- 9 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:05Matthewsons auctioned more than 700 classic cars, bikes and trucks every month.
00:10If you can't find something in here, you don't want one, do you?
00:13Lovely, ain't you?
00:14At their garages in Yorkshire, our television crews have been trying to understand their business.
00:21You'll get the hang of it soon. You've only been around us for five years.
00:24I'm going to have to educate them a little bit.
00:26But that hasn't stopped us taking a risk on classics close to our hearts.
00:35It hasn't got a plan, but it's gone exactly how it always does.
00:39She's about knackered. Technical Yorkshire term, is that?
00:41Oh, God. Oh, God.
00:43That's how the cookie crumbles.
00:45So far, the experts have done us proud.
00:48It's the best I've ever seen, to be honest.
00:50Encouraging stuff.
00:50I love it. I absolutely love it.
00:52You have to start somewhere.
00:54Absolutely brilliant.
00:55But buying and selling these iconic cars isn't getting any easier.
01:00Oh, I'm feeling really sick.
01:02I'll stop after this.
01:03I think we can make money.
01:05The worst thing you can do is think that you're going to make any money out of it.
01:08You're saving another vehicle.
01:09You're performing a public service.
01:10It's the only way you can look at it.
01:11You've actually kept a bit of originality there.
01:13Well done.
01:14Well, we're at £5.
01:16This is going to be painful.
01:26This week, two cars that couldn't be more different.
01:30The first...
01:31Oh, it's a 1-2-6.
01:331-2-6!
01:34A benchmark for basic.
01:36Get in, Will.
01:38Very little space.
01:40And in a class of its own when it comes to ride quality.
01:44Oh, jeez!
01:46We're going to make it look faster than it'll ever be.
01:50Whereas the second...
01:52Oh, my God.
01:53..a 200-mile-an-hour footballer's favourite.
01:57In its day, costing well over £100,000.
02:00Every now and then you're getting something and you just feel happy, isn't it?
02:03These Bentleys are that for me.
02:05But only one causes an upset at the auction.
02:09It's a catastrophe.
02:15At more than 3,000 square miles, North Yorkshire is England's largest county.
02:21And the Mathewson's garages are situated next to one of its most expansive areas of open countryside.
02:27The North York Moors.
02:29In the showrooms, an enormous choice of classics waiting to be auctioned.
02:34And for some, you'd need a sizeable garage.
02:38But what about the other end of the spectrum?
02:41Do good things really come in small packages, too?
02:46Well...
02:46No.
02:48Obviously, snake-like figure and six foot and a little bit.
02:52I built for a Mini, aren't I?
02:54Probably the smallest car that I really enjoyed has been a Frogeye Sprite
02:57that I owned for a couple of weeks before I sold it.
02:59But in general, small cars, I've never had a great deal of time for them, really.
03:04But we think there might be fun and beauty in a tiny classic,
03:08which is why we've become very interested in this extremely compact unit.
03:13A Fiat 126.
03:20The story starts with a car that could not be more Italian, the Fiat 500.
03:26Launched in 1957, it had a 480cc two-cylinder air-cooled engine in the back
03:32and was the first true city car.
03:35They sold four million of them.
03:37But in 1972, Fiat launched the 126 as its successor.
03:43It was still cute, had a bigger engine, and it sold well.
03:47But that was mainly thanks to Poland, where most of the 4.6 million were made.
03:53Over 30 years, the car became part of Polish folklore,
03:56with locals nicknaming it Malux, or the Little One.
04:04We're eyeing up this 1991 water-cooled 700cc beast model,
04:09which means Encore in Italian.
04:12Little washing machine.
04:14Oh, inside's nice.
04:16Headlining's dropped, look.
04:17What's gluing back up?
04:19They're great, aren't they?
04:20They're quirky little things.
04:21A little bit of rot down this side, look, where it traps water.
04:24You're a little bit on that screen there, look.
04:27You've got to paint it.
04:28On the upside, you only need three-quarters of a litre, don't you?
04:31You know?
04:32Tiny, innit?
04:34I think it's a great little car.
