The business end of a 1968 Shelby Cobra that Hot Rides’ owner Ken Andrade restored six years ago.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

EAST PROVIDENCE Hot Rides represents a new era of specialized car dealerships.

Owner Ken Andrade has a lot of fancy cars in his showroom on Veterans Memorial Parkway, including a 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible, an unrestored 1965 Chevelle L79 Malibu and a 1987 Cadillac Brougham d’Elegance.

But salesman Barry Bixby is not exactly hanging out waiting for customers.

Hot Rides’ real showroom is online, at www.hotridesinc.com, and Bixby said he is currently negotiating the sales of both Cadillacs to separate buyers from Florida.

“We subscribe to a service and they put all our cars up on the Internet,” Bixby said. He said calls come in from across the country.

“[A buyer] from Jupiter Island, Florida, sent a man up to check out the ’58 Cadillac,” he said. “It’s all on the Internet. Ten years ago, it was inconceivable.”

Hot Rides, which Andrade purchased earlier this year, specializes in vintage cars but also deals in new vehicles.

“We find cars for people, restore cars for people, buy cars for people, sell and modify cars for people,” he said.

He also owns East Providence Auto Body, less than two miles away, on Waterman Avenue, which he bought with his father, Arnold, nearly 25 years ago. He said his father is retired now but still helps out around the shop.

Andrade, 43, said he pretty much stumbled into the purchase of Hot Rides last April.

He had heard that the old Lucien’s Auto Center, on Veterans Memorial Parkway — Lucien Carbone sold it in 2004 — was restoring an amphibious Amphicar and dropped by to have a look. Andrade owns a 1964 Amphicar Model 770 — the idiosyncratic German cars are capable of 7 knots in the water and 70 mph on land — which he is having restored.

“They’re cool and I wanted to see it,” he said.

“When I got here, I found everyone clearing things out and they told me the owner had told them not to take any more work,” he said.

“I called him up and he came right down and we sat in his office and threw numbers back and forth,” Andrade said. “I came back the next day and we agreed to a price, shook hands, and he tossed me the keys. We closed the deal in July.”

“I want to modernize the place,” he said. “We’re looking to expand, based on a blend of the two companies.”

By combining his collision body shop, where he has no mechanics but does have a range of equipment, including a sophisticated paint shop, with the restoration facilities at Hot Rides, Andrade said he is able to provide a complete range of services.

And he is integrating the two facilities by installing a centralized data platform.

“Customers with new cars also have classics that need restoring and customers with classics they don’t drive every day drive new cars,” he said.

Apart from restorations, he said he has found an unexpected market in fixing classic cars that have been damaged in accidents. He currently has a cream 1967 Chrysler Imperial convertible with gold upholstery that was struck in the rear by an SUV. He said the owner brought it to his shop because of its expertise in restoring old cars.

“It’s a niche market that we didn’t think we had,” he said. The Chrysler is the third old classic damaged in an accident that the shop has fixed.

Hot Rides’ building was constructed in 1947 as a Buick dealership and the workshop in back is light and open. “The setup is sweet. It was overbuilt,” Andrade said.

About 10 cars were being worked on during a recent visit, including a 1958 Mercedes sedan that was waiting for a window and moldings, and a purple 1970 Plymouth Cuda, as well as the Chrysler Imperial and Andrade’s Amphicar.

One standout was a silver-grey 1955 Cadillac Eldorado with an integrated bumper/grille armed with two enormous chrome bullets known as “Dagmars” in honor of the generously endowed silent-film actress Dagmar Godowsky.

“It’s one of the last Harley Earl cars,” said Bixby, referring to the legendary GM car designer.

“You could make an entire Toyota out of the grille,” Andrade said.

He said the Eldorado’s owner had dropped by two days after he purchased the shop and asked him to value the car based on photos and records. The car had been stolen and the owner wanted the valuation for the insurance company.

“A few months later he returns and says, ‘I found my car.’ I couldn’t believe it. Usually they’re gone,” said Andrade. “It was found in a [shipping] container.”

Both Andrade and Bixby have an interest in cars that extends beyond the business. Andrade owns a 1968 Shelby Cobra, which he restored six years ago, as well as a 2007 Shelby Cobra, a 2003 50th Anniversary Edition Corvette, a 1928 Model A pickup, and the Amphicar.

Bixby drives a white 1987 Porsche Carrera and still owns the car he had in junior high school, a 1971 Oldsmobile 442 convertible.

Bixby said he worked for 30 years selling new cars — at Foreign Motors West, near Boston, which is now part of the Herb Chambers group, and at Picard Porsche Audi Volkswagen and then Inskip, when it bought out Picard.

He said he wanted out of the corporate life and enjoys selling through the Internet at Hot Rides. Recently, he sold a 1976 Triumph TR6 in need of work, which was parked out back.

“You sold that?” said Andrade, sounding a trifle incredulous.

“Hey, you know me — I always close the deal,” said Bixby, laughing.

Andrade is preparing for an increase in business in the next few months.

“No one wants to tie up their car in the summer,” he said. He is planning a fall car show at the shop on October 13, with food and music. “People will bring their cars and there’ll be trophies,” he said.

Andrade said he is also pleased that former owner Lucien Carbone has been supportive. He said Carbone, who owned the shop for 12 years, had “a great reputation for restorations and mechanical work.”

“He is excited we are here,” Andrade said. “When I was buying the place, we had lunch and he brought his 1932 Ford Coupe in for us to work on. He says he wants to help us in any way.”

pelsworth@projo.com