Original subtitles

It's alive.

It's a steam engine. Yeah.

It's basically Richard like a big Meccano set.

Victory will be getting the signatures on my licence

that I need to move up on them. That's all I gotta do.

God, I'm gonna kill the car.

After four rollercoaster years

in the classic car restoration business.

That worked, I'm gonna claim I thought of everything.

It seems I've finally cracked it.

Happy customer. That's a good feeling.

We've dragged our PR department.

You've got to get your arses over here damn quick.

Into the 21st century.

Our reach on that day was 317,000 people.

And as brand ambassador,

if you happen to have a car in the UK...

I'm leading the charge.

Hey, this is brilliant.

At least that's what I thought.

If you've overpromised... Yeah.

You can't under deliver.

Until my mum arrived.

They won't listen to me. They'll listen to me.

And it turns out that once again I'm in deep trouble.

I'm gonna have to do something. Something big.

My God!

Big day today. I know I've said that before,

but this one really is because the company is getting bigger.

Two new starters today joining us,

Matt on mechanics and Jon on bodywork

and that's significant.

I've been told a million times by a million different people

that I've got to grow the team for this business to survive.

I've got to spend money to make enough money

to cover the overheads. And this is the start of it.

It finally feels like maybe we're getting serious.

At last.

Right.

Time to inspect the newbies.

Chaps, good to see you - finally here. - Morning.

I know you're settling in, Matt, you're starting on the Kondor, yeah?

- Yeah, I believe so. - And, Jon, you're kicking on with that Lotus.

- That's right. - Anthony is showing you the ropes and where everything is

like mostly the kettle. - I know. - I'm on it. Great to have you here.

It's his favourite tool. Thank you.

All right. Shall we crack on, then?

Jon, you'll spend most of your time in the spray booth.

That's mine, yeah. Matt, mechanical over there for you.

This here is the dead zone - on the cameras. - It's a blind spot?

Don't ask how I know, but it is, all right?

But just remember, H is watching,

so don't stand where you are basically.

Here and it stops there, okay?

All right, short turn man.

I won't tell no one if you don't.

- Mums the word. - Next stop the toilet.

There's no obviously cameras in there. So that is a resting area as well, if you want to.

But keep that as clean as possible

because Eileen, Richard's mum

checks on us all the time.

So if I was you, I'd probably go before you come in in the morning.

So any questions from that walk around?

Don't think so, mate. No, just need to crack on.

- Fine. - Definitely.

Work can start properly today on the Kondor,

the one of a kind

racing GT car prototype

that I went to look at a while ago.

It was built back in the '60s

by Brian Winfield,

who was a legendary Ford engineer, designer.

The car is now owned by his daughter, Kate.

We couldn't start on the mechanical work before

because we needed the skills in the workshop we have now with Matt.

The bodywork and and paint and stuff are done.

The mechanical work is going to be next level.

The first job probably will be getting a new engine

fitted into it for the first time,

which is going to be a challenge.

What they need is me

to inspire, lead, generally irritate.

And I'm gonna go and do that now.

So, gentlemen, this is it.

The Kondor has landed.

How are we feeling?

Yeah, we're just going through it now. Going through the estimate.

There's only one ever been made,

and it's our job to get it back up and running in together.

Matt, we did promise when we had that initial conversation,

mate, if you join us, you get to work on unusual stuff.

What's more unusual - than the one of one car? - One off...

I assume there's a comprehensive workshop manual, somewhere?

No, there is nothing.

There is literally-- this is going to be quite the challenge.

You always this calm with a new job? We don't know you yet.

Pretty much, yeah, stay calm,

do each little task at a time.

Not the way we operate, Matt. Is it not?

No. We like a massive panic.

- Right. - Run around just doing anything.

Don't do anything for a bit then panic because the deadline's coming at you.

You've only got to basically do what probably has never been done before.

- Okay. - So that's okay, isn't it?

Essentially, it comes down to, engine's got to go in

be hooked up.

It may or may not have been in before, we're not sure.

- Okay. - Interior's got to be finished.

It's got to be turned into a car.

- Right. - Good luck.

- And it's clear. - My God, we're clear.

We're clear.

She's all right. The car has nothing left now.

I'm just reading up on the Kondor.

To be honest, I've never heard of it. I've heard of Brian Wingfield.

He's a bit of a legend in British Motorsport.

It seems like it was a bit of a labour of love for him,

but it never quite got finished.

