At last my coupe is back from 18 months in the hands of JBT, after a ground-up restoration. It's going to be in Auto Italia as part of a feature on three examples of Coupe restorations by John. Here they are at yesterday's Bruntingthorpe photoshoot:

We were lucky with the weather, a beautiful autumn day.

That looks exactly like mine ...once I get it sorted.

Looks great, thanks for the motivation.

Looks great. Any idea when the issue of AI is likely to hit the streets?

I don't know which Auto Italia issue but I'll post as soon as I find out. I've been outside just to look at the Coupe several times today

Excellent stuff

Looking forward to read this!

Great to see this sort of stuff being done still! Hats off to you all

Does this mean we are going to see some dodgy shots of the elusive mythical being called JBT leaning over the car with a sweaty brow! . Lol I'm still getting over the practical performance car article!

No shots of the recluse known as JBT - I'm not sure if if his image is visible in mirrors or photos - but here is Auto Italia photographer Michael Ward apparently taking pic of headlamp bulb

And here's a couple more pics:

Arty filler cap


Tidier engine bay with body-coloured strutbrace & a bit of detailing on rocker cover.

cant see pictures.

Nice really nice.

That all looks pretty sweet- well done

Let's hope their in-house snapper can pull some decent photography from the session

I've always felt a lot of AI photography was pretty flat...

(I'll be buying the issue to read this, regardless, incidentally!)

Very, very nice. Great to see an ink black restored! :-)

This has given me the motivation to keep restoring mine...

bit .... by ....bit !

I have not noticed any poor photography from Michael Ward on Coupe shots.

He is quite entertaining to watch as he hangs out of the back of his film car in a harness as he does the moving road shots, particularly as he is often only a couple of feet in front of the car he is photographing.

It keeps you on your toes if you are following as he is constantly signalling you into different positions.

I was trying to avoid using a name...

Ok fair enough- the footage is in focus and square

But I mean by the standards of something like EVO magazine. They always manage to pull something out of an image that is interesting somehow- perspective, framing, light, exposure time.

I've nothing against them- (got three issues on the bedside table here) -I remember his very interesting forays into Uno Turbo and 128 ownership in the past.

And, I don't even own a camera...

Thinking about is though-

I'm not really comparing like with like- the budget EVO must have, given the apparent popularity of the magazine, must be phenomenal.

And they can afford bigger images on the pages (as there are more of them) too...

I am also, not in publishing...

Stunning.......

Parked in town for the first time - as far away from other cars as possible, on the roadside rather than in a carpark. First scratch paranoia!

Hopefully others will appreciate the cars condition and be careful around it. Looks great (envy)

1 year on from respray and I'm still paranoid!

I wish mine looked like that.

All it takes is endless patience & bottomless pockets . Oh, and plenty of unobtanium for the hard-to-find bits.

Look forward to seeing that too - Car looks lovely.
Michael Ward is a decent chap - sent me a few photos of my LE for nowt after I saw them photographed at Stanford a few years ago....

So roughly how much did that cost then - surely useful to know now that the majority of Coupe's for sale probably fit into the 'restoration' bracket?

This was 1 of 5 restorations I've now carried out over the last 3 years.

Winks will certainly always be remembered primarily for me as the biggest accomplishment from start to finish.

Although I'm no stranger to any of the jobs undertaken,on this job I literally reconditioned,replaced,or restored every single component .


All credit to Wink,he was honest and clear with his instructions throughout.
Honest that he hadn't really looked after the exterior for many years and clear that he wanted it to look like it did when he first laid eyes on it many years previous.

And after he waited patiently for 3 months for me to get it into the workshop,work commenced.

It's a dilemma I'm seeing more and more of.
My coupe is looking a little tired,do I spend the money and repair or buy something else.

However in this day and age it's clear that manufacturers due to emissions,safety,aerodynamics and above all cost do not inspire purchasing new vehicles from a "drivers "point of view.

With so many A to b cars flooding the boring market the coupe still looks modern,sophisticated, and very individual.
Not to mention well equipped and very refined even by today's standards.


I will leave the blood sweat and tears description for the write up in auto Italia .

Although it was 14 months overdue,I thoroughly enjoyed this project from start to finish,which is essential for such a challenge.

Big thanks to Wink who patiently allowed me to venture into overtime to complete a literal nut and bolt restoration without compromise.

I will see the car again shortly for an oil change post running in on the engine,and to turn the power back up to standard.

John, you have anything to do with the pistonheads review today???

No I've never ventured into piston heads although I often see references to me about coupes

John, you forgot to give him back the metal clips that hold the rubbers down on the top aircon pipe

I didn't , I have a pair here waiting alongside some different mirrors and wiper bolt caps.