04:35Don't get giddy and overbuy it, though.
04:37Because it wants to be, like, mid to late teens, does it?
04:40Something like that.
04:43Just to clarify, that's Paul saying hundreds, not thousands.
04:46Or at least we hope it is.
04:49The little 126 biz.
04:50There you go, got your name all over that.
04:52£1,000 we've got, £1,100, £1,200 bid.
04:55At £1,200 we've got.
04:57At £1,200, then at £1,200, £1,300 a pound.
05:00I love a £1,300 quid car.
05:02£1,400 in Shropshire.
05:04£1,400, £1,500 a pound.
05:06I knew you were saying you love a £1,300 car.
05:08At £1,500, £1,600.
05:11Fresh bid.
05:12£1,600 a pound, £1,700.
05:14At £1,700, £1,800.
05:16And £1,900 a pound with Moreland.
05:18There you are.
05:18Hey, what?
05:19I just looked at him.
05:21How does that work?
05:22Never wink at the auction here.
05:24At £1,900.
05:25I blinked.
05:26£2,000 in Nottingham.
05:27£2,200.
05:29£2,200 in Nottingham.
05:30At £2,200.
05:32£2,300.
05:33£2,300, says Mr. J.
05:34Oh, hang on.
05:35He's been overruled by the big white chief.
05:38How about that?
05:40He's back in at £2,400.
05:42£2,400.
05:42And he's waving £2,500.
05:44£2,500.
05:45At £2,500, I'm going to sell it today.
05:48Is that what?
05:48Yeah.
05:49Well, either us or Andy.
05:51Hammer's count.
05:53£2,500.
05:56That's certainly one way for Dave to sell his cars, but we're happy to own it anyway.
06:03We've decided to send this one to our friend Kel Muir's in Croft, near Darlington.
06:08Because he and his mechanics, Woody, Don and Will, have had such a nightmare with our other projects.
06:14If this was a horse, you'd be calling a vet to put it out of its misery.
06:18We wanted to reward them with this week's mystery vehicle.
06:23Oh, it's a 126.
06:26126.
06:27Oh, my God, he really hit.
06:29With a flat side.
06:34Hey, I like it.
06:36Just to polish the surface and send you it back then, eh?
06:39We can't see any rust.
06:42That's different, isn't it?
06:44J.J. Red.
06:45I don't know, there's no number play out in the front.
06:47Did I mention there's half a tonne of wires hanging out the dashboard?
06:50And it stinks.
06:53Will has some suggestions to make it more desirable.
06:57Wide arches, slam it, more bike engine.
06:59Have you been by slam it?
07:00Drop it on the floor.
07:01Pin it white, debumper it, and put the Fiat Rally stickers on it.
07:06So how does it look at me?
07:08Small.
07:10Do you know one of the things we can't do in a car like this?
07:12We can't even see what it drives like.
07:15There's not enough space in there for two people.
07:18Now there's a challenge.
07:20I'll go in the back.
07:21Well, I'll have to be in the back.
07:23Oh, no.
07:24I can't get my feet in.
07:26It's out of.
07:27Oh, Christ.
07:29Get in, Will.
07:33Yay, we're in.
07:35Starts, Will.
07:37Go.
07:38Me.
07:38I'm scoring.
07:42Oh, shit.
07:43Jesus.
07:50Just like a Formula One driver feeding back information to their team, Don has detected a problem with the handling.
07:56It steers from the back.
07:58It's not supposed to do that.
08:05I was very plosophobic.
08:08Yeah.
08:08It's all right.
08:09We fit well in there, didn't we?
08:13Our microscopic Fiat is best known for cheapness and its ability to rust.
08:19Other features include a curious decision to have shock absorbs as the rear suspension,
08:25but old school leaf springs on the front.
08:28Comfort wasn't really a priority, but things still don't seem quite right.
08:37The shock's a shot.
08:39They're there, but they're not doing anything.
08:41Is that a petrol tank?
08:42Yeah, that's a petrol tank.
08:44Very small.
08:45Oh, you're not going to get far with that, are you?
