Ask the owner of the Ferrari 812 Superfast that came in last month. The owner had driven it through a fresh tar-and-chip road sealing. The entire lower half of the car was speckled black. A normal shop would have sanded and repainted.
Unlike standard shops that attack dirt with force, Valentin uses the principles of chemistry. A citrus-based foam is laid over the paint like a sleeping bag. It dwells for five minutes, encapsulating road grime and lifting it away from the clear coat.
In the village of Francorchamps, just a stone’s throw from the legendary circuit that hosts the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, there is a place where the roar of internal combustion engines fades into a whisper. It sits unassumingly on the industrial periphery, but to those who know, it is not a garage. It is a sanctuary. spa auto valentin
Valentin employs former auto body painters, who understand paint as a living skin. He hires rally co-drivers to do the interior detailing, because they have the patience for the stitching in a leather Recaro seat.
To call it a “car wash” would be an act of linguistic violence. It is, as the name implies, a spa —a place of thermal healing, deep cleansing, and rejuvenation. But instead of tired humans, the clients here are titanium-wrapped supercars, vintage thoroughbreds, and daily drivers that their owners love like children. The story of Spa Auto Valentin begins not with a business plan, but with an obsession. Founder Valentin (who prefers to let his work speak louder than his biography) grew up in the shadow of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. While other children dreamed of driving the cars, Valentin dreamed of preserving them. Ask the owner of the Ferrari 812 Superfast
He opened Spa Auto Valentin with a radical thesis: Detailing is not maintenance; it is protection. Walk through the doors of Spa Auto Valentin, and you notice the silence first. There is no high-pressure scream of a self-serve bay. No dirty sponges. Instead, there is the soft hum of dehumidifiers and the gentle trickle of osmosis-filtered water.
Does it seem expensive? Yes. Is it worth it? A normal shop would have sanded and repainted
On a recent Thursday before the Belgian GP, a motorhome transporter dropped off three McLaren Arturas. The owners weren’t there to watch the race—they were racing. Valentin’s team had 48 hours to perform a “Concours Prep” on vehicles that had just done 180 mph through Eau Rouge.