second location in Palm Beach, Florida, Autogalerie also provides storage and collection management services. “Many people buy a weekend home here, and want the car to go with it,” says Rule. “And the regional coffee shops and bakeries support a perfect weekend drive vibe—they become destinations for leisurely weekend excursions with family.”
Family is another factor that is driving interest, as nostalgia often motivates buyers—memories of an old family vehicle, simpler times. In an era of automation, classic cars offer sensory engagement: roll-down windows, and speedometers that offer pointers instead of pixels.
“Older cars have a clear connection to the road—as a driver, you’re going to smell it, hear it, feel it,” notes Doornick. “Every car has a story, and we are stewards of it.” This stewardship is creating more than a market—it’s building community united by the belief that newer isn’t always better. And that the feel of a wooden steering wheel, the sound of a key clicking in an ignition, the pull of a manual shift knob, don’t just connect man and machine—they connect people with history, memory, and themselves.
Motoriot 21 Bridge St., Kent, motoriot.io
Autogalerie Lime Rock, autogalerie.us
