Now Streaming: 'One of One,' the Story of a Tokyo Exotic-Car Repair Shop

Ben BertucciShinichi Naito founded his namesake garage, Naito Auto Engineering Ltd. Co., in Tokyo in 1953. Using skills he’d garnered rebuilding airplane engines for the Japanese military during World War II, the self-taught mechanic transitioned in the postwar era into repairing European sports cars imported and raced in Japan by occupying American military officers. He opened the shop to work exclusively on these mid-century Porsches, MGs, and Mercedes-Benzes. His son, Masao, and grandsons So and Kei followed him into the business. But since his death in 2010, and Masao’s recent “retirement,” questions have arisen about the shop’s future.Rent One of One on Amazon Prime VideoCourtesy Ben BertucciA new documentary, One of One, by first-time feature filmmaker Ben Bertucci, explores the history and destiny of Naito Auto. “The whole thing about his company transforming from just a small service station into this world-class restoration business was just too good to pass up,” Bertucci tells Car and Driver of what inspired him to make the movie, which will premiere on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Google Play, and Vudu on September 1. (Here’s a link to the trailer.)
It was the middle generation of Naito men, Masao, who transformed the shop during the “Japanese economic miracle” of the postwar era. He saw the emerging local demand for American and European collectible cars and the profitability this could yield over car repair, and began traveling to the United States and the U.K. on buying trips. He eventually imported and often restored scores of new, used, and classic cars. Capitalizing on his expert eye and favorable exchange rates, he often netted 200 or 300 percent profit on the deals.Courtesy Ben BertucciAlong the way, Masao built up a spectacular collection of valuable classics of his own, which the family still maintains in their cramped shop, where one of the lifts is essentially on the sidewalk. This includes a BMW 3.0 CSL, a Porsche 907 K Shorttail, a Porsche 993 RSR, a Ferrari 275 GTB-4, and a Ferrari 250 LM.
Despite supporting servicing and restoration of seven- and eight-figure blue-chip collectibles, the shop, which has been in its current location for 50 years, retains the vibe and the analog sensibility of its founder. “The appearance is not by mistake. The look, and the condition of their tools and their working equipment, is very, very much purpose-driven,” says Bertucci, whose film lovingly follows the Naitos as they utilize the rough-hewn space and its minimalist accoutrement. “For Naito Engineering, and for Masao Naita in particular, this shop is an homage, a throwback, to his father and keeping his father’s mystique and intention alive.”Ben BertucciOf course, like many family businesses, both real and fictional, issues arise around succession. And the film cautiously, deftly, and tenderly immerses itself in this tragic subject, without ever treading into the overt or the operatic. “The sons of Masao Naito are feeling the pressure of whether or not they will be able to carry on the business and the tradition of what their father and their grandfather alike had hoped for,” Bertucci says. “These sons, who are now in their forties, are still working under the iron fist of their father, who, at the beginning of the movie, says, I’ve retired and I’m no longer working. But it’s totally untrue. I mean, every day he’s in the workshop, every moment of work he’s watching over, and the sons cannot do anything without their father’s approval.”So close, personal, and hands-on is his management style that Masao fires his younger brother, who had worked in the shop for decades, during the filming of the movie, over an unstated conflict.The sons’ concern is real, as they don’t rise to the levels of skill, ambition, and drive that motivated their father. “The son, So Naito, talks to me about his father, and this burden, and how Naito Engineering is going to change moving forward because he knows it will, inevitably,” Bertucci says. “I mean, besides So and Kei, the sons, no one else is going to be working there in the next few years. They can’t restore cars, the two of them. They cannot do it themselves and do everything else. So what will happen? And that’s really the question and the theme of the film.”Courtesy Ben BertucciThe third-generation Naito boys currently help keep the shop afloat by sourcing, buying, and selling cars to collectors in Japan and elsewhere, including some vehicles from the family collection. (Famed auction house founder David Gooding, of Gooding & Co., appears in the film, testifying to the Naitos’ excellence as a source and resource for top-tier classics.) But Bertucci has other ideas of potential income streams for them. “Spending so much time with them, I’ve learned about how to fix cars, like how to rebuild carburetors, and other things,” he says of new skills that have allowed him to work on his own 1983 Ford F-150 pickup. “With some of the extra footage, I’m going to create some YouTube videos where people can just watch them work. It’s almost hypnotic, and you can learn so much. I think some people will really be as interested in it as I am.”And for the mega-fans, a companion coffee-table book is also available.
Source: caranddriver.com