BRYAN LAGAS & SPEEDSPORT TUNING
Growing up, Bryan Lagas was always fascinated by cars. His dad was a drag racer and his two older brothers, who both caught the auto bug young, replaced the engine in a 1966 Cadillac and restored Volkswagens when they were teens.
“Everybody was tinkering all the time,” Bryan says of the family passion. “Going fast, loud engines, all of that. I’ve always loved cars.”
So it’s no wonder that he finds himself the owner of Speedsport Tuning (SST), a mecca for all things automotive that’s been drawing collectors and racing aficionados from across the country for decades.
It was nearly 30 years ago that Larry Prentiss opened the first SST, a modest performance shop lovingly tending to a fleet of Porsches out of a few bays in Norwalk. SST was small, but it had a big reputation and quickly drew the talents of top Porsche technician Spencer Cox.
After buying the company, Cox moved it to Danbury in 2005, where he and his team expanded to other fine European-made cars, while offering the specialized service needed for the burgeoning local Porsche Club. In the last nine years, SST clients have racked up more than 330 podiums and 220 wins making it the winningest Porsche Club of America competition shop in the Northeast.
In 2015, Bryan sold his own respected European service facility in Colorado, and coaxed back to his home state to become general manager of SST.
By 2019, he and his team had doubled the size of the business. When Cox, the master mechanic who had become a friend and colleague, passed away later that year, Bryan took over the company as the new owner.
Bryan studied chassis fabrication and custom bodywork in Wyoming after high school to add to his mechanical knowledge, with dreams of building hot rods and custom cars. But his first job found him working with Porsche, having an early appreciation for the precision engineering and quality of German-made cars.
“It’s the materials used and the engineering which ultimately equates to performance,” he explains. “German cars are built for drivers, people who really appreciate cars.”
Today, SST welcomes all sorts of luxury, racing, and premiere brands – from Audi, BMW and Aston Martins to Lamborghini, Land Rover and Maseratis. One of the largest, individually owned Porsche facilities in the country, SST has gained a following with owners who trust them with some of the rarest and most unique cars in the world.
Each of SST’s four departments – motorsport, vintage, Porsche service, and European service – includes seasoned professionals. Some technicians have specialized in Porsches for 40 years, Bryan notes.
Trust is a hot commodity among collectors. Those investing millions to purchase a vintage rarity want the work done by the best technicians they can find. While they’ve diversified, SST’s vintage department specializes in four cam Porsche engines from 1955 to 1962, a Golden age for many enthusiasts.
“There are a very select few that own these vehicles and often people who own one, own several. It adds value to a car to have the best service. But we can just change spark plugs, too,” he chuckles.
On the racing side of things, SST, which also has operations in Florida, is the facility of choice for racers up and down the East Coast, including those hugging the curves at Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park.
The pandemic years were a tense time for SST, which shut down its motorsports department and dialed back vintage for a while. Service slowed a little, but some company-wide creativity kept the doors open.
Now the future of specialized service looks rosy, as collectible cars have become one of the top five investment choices, Bryan says. In turn, he invests in new technology and training to make sure his technicians are ready to provide the highest level of service.
“They’re up there with artwork,” he says of the increasing value of vintage cars. “It’s such a good market.”
SST is staying ahead of trends by expanding into the EV market and offering high quality Tesla service.
“There’s a massive need for reputable technicians for electric cars,” he predicts. “That’s our next move.”
SSTAuto.com
“They’re up there with artwork,” he says of the increasing value of vintage cars. “It’s such a good market.”