So we've been tasked to finish the work

of probably one of the best designers

in British Motorsport history. So no pressure.

I don't think I've ever worked on a one off car before at all.

I worked on a few that probably should have been made once and binned off

but not one like this, and there's literally

two pages of information on it on the on the Internet.

Going to be a lot of thinking on our feet, putting our heads together,

see if we can get it finished.

Hopefully we can.

That in there is actually quite a rare car.

Lotus Europa. That didn't make many.

That's even more rare because it's the last one ever made.

The client commissioned us to conduct a complete restoration of it...

about a year ago,

and every week we've thought, "Right,

have we got anybody, we can get on the Lotus?" No.

We can't. So now, from today, having Jon

on the body of it, is just, that's...

what I should have done all along.

There's no increase in the overheads.

It's the same building. But with more work and money

being generated in it, I'm finally getting it.

This feels good.

For a long time I've actually wanted to work here

the quality of the cars to be here at The Smallest Cog

doing them especially for Richard,

is just sort of once in a lifetime.

My dream job, really.

I can't believe we're doing this car.

I'm looking forward to getting the paint on it, especially it being silver,

because there really wasn't very many done in that colour.

There's not many people that really enjoy working on fibreglass,

but I like the challenge.

So it wasn't that long ago,

that well, I was influenced by Hadrian, like an idiot

and allowed him to persuade me to buy

a Stanley steam car.

That's like a 105-year-old steam powered car.

And then we set about getting it going and who knew

trying to get a 105-year-old,

basically mobile pressure cooker working

is a bit complicated.

H, it's on fire.

That is likely from the flash, - that is. - Don't leave me here.

Yeah, I mean, there was fire,

but we did eventually get it going.

But then, since then, because Hadrian's been

so kindly helping me out with the workshop itself,

time has been a bit short for him to work on the steam car.

But now we've got the new recruits in.

He's got a bit more time to get back to it, which is good

because I don't want it to stall

and be another languishing project.

So I want it to work. We're going to get there.

Right.

H has told me the first thing we've got to get sorted is the car's boiler.

And today is mission critical

because the inspector's coming in.

Hello, H.All right, mate. How's it going?

- Very well and you? - Yeah. Good.

Come to have a look - at the Stanley? - Yeah.

Here's the patient. Pulled the top and bottom off it

so you can have a good look, Allen.

Get the old thickness test run.

We've had a lot of leaks

on the valves, you know?

It's a combination of the fact the damn things have dried out.

- Been stood a long time. - They've been stood a long time. Yeah.

I've been looking forward to this day, now I'm dreading it.

Well, this is a bit of a worry.

Yeah, this is the vet come to tell me if my old pet's had it.

That's exactly what it is. Don't say that!

- - Allen. - Hello. - Hello, mate. So, what happens now?

We'll look at the thickness on the top of the plate.

- This is ultrasonic testing. - Okay.

So we're just going to test in a couple of places

to see what the thickness of the top plate is,

then we'll look at the bottom one.

That's the boiler in there. That's the boiler.

And what you're doing is checking... I'm checking the thickness

of the plates so it's not going to explode.

Do you stop it exploding? I won't stop it exploding but we'll look at it.

What it's going to do now is tell you actually

what the condition of the boiler is.

We're 5.3 on the top.

Think that would originally have been six mil.

So it's down a bit on that. Where's it gone?

- Just it's just wore away. - Corrosion.

- Is it pregnant? - We're down to three mil on the bottom,

on the bottom of the boiler.

- Hang on. - I think...

I think that's it, really. We can't do much else with that at the moment.

Wait, what? Yeah, it's the end of that boiler.

- The end of its life. - It happens.

- Sadly. - Well don't be so cheery. Look sad.

Well, I can't really. It's just one of those things, isn't it?

It's one of my things. I know it is, I know,

but, I know, it's a shame, really.

You made me buy a lemon.

There was the potential there that you'd have to have a boiler.

We did have that caveat. But I didn't listen to that bit.

I love steam cars. It's a brilliant idea, this.

There's anything else you want me to buy?

It's a consumable item. Let's buy a chocolate teapot.

A chocolate-- - Well, that's it. - That's it. We can't do much else.

But I'll get us some prices for the boiler.

- Thank you. - Then you know - where you are. - I know where I am.

H, you owe me a pint. Actually, yeah.

I thought that was coming. I'm going now.

- - All right. - Over here. - Thank you.

I think he took that well. I think he did.

I think he was very happy about that.

For all my bleating to H

I'm not turning my back on this really lovable car.

