00:00Master Craftsman Lance McCormack owns one of Britain's best classic car restoration
00:05businesses, Romance of Rust. Helping him manage it is his son Merlin, the cutting-edge salesman,
00:11who also runs his own classic car dealership. Together they turn Rust to riches.
00:19Today's project is a very special Ferrari, which is delivered by Merlin.
00:25The car we've got here is a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT long wheelbase Tour de France, 14 Louvre,
00:32it's a bit of a mouthful. This car was actually part of Disney at one point. Some of you might
00:38recognise it from the love bug, where it was sadly defeated by Herbie. This is a very important
00:45historic car, the flamboyant Italian stallion. This would have looked very grubby at some point in
00:49its life and this car at some point in its life would have been worth tens of thousands.
00:53Now we're talking about 10 million plus. My own personal insurance should go off as I touch it.
01:02It's quite basic, there's a bucket seat aspect to it.
01:06We've got the 14 louvres here and this is aluminium. To get that line in a double curvature panel
01:11is quite difficult. These were real craftsmen, these guys. Barani, they're like the Gucci of wheels.
01:16They're painted in silver. You could have them shiny, but it shows its competition history.
01:21It's more about aggression and delivery of the power. Look at this little device here. The leather
01:27is worn to the point it's almost going to tear, but that there shows you what lies beneath in the
01:33sole of this car. And it's nice that someone's preserved these. You know, the leather hasn't got
01:37a single drop of lanolin left in it. In fact, a few more times open and closing were those and
01:41there'd be history.
01:44Now that the car is being driven in British weather, it's been discovered that the windscreen
01:48is letting in the rain. It's been in America for a while, probably California, so there's probably
01:52no issue with it being watertight and it's not good for the car, not good for business.
01:57As Lance's main expertise lies in metalwork, he's called in some help for this job. Windscreen
02:02expert Phil, who's noticed something concerning. There's a big scratch here in the glass that's
02:08been polished out, so it's got a little bit of a weak point. I would try desperately not
02:14to take this out, just seal it in situ. It's too rare to take this apart.
02:18Normally, the team would carefully remove the windscreen to clean up the metalwork and
02:22remove the old seal before refitting and resealing it. But the potential weak point means Phil
02:27doesn't want to risk far worse damage.
02:30If you took it out and broke it, we're in trouble here. It's nightmarish if that happens.
02:34I can't really talk and do. I mean, you can watch, but I'd better carry on and not talk
02:40anymore because I really don't want to slip and damage the paint.
02:44Phil uses a range of tools to attack the seal, but one slip of his hand could cause
02:48damage in the tens of thousands. A lot of care has been taken here to remove the old sealer that's
02:54been put in layer upon layer to try to waterproof it. Once the old seal is cut away, Phil applies
03:01masking
03:01tape to protect the screen when the new seal is added.
03:04What we do here is a very careful, even bead will go around here and when it's finished,
03:10it just looks like it's meant to be there. That's what this man does very well.
03:17And now for the moment of truth. Phil carefully peels away the protective tape to reveal the
03:22newly sealed windscreen. With the work successfully completed, the Ferrari is now ready to be returned
03:28to its owner. It's a very important, historic car and it's now in the hands of someone that does it
03:35proud.
03:42Next time on Rust to Riches, business is booming and Merlin has ambitious plans to expand.
03:48Stuff's coming in and selling faster than I can even dream of, which is great for me,
03:52but it means that I'm constantly searching for new stock, which is a big struggle. Everybody and
03:57their brother think they can be a classic car dealer and the competition is fierce.
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