Revved up

Business is so brisk at American Classic Car Sales in Sarasota, the company now has one employee who only installs air conditioning in old cars.

That job is important, says American Classic co-owner Larry Gilliland, because the specialty dealership sells many old cars that either never had AC or the system it did have died years ago. That employee is busy, too, given the sales bump at American Classic. Sales are up at least 15% in 2014 over 2013, when it had $4.2 million in revenues. “We see our business continuing to grow,” says Gilliland.

The growth at American Classic is part of a classic-car boom in the Sarasota-Bradenton market. Two other firms, Manatee County-based Classic Cars of Sarasota and Ideal Classic Cars, in Venice, have also posted all-time highs in annual sales. More growth, in sales and space, is projected for the rest of 2014.