I'm determined to get it back on the road.

That's good. So what I've done is committed myself to a steam car,

with a broken boiler.

You don't have to be an expert to work out

what's most important, it's the bit that makes steam, the boiler.

And once again, I'm in on the car.

I've spent money on the car,

and I've got to spend more money to get it working.

Hello?

Does that remind you of anything?

We've got a bit of an issue here because

it seems our original engine mount

isn't gonna match up with our engine mount holes.

Well, I'll go in and see if I can actually get some

some made up a bit quick, - so don't hold us up. - Awesome.

- All right. - Thanks, mate.

Working with Matt now,

actually working alongside him, he makes a hell of a difference.

He's got more experience than me so I can feed off him.

One thing I've missed since Dad left is communication

of not being scared to ask somebody.

And that's coming back now.

It has progressed with the mystery machine.

Matt, are you regretting working here yet?

Just saying... It's different.

You're just in time actually, we're ready to put that back in.

- Right. - You can drive the crane if you want.

I'll drive the crane and hopefully not destroy it.

Forward as you are, I think, at the moment.

And we're aiming for the centre

as much as possible.

- Okay, I'm releasing. - Gently down.

If we get the clutch just under that.

Okay. Okay.

That's probably it. Happy?

- Yeah. - Yeah. Come on, girl.

We need to turn the engine over.

Thank you very much. Okay, hold a bit of pressure on.

This is effectively a heart transplant.

It's a fiddly business.

She's going now. She's going.

There she goes. She's going. Moment of truth.

And then we can lower the jack down.

- Go on. - If you're ready, lower her in slowly now.

Okay. My slide. Yes, that's in.

There you go. That is now... Part of the car.

- She is now home. - There you go.

- Nice to see. - There you go. That's a significant moment.

That's a nice feeling.

I mean, I'm not going to get carried away,

but it's in. Well done, chaps.

- Big progress. - Yeah.

I must admit, I did feel rather bad about Richard's steam car boiler,

and I do think there is a good way around it

that's not gonna cost the Earth

and take and months and months and months.

We're going to reuse the actual

outer tube of the existing boiler

and just we'll machine off the ends

and then put new ends in and then re tube that

so technically, that's a repair.

While H tries to resurrect the boiler.

The rest of the car has been sent down to Somerset

to a specialist in vintage leather.

I'm really hoping the original 105-year-old seats can be saved.

This whole steam car experience is... I'm loving it

because it's opening up all these specialised skills and crafts

and I'm desperately keen to preserve the original leather

wherever I can rather than replace it.

Hello.

- Richard. - Hello. Thanks for letting me come for a nose about.

I'm intrigued, - and there it is. - It is.

So how are we getting on? We'll go have a look at the cushions first.

Right, I'll follow you.

That's Paula, the machinist. Hello, Paula the machinist, I'm Richard.

Sorry, don't mean to interrupt.

Mate, this is exactly what I thought it would be.

- Smells of leather as well. - Yeah.

- Is that off mine? - That is off yours.

You see, these are split, so I've managed to patch a couple of them

trying to keep as much of the original leather as possible.

Which is the whole point. And then we're going to replace this panel here

because, unfortunately,

the rips were too close to the seam.

That's where that came from.

With the piping... around the edge.

I've got a hide of leather here,

which is new leather, but it looks old.

Okay.

That's for the piping. - Is that for piping? - Yep.

We just make sure we've got it long enough.

This is to glue the piping cord inside the leather.

Basically giving a little pull on the leather as you go along.

Pipe into there.

Now we've got that done.

It goes over to the sewing machine.

Paula, you're up. The sewing department is now busy.

Yeah, just...

see what it's like.

Look at that.

That's fantastic.

That's really, really amazing to see.

I am deeply impressed, Paula, thank you.

Have you been doing this a while? For about 45 years, I think.

Stick with it. I reckon you'll get the hang of it.

You really have saved that.

That is an unbelievably good match.

Can I go and see the rest - of the leather in the car? - Yeah.

Wow.

- So, I've given it a feed. - Yeah.

Softened it a little.

It has brought it back to life. It was sort of...

- Dead? - Absolutely like cardboard.

So you'll have a few more coats before it comes back to you.

But at the end of the job, we will have a 100-year-old car

with largely in fact, almost entirely 100-year-old leather interior,

still there with just the odd repair.

Right, thank you so much for letting me see what you do

and see the progress, I'll leave you to your good work.

