Bentleys to Buddhas: Vintage-car shop restores temple statue

By PETER SMITH
Associated Press

McCANDLESS, Pa. (AP) — The Pittsburgh Buddhist Center had a problem: Its fiberglass Buddha statue was deteriorating after 15 years outdoors. But who could restore the statue, manufactured halfway around the world in Sri Lanka? An answer came close to home in a suburban auto restoration shop specializing in classic cars. Workers at Exoticars stripped the old paint, repaired cracks on the statue and applied a gleaming coat of white. The rehabbed statue was unveiled Oct. 24 at the temple, whose abbot says the result is “beyond my expectation.” An Exoticars co-owner quips that “We work on everything from Bentleys to Buddhas.”