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We review a year of substantial restorative endeavours, feauturing a diverse selection of classics, from classic sports cars to modern-classic innovation. Vote for your favourite and you could win a workshop's-worth of quality tools, too TONY BAKER, JORDAN BUTTERS, JONATHAN FLEETWOOD, LAURENS PARSONS, ROSS PERRY, DAN SHERWOOD & ADAM SHORROCK Each month, Classic Cars commemorates the vision, skill and sheer determination that keeps the old automobile world alive.

This year, we've witnessed an extraordinary range of difficulties and options: glassfibre specials reborn, hot hatches raised to better-than-new, and grand tourers and utilitarian heroes rescued against all chances. Some jobs reveal the conundrums of maintaining originality, while others showcase fresh or technological thinking whether that be extremely comprehensive research, global parts searches, 3D-printed options or engineering updates that allow traditional metal to flourish in a modern-day world.

Their stories, their fights with missing out on parts and terminal decay, and their exhilirating minutes of triumph. These stand testimony to the reality that repair is constantly as much about spirit as it has to do with spanners. Now, as we cast an eye over 12 months of amazing comebacks and hard-won victories in Epic Repair of the Year 2026, Classic Cars and Device Mart invite you to elect your preferred transformation.

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'The level of craftsmanship and commitment to detail in these classic vehicle repairs is truly outstanding. From painstaking bodywork to perfect paint finishes and carefully restored engines, the ability and enthusiasm behind each project is clear to see.

The team handled to source the van from Germany, where it had served as a fire engine. They stripped the bodyshell, fabricated fresh panels and replaced structural sections to bring back strength with creativity.

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Isoteak marine flooring was likewise installed in addition to bespoke kitchen cabinetry, and luxurious seats cut in hand-stitched leather. Every detail got really close attention from adjusting off-the-shelf parts with custom repairings to handcrafting special folding steps and storage. Well-known designer Peter Stevens even played a vital function, sketching bespoke outside seating and assisting the interior layout.

Envisage developed a narrower, longer fuel tank to allow brand-new entry actions and calibrated the initial fuel gauge to deal with the system. Eventually, the restorers fused modern coachbuilding, timeless style and imagination to give this Transit a dynamic brand-new role. Thanks to their exacting workmanship and Peter Stevens' influence, a once-derelict community workhorse now shines as an event-ready celebration of Ford's business car heritage.

He had actually always yearned for one, so when he was provided this car for 3500 back in 2010, he purchased both the automobile and a used truck to carry the task home. When Ward began the restoration, he found daytime revealing through the complex, rusty roof, while only half of the original interior stayed undamaged.

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Mechanical professional Neville Byford cleaned up the furred-up oilways and restore the engine with reground crankshaft, new pistons and liners, and previously owned conrods. He rebuilt the transmission, replacing the worn synchromesh. To preserve what they could, as many initial suspension elements were recycled, Ward also fixing Ruddspeed's peculiarities, moving the rear spring spacer during reassembly to provide an appropriate ride height.

Recognising its conversion to right-hand drive had actually left the control panel and wiring in a mess, Ward likewise sourced a brand-new loom, carefully identified every wire and methodically reconstructed the electrical system. After a particularly tough final assembly likened to requiring 'arms like an octopus' he revealed the Giulia at the NEC Classic Motor Show to celebrate Alfa's 60th anniversary, after which he was anticipating taking pleasure in the cars and truck out on the open road, justifiably happy with rescuing a true Italian rarity.

David Stubbs and Chris Tye led the effort, stripping the Peugeot back to bare metal. They eliminated rusty sills and a rusty rear-seat footwell, welding in new metal to recreate factory contours. The team fixed panels with care, utilizing a shrinking disc and templates from a mint donor 205GTI to make sure appropriate fit and shape.

For the paint process, AutoRara's experts colour matched the original Cherry Red utilizing donor panels and painstaking research. Inside, the team rebuilt the trim, replacing broken clips, broken plastics and exhausted materials with authentic materials.