08:47It's not like it drinks much.
08:48I think there's scooters that use more fuel than this thing.
08:52I found the first hole.
08:54Yeah, that's the hole.
08:55That's the carpet there.
08:57Oh, that's just four little bits.
08:59Wouldn't be right if we didn't have some welding to do.
09:02The exhaust isn't great.
09:05It's not meant to have exit holes in the side of it.
09:09I mean, the rest of it, it's just a little bit of flaky under-sale.
09:14Better than I expected.
09:16Yeah.
09:17So that's good.
09:18It is, because less welding means more time finding ways to add value to this basic vehicle.
09:41KEL and Woody are weighing up what to do with our 1991 Fiat 126.
09:48If it was me, I'd be keeping it all standard, repainted, same colour, keep it right.
09:54But everybody said, no, let's change the colour to something funky, take the bumpers off, big exhaust, make it look
10:01special.
10:03White one with a tricolore down the side.
10:06Sounds good, but it would be a bit more work.
10:09And, of course, cost.
10:11If we keep it the same colour, we're still going to take everything off it, but we wouldn't have had
10:16to paint inside it.
10:17Where if we're changing the colour, you're better off doing the inside as well.
10:21To be decided.
10:24For now, though, some simple diagnostics.
10:29You all right?
10:32What are you saying that far?
10:33You need to sit down.
10:34Right, because I've done too much already today.
10:38In the steering side of it, the track rod ends solid.
10:45But the wheel bearing, you can feel it clicking, slightly knocking.
10:52The track rod ends connect the steering rack to a knuckle on each front wheel.
10:58When this joint gets worn, you get wandering steering from the unwanted side-to-side movement.
11:04The bearing, on the other hand, is part of the wheel's hub, and is a set of steel balls held
11:10in a metal ring called a race.
11:12They reduce friction when the wheel spins.
11:16When they wear, wobbling occurs in an up-and-down direction, which is the knocking that Kel found.
11:25And another, more unusual problem has come to light.
11:30Do you know which one's the wiper?
11:32That one.
11:33Right, so you put the wipers on, don't work, and then the minute you press your finger on the key,
11:40the wipers work.
11:41Everyone tells me about Italian wiring, and how bad it is, yeah, this has sort of proven it.
11:48But, because we now like the idea of painting the whole car in white, everything, including the wiring, will need
11:54to be stripped out anyway.
11:56Oh, look at that, it's just fell off.
11:58Mechanic George is back after a week in his flip-flops, full of the joys of spring about the Fiat.
12:05It's not my cup of tea, but whatever.
12:09Things are expected to improve once his hands get oily again.
12:14What we're going to try and do is get the engine out today.
12:17Hey, look at that.
12:19Do I think I need to label them at all? Headlight?
12:21Do you think they'll know what it is?
12:23Is that okay? Rear bumper.
12:28Looks like this back panel here comes off, I think.
12:34That's it.
12:35Are you writing bonnet on there?
12:37I was going to put front seats just to confuse them a bit.
12:41Everything's got to come off, because I hate seeing, like, where people have masked off the rubbers and stuff like
12:46that.
12:48We're going to fix any corroded areas, and then only bare metal on the exterior bodywork before paint.
12:54It should be straightforward.
12:57It's got that and a bit in the floor.
12:59The rest of it's just a little bit of surface rust steel in there.
13:02It's the most solid one you've ever brought was.
13:05That's not saying much, but it's still surprising for a 126.
13:10I don't think this has ever been out of here before.
13:15The engine has left the building.
13:21Look at that.
13:29Our little Fiat isn't the rot box it could have been.
13:32So now, feeling flush, we're in the market for something flash.
13:36And this time, we're also thinking big.
13:41No more passengers sat in the foetal position and luggage space larger than a shoe box.
13:47So with that in mind, it would be difficult not to notice this.
13:51Standing at 16 feet long, the Bentley Continental GT.
13:57Look at that.
13:58They're just lovely, aren't they?
