However, it's the work that has taken place inside the shop that has propelled owner Justin Hills' remarkable career, leading to him being regarded as one of the top five custom car builders in the world, as well as standing on stage with legendary heavy metal band Metallica and winning a plethora of international awards.

It's a story that begins at Basingstoke, Hampshire, in Justin's home country of England.

"I've always loved old cars. I don't know where it came from, I don't know why," Justin explained.

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It was a love that hadn't yet boiled over into action, until he met his now wife Sam.

"I met Sam and she had a picture of a custom Mercury on her bedroom wall," Justin said.

"That was it, I thought, 'oh man, I've got to build a custom car."

That was in 1989 and shortly after Justin undertook a panel beating apprenticeship and then a painting apprenticeship while modifying his own cars.

"Ever since then I've been building something," he said.

In 1996 Sam and Justin came to Australia, moving between Taree and Sydney where they opened a restoration shop.

"We chased the sun, I guess," Justin said about the move.

Upon returning to Taree and opening Hills and Co Customs, the next major development came in 2011 when he won global acclaim for his own restored custom 1949 Buick.

Justin said the car was a "massive turning point" for him and his business.

After winning Australia's most beautiful custom, Justin took it to America to compete in the Sacramento Autorama, where it won its division class.

It was a calculated risk, according to Justin, but one that certainly paid off.

"Even Sam said it's not a custom, it's not a classic, be careful because you're not fitting into this mould or that mould," Justin explained.

The unorthodox approach wasn't an issue though, as international acclaim flowed in for the vehicle.

It was at that event that Justin also spotted his next major project, a 1960 Dodge Phoenix, for the first time.

"After the Buick, work was gangbusters for a few years," Justin said.

"That car got us so much work."

However, Justin knew he had to make the most of the overseas buzz created by the Buick.

"I knew I needed to get another car out there, I knew I had got something rolling overseas," he said.

So work began on the Dodge.

"We built a new one with the intention of taking it over to America, we went in with a little bit more of an idea of what it would take to win," Justin said.

Returning to the Sacramento Autorama in 2013, the Dodge won the 2013 H A Bagdasarian Award for World's Most Beautiful Custom and received plaudits and recognition from enthusiasts across the globe.

It also led to him being inducted as a legend in the Sacramento Autorama's Hall of Fame, an honour bestowed to those who have made an outstanding contribution to the custom car scene. 

One of the biggest fans of the Dodge would turn out to be Metallica frontman and heavy metal superstar James Hetfield, who set eyes on the car when it was in Santa Maria at the West Coast Kustoms nationals.

"For about an hour and a half, James Hetfield was all over my car," Justin recalled.

It led to Justin being called up and asked to display the car at one of Hetfield's shows.

"It was a great show, we're up on stage and they're handing me a trophy and there's like 10,000 people there," Justin said of the experience.

Justin spent the entire weekend hanging out with the crew, an unforgettable experience he said.

"We were hanging out at the hotel, listening to him play Enter Sandman on a ukulele, it was just unbelievable," he said.

"It was a moment you couldn't catch with an Iphone, you had to sit there and experience it."

It was one of many highlights that has seen Justin travel the world both competing and as a sought-after classics and customs consultant.

With 49 restorations completed over the last five years at Hills and Co Customs, the home front at Taree has remained equally busy.

With a staff of five, it's an impressive amount of work for a restoration shop, particularly when some projects can take up to two years to complete.

A standard restoration starts at $100,000 and they "go up and up," Justin said.

It's an expensive game, highlighted by the sale of Justin's aforementioned Dodge and Buick to heavyweight American collectors; the Dodge going to Texas and the Buick going to Atlanta, Georgia.

It also means Justin doesn't have much time to stand still.

He's keeping details and images of his next project, a 1953 Jaguar XK120, tightly under wraps until work is complete, which Justin estimates will probably be by August 2017.

It's not the only upcoming development for Justin, who has been involved in talks with one of the major networks for a regular role in a brand new Australian car show.

Although producers have told him he was the initial inspiration for the show after they read about him in a national newspaper, Justin acknowledged that "nothing happens quick" in dealing with television networks.

The new projects point to some more exciting times for Justin.

"It's exciting, we'll see where it goes," Justin said.