- Brilliant. - Thank you. Thank you.

Good for Richard to come down to see

that there are places that this trade still goes on.

I've been doing this now for 27 years.

Learnt it from me grandfather. You've got to put love,

a bit of care, a bit of effort into the job to get it looking

how it was done when the steam car was brand new 105 years ago.

I love that there's somebody doing something exactly the way it was done

100 years ago. That's the only way to save those seats.

It needs somebody who knows how they were built

in the first place to do it again.

That's doing its job when the electric thing moves.

But it's not unlocking the door.

So you're saying you're locked - out of the office? - Again, yeah.

- Do you want this? - No.

Have you lost the key? No, it's a digital lock. It stopped working.

Haven't you broken in already when you first put the lock on?

The first day, I had to break into it.

- Would you like me to cough? - Cough?

Anyway.

There's nothing like being thrown in the deep end

for my first repaint at The Cog.

I've got a beautiful Lotus Europa.

Unfortunately for me, it's made out of fibreglass,

which is much harder to work on

because when the materials are laminated,

it tends to trap air underneath,

which creates air pockets.

So it makes pinholes, basically

so you need to make sure that they're all filled out

or when you paint over the top of them, it'll look horrendous.

Basically spent a whole day going over each individual panel

to make sure that I hadn't missed anything,

especially with this being my first job.

Obviously, I've got big boots to fill,

so hopefully everything will run nice and smoothly for me.

The job will turn out lovely. The customer will be really happy

and we'll refuse to do one again.

All right, here we go.

All right, mate. You all right?

How's your first re-spray? Spot on, mate.

- Enjoyed it. - What's your...

opinion working with fibreglass?

Treat it the same as metal.

But obviously there's a lot more work that has to go into

getting the reshaping and all that.

Because, you know.

Most painters don't like working with it.

So what's your real opinion?

It's crap, to be honest with you.

You don't want me to get another one? Not for at least six months anyway.

I haven't given him the easiest job for his first re-spray,

but he's done a cracking job.

This job clearly means a lot to him.

I think we've got the right member of staff there, you know.

We want someone with passion, they're keen

and they will go the extra mile for the customer, and that's what we need.

This is some of the paperwork associated with the Kondor,

that unique one off car downstairs,

that we're hoping to build up

and finish for Mark and Kate.

They're coming in today, we've asked them to come in

because I'm worried we're burning through their budget.

It's their father, who built it, Brian,

it's in his memory.

And if we can finish the Kondor,

Kate wants to fulfil her father's ambition

and take it to classic car race events.

So, I think we need to have a properly grown up conversation about why...

it's burning through money. And that's simple, really.

It's unique. Everything takes time.

- Behind the Ranger? - Yeah. What this one here?

No, no, no. That's a Range Rover, a Ranger.

- - Hello. - Hello. - Welcome.

Nice to see you. How are you? - How you been? - Good.

You found us, - in remote Herefordshire. - We did.

- Hello, Mark. - Hello, Richard.

Your car is lurking around here.

This is quite a critical conversation now

we've reached a point where there are decisions to be made.

So we figured come in and let's talk it through.

Do you want to see the sort of things that we've rectified so far?

A lot of them are to do with how big it is and how small the space is.

- Yeah. - So positioning for one is,

you've got hardly any clearance here.

If you move it this way a bit, it's too close to that.

Radiator, if you look where the...

the outlet is on the bottom, it's right in line with where that steering column bracket is.

So that's gonna have to step around.

And then kind of, either that

or we move the position - on the radiator. - But Brian,

when he was alive and still reasonably compos mentis,

he went through a hell of a lot of this.

How he wanted the car finished.

I think he half had in mind that him and I would do it together.

But obviously... That didn't happen, sadly.

Yeah, the dementia set in, and that wasn't to be.

But it would be lovely to hear - it run. - Fire it up, might as well.

It's been 40-odd years - since it has run. - Right.

Forty years - and she's running again. - It runs.

And it makes - the right noise. - It does.

Really emotional. I love that noise anyway, that...

big V power. I grew up hearing that engine.

That's an engine that's unique to this car,

really important and really emotional.

Really emotional. I saw Mark well up, and I was like,

"Don't, I'm gonna go."

I know Brian, Kate's dad

father-in-law, would have been pleased with what's been done

and the extent it's been done to, as well.

Brought a lump to my throat, hearing it run.

Just where we are at the moment.

With the fuel lines and stuff, seatbelt for the doors

they're 90% done, break pipes.

