Cuban shop restores vintage American cars in first-of-its-kind series

Who says Americans are the only ones who have a love affair with cars? A new docu-series ‘Cuban Chrome’ is the first American series filmed entirely in Cuba that takes viewers behind the scenes at A Lo Cubano Car Club, a group of car enthusiasts in Cuba who work to restore vintage American cars.

Executive producer, Craig Piligian of Pilgrim Studios, tells FOX411 filming for the show pre-dated the Obama diplomatic relations initiative and was long underway before all relations were restored. It took Piligian and his team more than a year to get permission to go into Cuba and have unprecedented access but they preserved and jumped at the chance to do so.

Audiences follow the A Lo Cubano Car Club as they work on restoring the cars and maintain the ones that they already own. Piligian was in awe of the Cuban work ethic and of the wonderful Cuban people that live there.

“There are no guidebooks. They do it by picture, by eye and by memory,” he added. “It’s an amazing story about how Cuba has been able to preserve cars that we don’t really have even here in America anymore.”

As the season progresses, viewers will get a chance to see reaction from the Cuban folk after President Obama’s relations announcement, while along the way become mesmerized with the work that they are capable of doing. With their can do attitude, nothing becomes impossible for the Cubans.

“As the season unfolds, you will see some incredible ingenuity,” he said. “You look at it and go how did they do that? They don’t have the parts. They don’t have the machines that we have here. It is really amazing how these guys have figured how to keep them on the road. Your mind is blown.”

Piligian is excited to share with audiences a firsthand look at the rich Cuban car culture, adding in that the Cubans are a kind friendly group of people.

“I hope audiences look at it from a basic car culture to car culture and go wow these guys are magicians’,” Piligian added. “I want them to enjoy the culture, the color of the island, how passionate they are and that’s all very real.”

Cuban Chrome premieres Monday at 10pm ET/PT on Discovery Channel.