14:04From the 1930s three and a half litre, all the way to the £150,000 Arnage,
14:10Bentley, under the ownership of Rolls-Royce,
14:12were known for hand-building elegant limos your chauffeur would thank you for.
14:18But when Volkswagen took over in 1998,
14:21they had to embrace the unseemly practice of mass production.
14:26The flagship for this brave new world was the Continental GT.
14:32Still super luxurious with an enormous engine.
14:35At £110,000, it was marketed as affordable.
14:40But it turned out that for many, the high price tag wasn't a problem.
14:44In fact, demand was initially so high, the factory at Crew could barely keep up.
14:52This one is a 2004 with only 51,000 miles.
14:57Every now and then you're getting something and you just feel happy in it and it fits you.
15:01I know that sounds really stupid, it's like your favourite pair of slippers.
15:04These Bentleys are that for me.
15:07At 550 horsepower, it's 20 times more powerful than our Fiat.
15:12I mean, look at that.
15:14You've got a massive motor in there, haven't you?
15:17Six litres, 12 cylinders, turbo each side.
15:22I mean, what's not to like?
15:25Apart from the potential repair bill if there's anything scary.
15:28But it looks in good, Nick, so we're happy to take a punt.
15:31We've got number 744.
15:33One of the nicest Bentleys that we've had, I think, come through.
15:37And we have lots of these, don't we?
15:39Anyhow, more importantly, here we go.
15:40Right, so we've got 15,000 pound bid, 16,000 pound, 17,000, 18,000 pound, 19 with Andrew, 19
15:49,500, 19,600, 19,700.
15:52You're out, Andy, 19,800 you're back in.
15:55Southampton, you're out.
15:56Hammer's going to drop down then.
15:58Sold.
15:5919,000, thank you.
16:01We've got a Bentley.
16:02Yes.
16:03It's like we've joined an exclusive club, albeit on the bottom rung.
16:08But as befits our new status, we've decided to take it to our friend Ray Hillier
16:13and his mechanic, Chris Leith, in Buckinghamshire.
16:16Go on, go on, you're right. Go on, keep going.
16:19They work on some of the best Rolls-Royces and Bentleys in the country.
16:23We just hope they're as excited as we are.
16:28An element of trepidation.
16:30Oh, is there why?
16:31Because I'm wondering what you're going to bring us, basically.
16:34Suspicion it might be a GT, I hope it's not.
16:39A GT.
16:42Ray definitely prefers pre-2003 Bentleys.
16:46We were used to an era where we could get parts for a Mark VI, an R-Type,
16:51but there's a lot of parts now for these cars that are just not available.
16:57So it's actually easier to work on an older car.
17:00It is, yeah.
17:01I mean, you could have a gem on your hands.
17:02If we look underneath and it's all in really good nick, then you've swung the channel.
17:07I mean, let's face it, it's a Volkswagen and an Audi.
17:10It's a W12 from the Volkswagens.
17:12Good, dependable engines.
17:14We've got one on nearly 200,000 miles now.
17:17Yes, very true.
17:18Travels backwards and forwards to Germany.
17:20It's never had head gaskets, never had a gearbox.
17:22In the eyes of some people, these represent incredible value for money.
17:27Yeah, well, it could.
17:29It could.
17:29You could get an absolute bargain, but get an absolute money pit.
17:33He is hoping it's the first one.
17:42Back with our well-preserved Fiat 126, we're nearly ready for some costly, time-consuming welding.
17:48So it's lucky there's hardly any to do.
17:51It's just the bottom bit coming out now.
17:53There we go, see?
17:55Oh!
17:56Oh, look at that.
17:57Underneath the rubber.
17:58A bit of gram and grizzle.
18:00Get in.
18:01More money.
18:04The dollar signs are going up.
18:06But it hasn't stopped us in our quest to pimp this thing up with some well-chosen mods.
18:12We're going to make it look faster than it'll ever be.
18:17The new bad boy exhaust.
18:20Look at that.
18:22That is a definite 26 horsepower now.
18:25And there aren't many lawnmowers that could beat that.
18:31You know, I sat here, I'm thinking, I'm going to get my feet on this wind and try and see
18:35if I can pop it out without breaking it.
