Sunday, August 28, 2011

The Car Whisperers


Dave, throttling.

Engine block.

Mikey got hold of this old Ford Capri one winter a few years ago. He took it back to his Dad's garage in North Wales and set to work doing it up in order to sell it on. When he pulled back into town the following spring we could all hear him coming, the sound of the throaty 2.8 V6 engine preceeding the view we got of the sleek black machine; reborn.

What an amazing car it had become. Mikey went to put the car up for sale but his twin brother Dave, who is just as much of a rev-head as Mikey, couldn't bear to see it leave the family so ponied up his winter's wages to buy it from his brother. Both of the Jones brothers are crazy car whisperers, able to listen to a crook vehicle and make an instant diagnosis. The Capri has been their labour of love and I spent an evening with Dave in their garage a few weeks ago to get some shots of him spannering on the car, part of a 1950's style greaser set of images that we wanted to produce. This was the first shoot, as Dave prepared the car for a classic car show that weekend. On the way to that show some clown reversed into the side of the Capri in a supermarket car park, stoving in the passenger door and the wing and effectively writing it off in the eyes of the insurance company. Both brothers are now hard at work, spending all of their spare time trying to nurse it back to health and keep their baby on the road. Once they're done, we'll get some images of their machine going sideways in a cloud of tyre smoke up at the old airfield... I for one can't wait to see that thing on the road again.

A workshop wall to envy.

Tight for space; The Viva, Dave and the Capri.

Check Dave's motor racing and Caterham 7 blog out at www.rawkusracing.com.

2 comments:

  1. didn't notice the union jack mug when we took those shots. shame its not a Welsh dragon!!

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  2. Just got back from london with the new door. Off to the the bodyshop soon, then we're back on for gettin' the old girl sideways!

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