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.
00:18Today, Lance and Merlin look at two Aston Martins in very different conditions, demonstrating
00:24the extremes of work they do, from tweaks and tune-ups to full rebuilds. And this first
00:30project will test Lance's skill as one of the country's leading metalwork experts.
00:34Right, what we've got here is an Aston Martin DB4, or at least the platform chassis and the
00:39superstructure of one. We've removed all the aluminium panels. We're going to be creating
00:44a Zagato replica. What you've got here is, along with the roofline, is possibly the only
00:51identifiable piece. This is where the grille would be, the DB4 grille, in here, and you
00:56can see the classic Aston shape. All steel, and it's called a platform chassis. So it's
01:01all folded box section, and that's for lightness. Everything about this was lightness, lightness.
01:07Launched in about 1958-59, the DB4 was an instant success. It went through various guises, you
01:17know, series. One, two, three, four, five. Then the five came out, which we know as the
01:21James Bond car. But this is where it all came from. And in fact, like this, there's very
01:25little to tell between that. It's only the outer panels that really gave it the James
01:30Bond shape, you know, that we know and love. Zagato were quite a flamboyant coachbuilders,
01:37very notable for making beautiful cars. And the DB4 Zagato was sanctioned by Aston Martin,
01:45who sent them these type of bodies, and they converted them and put beautiful sculptural
01:50bodies on them. They clothed them in aluminium, you know, even more flamboyant than this car
01:56was. Those cars are worth about five million. Our one finished would be just over a million
02:01pounds, but it'd be a faithful replica of a Zagato. You know, I've even got the engine
02:06being built by Aston Martin at a cost of 100,000. And it would have a GT twin plug head.
02:12So
02:12once I've completed the Zagato conversion, it would be unrecognisable.
02:16As exciting as the conversion process is, Lance has a lot of work ahead of him.
02:21Now, I do the metal work, the panel work. A friend of mine supplies me with the aluminium
02:26skins in a very crude form. That's the outer panels. I have to be responsible for the augmentation
02:31of this body, the closing up of the wheelbase by five inches. So we're about to make a fixture
02:36that allows for that to be measured once we've put the cuts in exactly the right place. These
02:41here, this is like the ribcage. This is a sill section that would all come off and be replaced
02:45as a matter of course. It's not going to be like an absolute facsimile. That's not the requirement
02:50of the customer. I mean, the rear axle would look correct from underneath, but we'll house
02:54a DB7 axle, a better axle. There'll be improvements along the way. But essentially, the silhouette,
03:00the general feel, the ride will be a bit better, because obviously we've progressed a bit on
03:04suspension technology. So there's a year and a half's work here for me. Not a solid year
03:09and a half, but this will be my friend, enemy, confidant for about a year and a half.
03:14Outside, Lance joins Merlin to take a look at a rare Aston Martin, in much more recognisable
03:19condition.
03:21This one's special. So this is an 89 V8 Vantage X-Pack, 580X. There's only a few hundred of them
03:28made. And how many miles has this done?
03:30It's done 30,000 miles from you.
03:3230,000? Isn't that colour?
03:35If this wasn't an X-Pack, we'd be looking at a value of about 90 to 100,000. But in
03:40its
03:40current state, as an X-Pack, 240 to 250,000. Pop the bonnet and see if there's something
03:47gone wrong with the actual linkage itself, yeah? But despite its low mileage, the car is experiencing
03:52some engine trouble.
03:55If something idles, it's showing that not all is wrong. If there's something seriously
04:01wrong, you won't get it idling. Idling is a delicate little phase. But on the acceleration
04:06there, it could be that the points have just closed up. It's as simple as that. Or it could
04:12be a diaphragm has gone on the fuel pump or the carburettor. But what we do with that, because
04:16I'll go as far as I can with looking, if it's something I can manually do. But what we tend
04:22to do at this stage is give it to our rolling road man, who has computer diagnostics. He
04:27sticks probes up the exhaust and sensors on the engine. And the computers don't lie, generally
04:33speaking.
04:36I don't think his screwdriver is going to cure that.
04:43It's not terminally ill, but it needs diagnostics. Wednesday, she will dance again.
04:49Next time on Rust to Riches.
04:51This is a genuine 396SS, of which there really are only a handful in the country.
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