Nice to see old school entusiasts, willing to open the doors and give a glimpse of their business'. Warren still loves his job, it's shame there are not more to follow on when he's gone.
Just when Iam full of myself and I believe that I can restore a car , I get put in my place by watching and learning of guys like Warren. His craftmanship is spectacular . Tip of the hat sir.
👍 Truly an unique collection of some very rare vehicles indeed. I just wonder what will happen to them when this Keeper passes on ?. Some of these examples should be protected and displayed in a classic car museum !!....
Fascinating to see Donald Healey's early cars and I can see where the grille shape of Austin Healey 1004 came from, although apparently Donald Healey wasn't happy with it on Gerry Coker's design for the 1004. Amazing workshop with some very talented guys.
Great video Gary. Incidentally, I serve my apprenticeship at Elliots of Reading in the mid 80's, the company was still there until the early 90's, during the war they also built gliders and mould for the mulberry harbour used during D Day, They became joiners and shopfitters after the war, they had metalwork shops, plating shops, joiner shops the whole works was on a 5 acre site. Some of the old boys who were there when I was, had been worked the same bench for 50 years including the war years.
Hi Gary. Great video as always. The 'other' motorbike you talked about, whilst looking at the Ariel, was the Velocette LE, known colloquially as 'noddy bikes'. Many people believe that the term came from the Enid Blyton books of the same name, but this is not true. It actually came from when the police used them in the fifties and sixties, when police officers were required to salute senior officers. This would have required taking the right hand off the handlebars, so was deemed as unsafe. Therefore, the constable was allowed to just 'nod' at his superior.
Warren..."They oughta built it right the first time !". Golden. Personally I like the orig imperfections. Some Brits, and Americans, today buy old houses in France and obcess over getting everything Perfect. Like, "How do you get the soot stains off the firebrick ?" Eventually there's little left that's original and no patina. Gary, you should come to South Carolina, USA, and meet my friend Junior. Mostly a Mercedes shop. Has a pretty big vintage-older Merc collection, and a few million $ in parts stored everywhere. And... he's a true character.
Hey Gary - Hope yoyu are well ! Two great fella's talking motors - a great way to spend 40 minutes viewing this. The knowledge that Warren has is unbelieveable and that business he has is just fantastic. Looks like a real life tardis - so many different rooms and workshops - its a just wonderfu thing to behold. i'd love to walk for a day in that guys shoes. I just found the whloe thing so interesting and the craftsmanship is on another level - I missed my vocation in life I think 😞id be happy to be just a tea boy in that place. Thanks for doing this one - again very enjoyable . Cheers Stew
Loved this video. I'm a Healey lover. My very first car was an Austin Healey 3000 MK2. I was 20. Drove for a few years and then restored it. All my mates were driving rusty mk1or 2 Escorts. I used it every day as my daily drive. I sold it to build and run a Rally Car. The car is still on the road and in the Colour I had it painted. A non standard colour. I wish I still had it now, but rallying became my job for over 20 years. If I'd kept it I'd probably have worked in a job I didn't enjoy.
Amazing Gary! Like someone else has said, just when you think you know what you are doing when it comes to restoration, along comes Warren and his set-up and blows you away.
I am 79 years old and had to learn to tig the hard way doing my SM. Now completed I have sold the tig welder on vowing never to do that again. I will stick with mig and stick!
Thank you, Mr. Mavers, for touching upon the problems of time schedule management between clients and restorers. This is probably why you have taken the route of doing so much of the repair and restoration on your projects yourself. I too am looking for a good Barn where I can set up shop when my project is finished... thanks for sharing!
Interesting video, all the beautiful cars, such precision and attention to detail, you didn’t mention the modern car in British racing green Rover 25 it id honoured to be in such company. What is it’s story Gary?
Fabulous Video Gary. Sent you Instagram Message too with an invite to my Porsche event of 120 cars and we have a 928 GT Manual in Guards Red coming ! Be nice to have two ! ❤
The problem with aluminium bodies was they either had to be hand beaten or pressed but the presses were as used for aeroplanes with rubber faces which had a life of about a thousand uses before replacement. At that time steel was on issue by Ministry of Supply but aluminium was not as there was a surplus.
What I watched looked interesting but marred by too many ad breaks. Not even relevant to the subject matter. I know ads are important to RU-vid but this programme had hardly started before the first interruption. Sorry, switched off long before the end. Disappointing.
