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Tuksedo gives cars from the past a brand-new future
A family-owned workshop in Bali recreates classic cars for discerning customers and is now looking to include EV options.
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Handcrafted: Mechanics work on a vehicle at Tuksedo Studio’s workshop in Denpasar, Bali. Building a car typically takes six to twelve months. (JP/Yohana Belinda)
“We’re daring enough to create our own cars, as we’ve learned by re-creating classic cars before,” says Laksmana G. Handoko, director of Bali-based automobile workshop Tuksedo Studio.
The workshop in Denpasar, founded in 2018 by his father Pudji Handoko, specializes in recreating vintage automobiles from Porsche to Mercedes-Benz.
Before that, Pudji had been constructing cars as a hobby for thirty years, and collectors in Indonesia admire his work. His clientele includes popular Indonesian YouTuber Raffi Ahmad.
If necessary, Pudji replaces the cars’ engines. A Volkswagen engine, he explains, works well in a Porsche due to the compatibility of components.
As Oscar Wilde said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
Recently, however, Pudji and his team introduced a self-designed car, marking a bold move away from restoring existing cars, but one that still draws on their long experience.
As such, Tuksedo Studio now considers itself a local carmaker, albeit one of a very small scale. With its workforce of some 80 people and an annual capacity of just a dozen or so vehicles, it is even smaller than domestic carmaker Esemka, headquartered in Solo, which builds SUVs and trucks.