18:41Kel has never let George forget what happened with our Golf GTI a few years ago.
18:47Come on, I'll just push it.
18:49You can try it.
18:52You know, heavy, heavy-handed.
18:56I hardly touched it.
18:57Put it somewhere safe.
19:01It's too much.
19:03It's too much.
19:04It's too much.
19:04It's too much.
19:04It's too much.
19:17I'm going to pull it out.
19:29for each corroded section what I can do is work on more than one area at a time
19:35so while one area is cooling down I'll be working on a separate area on the car
19:40the offending bit is cut out and the new metal is welded into place the little
19:49Fiat will soon be back to full strength
20:07near Darlington George is preparing to give our Fiat's two-cylinder engine an overhaul
20:15the beating heart it is a bit cleaner it's got Lancie written on there look and then it's got
20:20made in Poland on there a bit of all sorts engine this what we're going to do we're just going
20:25to
20:25strip a load of the bits off give them a clean give it a good service put it all back
20:30together
20:32so that should just lift off now that's the alternator that bit you know that's what makes
20:37the electric for the car there we go we'll take the fan belt off as well so what we're going
20:42to do is
20:42take these six bolts out in here because this is the oil pump behind here and part of this unit
20:48cleans the engine oil but it's an unusual design it must be a cheaper way of doing it see most
20:54little
20:54engines would have a screw on oil filter screw it on and screw it off and throw it away but
21:00this one
21:00has got a centrifugal oil filter when this spins around with the engine all the little bits of debris
21:06and muck and whatever else fly to the outside and stick to the outside so you'd see all this like
21:13mud there collects in little compartments it's cleaned and reassembled
21:26and this little inlet manifold should wiggle off now hopefully this will have to come off to get
21:32the cylinder head off so I think that's a that's a waterway that in there look it's the water going
21:40around the engine to keep it cool it's all blocked up with all gunge it's the old water and antifreeze
21:47mix
21:47isn't it so she'll overheat all the time we'll get the exhaust manifolds off now
21:59so that comes off like that look so that's another bit off
22:06the engine wasn't big on power even when it was new but age has shall we say significantly reduced
22:13the number of horses in the stable they run away go on holiday don't they
22:20George is like a mechanical cowboy if it is only 26 brake horsepower it'll be nice to get them all
22:26back
22:26again there we go this is a 700 cc flat twin which means the pistons move horizontally it saves space
22:37so
22:37he can cram it in the boot george doesn't really mind what type it is though yeah i love mucking
22:44about with engines i love them i've mucked about with them all my life when i was a kid i
22:49had an
22:49escort and you used to break it and then you have to fix it before i could go out it
22:54was a case of
22:56having to when you were when you were younger it doesn't always go as planned though removing the
23:02bolts on the cylinder head can be tricky that's not going to want to come out of there that feels
23:09very tight that if they break they'll have to be drilled out and the threads retapped it's a time
23:17consuming process that i'll get three quarters of the way out and it'll snap on it i bet if you
23:31got
23:31kel to come and help then it would so step away from the bolt so you said i'll come over
23:40and try
23:40on doing if it stops it's my fault i've already placed the windscreen because it was my fault
23:49see ya
23:53george has just given himself a bit more work
24:03back in buckinghamshire good nick on the exhaust pipes are good
24:12so just checking the brake bed depth
24:16yeah loads of material so far the only concern is the tyres
24:232005. 2005. tyres are 20 years old i mean we would recommend replacing them yeah this car will do 200
24:32miles an hour the last thing you want is a blowout the continental gt has always been firmly in the
24:39prestige bracket but just like run-of-the-mill cars it has its own particular weak spots
24:45a suspension because they're an air strut they'll give up we do get a lot of cars that suffer from
24:50vacuum leaks on the engine with most recently power steering lines have started to fail now
24:55the trouble these guys is they're quite labor intensive you've got an awful lot crammed into
25:00a small space with a silver shadow or a silver cloud or something like that you can see what
25:04you're looking at and you can work on it these you have to dismantle a lot of stuff before you
25:09can
25:09actually get to the bit you want to inspect let alone change but underneath i have to say
