MEET the father-and-son car restorers who are turning rust to riches by buying, selling and fixing some of the world's rarest cars. Lance, a former panel beater for Rolls-Royce, is the go-to guy for bespoke classic car restoration - while Merlin, specialises in sales and acquisition. Some of the rarest cars treated at their businesses in Brentford, west London, can be worth upwards of $19m. Lance and Merlin show us the features of a historic Ferrari, which has been brought into Romance of Rust to have its leaking windscreen resealed.
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MotorTranscript
00:00 00;01;10;12 00;01;12;12 Master craftsman Lance McCormack owns
00:02 one of Britain's best classic car restoration businesses, Romance of Rust. Helping him manage
00:08 it is his son Merlin, the cutting edge salesman, who also runs his own classic car dealership.
00:14 Together they turn rust to riches.
00:17 00;01;17;00 00;01;22;00 Today's project is a very special Ferrari,
00:22 which is delivered by Merlin.
00:24 00;01;22;00 00;01;30;00 The car we've got here is a 1956 Ferrari
00:30 250 GT long wheel base, Tour de France, 14 Louvre, it's a bit of a mouthful. This car
00:34 was actually part of Disney at one point. Some of you might recognise it from the Love
00:39 Bug, where it was badly defeated by Herbie.
00:42 00;01;30;00 00;01;50;00 It's a very important historic car,
00:45 the flamboyant Italian Stallion. This would have looked very grubby at some point in its
00:49 life and this car at some point in its life would have been worth tens of thousands. Now
00:53 we're talking about ten million plus. My own personal insurance should go up as I touch
00:57 it.
00:58 00;01;50;00 00;02;00;00 It's quite basic, there's a bucket seat
01:04 aspect to it. We've got the 14 Louvres here and this is aluminium. To get that line in
01:10 a double curvature panel is quite difficult. These were real craftsmen, these guys.
01:14 00;02;00;00 00;02;05;00 Berani, they're like the Gucci of wheels,
01:16 they're painted in silver. You could have them shiny but it shows its competition history.
01:20 It's more about aggression and delivery of the power. Look at this little device here.
01:26 The leather is worn to the point it's almost going to tear but that there shows you what
01:32 lies beneath in the sole of this car and it's nice that someone's preserved these. The leather
01:36 hasn't got a single drop of lanolin left in it. In fact, a few more times open and closing
01:41 with those and there'd be history.
01:42 00;02;05;00 00;02;10;00 Now that the car is being driven in British
01:46 weather, it's been discovered that the windscreen is letting in the rain.
01:49 It's been in America for a while, probably California, so there's probably no issue with
01:53 it being watertight and it's not good for the car, not good for business.
01:57 As Lance's main expertise lies in metalwork, he's called in some help for this job. Windscreen
02:02 expert Phil, who's noticed something concerning.
02:05 There's a big scratch here in the glass that's been polished out, so it's got a little bit
02:11 of a weak point. I would try desperately not to take this out, just seal it in situ. It's
02:16 too rare to take this apart.
02:18 Normally, the team would carefully remove the windscreen to clean up the metalwork and
02:22 remove the old seal before refitting and resealing it, but the potential weak point means Phil
02:27 doesn't want to risk far worse damage.
02:29 If you took it out and broke it, we're in trouble here. It's nightmarish if that happens.
02:34 Can't really talk and do. I mean, you can watch, but I better carry on and not talk
02:40 anymore because I really don't want to slip and damage the paint.
02:44 Phil uses a range of tools to attack the seal, but one slip of his hand could cause damage
02:48 in the tens of thousands.
02:50 A lot of care has been taken here to remove the old sealer that's been put in layer upon
02:55 layer to try to waterproof it.
02:58 Once the old seal is cut away, Phil applies masking tape to protect the screen when the
03:03 new seal is added.
03:04 What we do here is a very careful, even bead will go around here and when it's finished,
03:10 it just looks like it's meant to be there. That's what this man does very well.
03:17 And now for the moment of truth. Phil carefully peels away the protective tape to reveal the
03:22 newly sealed windscreen.
03:24 With the work successfully completed, the Ferrari is now ready to be returned to its
03:28 owner.
03:29 It's a very important historic car and it's now in the hands of someone that does it proud.
03:35 Next time on Rust to Riches, business is booming and Merlin has ambitious plans to
03:47 expand.
03:48 Stuff's coming in and selling faster than I can even dream of, which is great for me,
03:52 but it means that I'm constantly searching for new stock, which is a big struggle. Everybody
03:56 and their brother thinks they can be a classic car dealer and the competition's fierce.
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