I. Metal
Coachbuilding & metalwork
Julian can create almost any form, by hand, from metal. It is a rare skill, learnt over more than 40 years of coachbuilding.
Coachwork on an early motorcar was made by hand, and it can only be repaired properly in the same way. In our workshop all panel work is gas-welded, and the English wheel is used to shape whatever form is required, from a repair section let into an original wing to a complete new panel made to match.
Julian trained as a coachbuilder and began conserving cars in the late 1980s. His metalwork has been selected three times for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and he has been invited to lecture on vehicle conservation at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation.
He works hand in hand with Ricky, our specialist fabricator, who joined in 2017 after 17 years with a specialist vehicle restoration company.
Original wherever possible
Making new is not always the right answer. Where an original panel can be saved, we repair it, so the car keeps the evidence of how it was first built. On the 1927 Bentley boat-tail we reinstated the original split body panel, which gave the body back its flexibility and lightness.
Working with wood and paint
Most pre-war bodies are panelled over an ash frame. Because our metal and wood specialists work side by side, the frame and the panels can be fitted to each other as the work progresses, and our paint specialist can advise before a single coat is applied.
The other disciplines
The workshop
Wood
One of the last workshops with its own ash-frame specialist, splicing in new timber and keeping as much of the original as possible.
Paint
Correct cellulose finishes, brush painting, signwriting, pinstriping and the careful stabilising of original paint.
Conservation
When to conserve, when to repair and when to restore, and how we decide.
Visit the workshop
Talk to us about your car
Every project begins with a conversation. Call Julian, or arrange to bring your car to the workshop.