25:15as a president of the british league of cynics this actually looks like an okay car
25:23to be certain ray needs to drive this beast but first a quick test for hidden problems which on a
25:30relatively new car like this means hooking it up to a computer michael is the resident expert here
25:37so i'm going to interrogate every control module within the car it should come up with a list of fault
25:43codes at the moment it's looking really good there's no fault codes in the engine management
25:48on the transmission at the moment so just the basic setting on the driver's seat there is an
25:55anomaly though showing that diagnostics aren't perfect a warning light on the dash relating to
26:00the rear spoiler that flips up when over 70 miles an hour so this part is a spoiler but i've
26:07got no fault
26:07codes for that but the lights on but the lights on the dashboard we'll be sticking to speed limits so
26:13for now it's not an issue so apart from ray not being able to move the seat properly there's nothing
26:21to stop this car going out on the road for no no no the seat will work it's just the
26:25seat memories may
26:26not work this and a few other bits like the sound system just need a reset it's a surprisingly good
26:33result i'd normally get uh three pages of fault codes cleared for takeoff ray hops in for his quick test
26:45drive see if it performs correctly any noises any suspension or rattles knocks this gt should be
26:55capable of reaching 60 miles an hour in less than five seconds uh it goes then right yeah they do
27:09go you
27:09know i mean they've got plenty of poke um i have to say it feels like a very decent gt
27:17it is quite a nice car
27:21and it'll be an even better one when we've fixed the odd glitch and given it the full bentley service
27:35back with our 35 year old fiat woody has now carefully replaced most of the old corroded metal
27:42but there is one section that needs a specific machine to fabricate it
27:48the triangular trim in the door that the quarterlight windows sit in is a strange shape
27:53and you can't buy them anywhere so we've asked new man jason to work his magic with a specialist press
28:00break such a brilliant tool like it saves a lot of time the alternative would be to cut it and
28:08weld it
28:08you know slice it in loads of different segments jason worked on the fast and furious films we had to
28:15build
28:15the stunt range rovers and with mclaren f1 with the help of computer aided design
28:22i was a race fabricator so i looked after the carbon bodywork the approach for our fit is a bit
28:29more
28:29low-tech that's a template i've got for it so that um that's the angle it needs to be up
28:36and that's just
28:37made out of your average cornflake packet yeah cardboard aided design we call it cap yeah that's
28:43our card in here yeah that's uh that's just about right
28:51on the other side of the garage george has something interesting on his trolley
28:55so over the last few days i've stripped this engine to pieces we've had the cylinder heads off
29:00i've reseated the valves back in uh we've cleaned all the engine out all the oil ways all the water
29:08ways new spark plugs in so i'm hoping i'm going to be able to start it now i know it's
29:13not in the car
29:14but i've wired it up so hopefully it'll start now
29:18so i've just got a can of petrol and this is like turning the ignition on on your car
29:24so that's live now and then i'm going to use that while you're there as the starter button
29:29fingers crossed you should start so touch that on there and hopefully it'll start
29:46so it runs it shakes like mad
29:54so George has probably got it back to full power
29:58not exactly a purring v8 but what it lacks in finesse it makes up for in character
30:06and after a few days of filling and sanding the painting gets underway
30:11it won't be long before everything gets bolted back into place
30:30in buckinghamshire our bentley had the potential to ruin us financially but mercifully we're now on the
30:37home straight plan for today is we're going to be doing a major service
30:43so much of this like changing the oil is routine they're sort of around 12 liters in total that is
30:49actually relatively clean i mean if it had done any higher mileage it would be a lot blacker
30:55but the service on a car like this needs a trained eye like chris's to detect any problems
31:02check all the wiring for the pad sensors make sure nothing's ripped off or damaged in any way
31:09i mean yes they are volkswagen audi technology
31:13but you need to know what you're doing because it's an expensive car and if you get something
31:18wrong you're going to get more expense in the future they do like to put up a fight
31:26they also make it known when they're not happy they call them christmas trees because they've always
31:32got a warning light on the dashboard somewhere and ours is currently to do with the active spoiler
31:37and it's ecu or electronic control unit so under here we have the active rear aerofoil motor and the
31:47control module with the issue inside and when the gear turns it actually pushes these two drive cables
31:54inside this tube it'll push them downwards lifting the aerofoil up michael needs to check that the ecu is
32:03getting power so just going to connect this to the negative terminal of the battery so i just need
32:10to check power up to this plug what i expect to be there is voltage the 12 volt but i'm
32:16not receiving
32:17that the reason becomes pretty obvious oh wow the wire has broken inside the loom the opening and the
32:28closing of the boot these wires will just flex and then they'll get fatigued so after a bit of new
32:35wire and some soldering our bentley was ready for the auto barn fairly straightforward the car's behaved
32:42clearly been very well looked after by previous owners so you've lucked in really on getting something
32:49that doesn't really need a lot doing to it so you've done well but can the same be said for
32:56the
32:56finances including tax and commission it was a slightly up market 21 582 pounds to buy labor came in at
33:071584 and parts cost 1768 bringing the total to a moderately regal 24 934 pounds given that this
33:21bentley is still a lot of luxury for the price of a new mini we were curious about what it's
33:27like to live
33:28with just i've never driven it before so our production team and their families thank you did their own
33:35consumer test right there you go phoebe right then this is the key oh phoebe what do you smell lots
33:44of
33:44old rich men yes this is a car with a distinctive image all these people are waving or making root
33:52signs
33:53at me the band they wouldn't let you go because you're in a bentley how do you think we look
34:00as a
34:00pair of people i think born into old money oh my god it's got quite a lot of power
34:11oh it picks up all right jesus
34:21get it on the door handles state-of-the-art tech so many buttons there or at least it was
34:2820 years ago
34:29daddy what does this button do what do they do don't press it might be an ejector scene you know
34:36the roof will open and you'll fly out and these sorts of cars that's what they have you can change
34:41your your shock absorbers from why would i want to do that it's not touch screen that wasn't around in
34:49the early 2000s that's a car phone yeah it's like a nokia size and visibility seem to be an issue
34:57it's a good camera i don't know oh my god i think you're very close to that i'm now i'm
35:05close to the
35:06thing yeah you really can't tell when you're going to hit something i don't think in conclusion this bit
35:12is great but this 23 miles per gallon 6.5 miles per gallon not so much we've got any petrol
35:22uh
35:28supreme supreme
35:33back at the garage there's not a lot paul can say because apart from some new tyres
35:38the car looks the same but he does want to educate us on driving economically
35:45yeah i ran one for a while we also at the same time at a discovery four and we were
35:50up and down
35:51the country a bit and anyway discovery went wrong again come on let's just go into bentley it's fine
35:57it's gonna cost an extra 20 or 30 quid in it uh it was 10 pound less
36:01point taken now we need to get back almost 25 grand
36:08lot number two six four bentley continental gt automatic there we are then fifteen fifteen thousand
36:17five hundred sixteen thousand pound bid sixteen five i should think so sixteen six i thought it's
36:25twenty plus i thought it was going to do 22 and i've had a five pound bet with him that's
36:29going
36:29to do 22. oh no you're going to lose a fiver because you had a bet on it oh no
36:34that's 16 600 then
36:38it's a catastrophe it is for you
36:46hello
36:53in croft it's now two months since george started work on our fiat one two six
36:58with the respray done we can now finish with some light pimping
37:04we're taking the standard suspension out these standard springs and we've bought a lowering kit
37:09for the car if i just press that down now i should get that out so if we stand them
37:17side by side
37:17there's supposed to be about 25 mil difference in them so we're hoping it's going to sit in the arch
37:23a
37:23bit better the idea push that in there is that a more contemporary image will add value
37:32well we'll see when it's finished let's hope it's going to look good
37:38next up putting the mighty two-cylinder engine back in now fully restored with its 26 horses
37:45chomping at the bit well hopefully it should be fairly straightforward about six or eight bolts
37:51that's about it
37:54kells arrived to help by pushing a button on the lift
37:58we've got far more important things to do right on down a bit touch mark
38:10is that the recommended method for getting an engine in one i don't know give it a wiggle
38:18whatever it is it seems to have worked
38:21so the engine's in the hole just really putting all the wires and the pipes and everything else back
38:28up now
38:29most of the original parts have been saved the radiator has had a new core fitted
38:35and the dashboard not made of walnut in this case just needed woody to give it a quick clean
38:42it's unusual to have a dash that's basically a cover maybe it's a 1980s airbag
38:52it's definitely a basic car but this rebuild stage can still be a challenge just trying to remember
38:59what the head goes where
39:04spending most of your time backwards in small areas
39:11that's it
39:15our color-coded wheels get new rubber
39:18they do look better in white don't they oh yeah definitely
39:23sexy or what it was always clear what we wanted our 126 to be a bit spacey we found this
39:31picture on
39:31the internet we thought oh wouldn't that be good if we sort of try and replicate that one but kel
39:37now
39:37realizes things weren't quite as they seemed someone had sat and played with it on yeah and we've been
39:43copying off that so we're basing our car on a fabricated picture but i think we're getting pretty
39:50close to it i think we've done absolutely back on with this one
40:01a few days later our little fiat was all back in one piece and looking very good indeed but how
40:08big was
40:08the bill well including tax and commission it was a pocket-sized two thousand seven hundred and
40:15twenty five pounds to buy parts were three thousand three hundred and fifty six the labor cost twenty
40:21one thousand four hundred and nineteen bringing the total to a distinctly extra large twenty seven
40:29thousand five hundred pounds
40:37back at the garage we haven't told derrick how much we've spent but he sort of knows you've obviously
40:43given it a full house as we say so the chances of a profit is minuscule but it really is
40:50beautiful
40:52everywhere you look i've got a list of what they've done and it's got here engine stripped down well
40:57it probably didn't need engine work but if you're going to this length on a restoration then i suppose
41:04it's good thing to check it uh new window frames fabricated plus new rubbers by that's done a very
41:10good job there by the looks of it um i love these faded stripes looking at this sheet of what
41:16you've
41:16done i can't actually say you've wasted money and i never thought i'd hear myself say that about a fiat
41:22one two six we're particularly nervous about this one because good examples rarely go above five grand
41:30two nine six is the fiat uh it's lovely yeah italian little colors on the side of it i think
41:35it's great
41:35fantastic super little car uh the lad who painted that knows what he's doing there you go you heard
41:40it for yourself where are we then i got loads of interest here with me eight and a half thousand
41:45pound bid nine thousand pound bid then and away nine two nine four back at you but nine thousand four
41:51hundred pound bid nine six in selby nine eight ten thousand ten two fifty ten five ten seven fifty
41:57do they know what it is eleven in selby i'm going to drop the hammer down missing no one then
42:02eleven
42:03thousand pounds this is worth a second third and final time eleven well done some good bidders there
42:11that is an amazing price for one of those but worth every penny to new owner alan symes from selby
42:18when you tell people what you paid you think how much but then when they see it they can see
42:22the quality
42:23of the job that's been done everybody absolutely loves it um it's probably as good as it came out
42:27the factory probably better paint job certainly there's something nice about an engine in the rear
42:34as well similar to a porsche i suppose there we go in all its glory alan already has a number
42:42of cars in
42:43his collection and there's a theme to it the cars that i've got a lot of them are quirky by
42:48the very
42:49nature that they were quite unloved when they were when they were new but not now and the fiat in
42:55particular more than delivers when it comes to character it feels like quite an old car to drive
43:03tiny little engine so you've got to rev them quite hard very noisy steering is actually disconcertingly
43:12light because there's no weight over the front wheels so it feels like it's got power steam but it hasn't
43:19i mean it's basic but it just makes me smile so i've got a charm and personality that resonates with
43:25me
43:26it's a happy car is this
43:50so
44:00you
44:01you
44:01you
Comments