You can see where the time's gone. You suddenly get to engine test

and fit, and suddenly you end up...

It is a lot of hours. Of work to do it.

So the alarming result is we are

fast burning through your budget,

that's why we want to talk and say, "Hang on a minute."

With something like this, it's so hard,

because we've never done one before

because nobody else has done one before.

They've got some decisions to make about, do they preserve the value in it,

follow the memory of the man who built it, but not break themselves doing it.

But nor do they end up going down a cul-de-sac

where they haven't done enough, spent enough,

and then they've spoiled it. It's tricky, complicated.

If I'm honest, no shocks.

It's expensive. Time is money. We're realistic.

So we're going to have to dig a bit deeper

and let the guys carry on and finish it.

Not an easy job.

Somewhat painfully early start this morning,

but for a good reason.

As the final thing I have to do to gain enough signatures on my race licence

to qualify to race at Silverstone,

which is what I've been working at.

I have to do a day's marshalling

at a vintage sports car club event.

And there's one today at Prescott.

So I'm not racing, but I'm going racing.

To wave flags around and I don't actually know.

It would be interesting to find out what marshals do.

To make it a bit more fun.

I've persuaded my mate Les to come along and join me,

and I'm being very self sufficient because I'm making lunch.

Cheese sandwich. Now, is Les...

a mustard man or a pickle man?

Mustard-- I'm gonna say pickle.

That's too fancy. I don't like mustard.

What a creation.

Up the right. Is that for marshalling?

- Yeah. - Thank you.

A pound? You keep animals in a pound.

Yeah, well, you're going to be in there all day today.

Right, name's Hammond.

Do we put these on over our clothes? Do we just put them on?

Where do I go and put these on? Go in there.

Les has come down very kindly to help me out.

He absolutely loves Prescott and all the cars here.

I have a feeling Zog's going to turn up later today as well.

He'll want to laugh at me in my orange overalls,

having to work when he's having a fun day off.

That's the theme today. I have to do stuff in an official capacity

to get the signature on my licence, and they don't.

Hello, boss.

- Nice to see you. - I'm Paul Hickman.

I'm the post chief today.

Richard and Les. You're very welcome.

The main thing is

eyes open all the time

looking that way down the track

apart from the red flag man who's looking that way.

So when something happens, we get out there, we deal with it.

Today's event is a vintage hill climb.

It might look like a bit of Sunday fun,

but these cars, some over 100 years old,

are very much racing up the famous Prescott Hill.

It can be dangerous, and so it's the job of marshals

to help keep drivers and public safe.

First one... Here he comes.

First customer.

It's a 7 Ulster, Mr Patrick Teague.

Giving it. There it is. There you go. Yes.

Flag!

Number 230 has dropped loads of oil.

I think we should have said Stop. Sorry.

We noticed the masterful way in which the red flag was deployed.

I have control of the situation, I can keep it up as long as I need.

Really? That's good for you.

- Do we need to check the fluid? - Okay.

- Can we check? - Yeah, absolutely. Do something.

Was this recent?

You're not supposed to-- they said don't do it - with your fingers. - Did they?

- Why? - Because it's acid - or something. - Well done.

That was good. That was only done really to get you out there.

The exercise was welcome.

You're bursting - out of your overalls. - I know.

You want me to zip them back up again and force myself back in?

It's like somebody... Honest to God, it's like living with a wife.

It's like somebody zipping a hippo into a snake costume.

Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Thank you. Toodle pip.

This is a particularly fine event.

Richard has to do the marshalling to get the points on his licence

so he can drive bigger, more manly cars

than he's been driving so far.

And I should think he's full on today.

So I would imagine he's probably a scratchy little fluff cat by now.

I was in a state of total alertness

to cars, dropping fluids on track.

- You were actually. - Totally focused. Chaps, am I interrupting?

You've found us. Are you allowed-- Prescott's leading marshals, I hear?

Are you allowed in the marshals pound?

You've been seen waving flags and all sorts of grown-up stuff.

Yes, we've done it. I did check with our post, chief.

Who's an ex-police officer.

And we do have authority.

A bit of authority.

You love that, don't you? I've never had any.

There was a point... All right chaps.

You got to wrap this up and get you back on post.

- El Capitan. - Yeah.

Right. I'll come with you, boss.

We'll wave at you with a glass in hand.

Nice. Please don't.

Have a nice afternoon team. Good luck. All the best. Pimm's it is.

While Zog and Les swan off to gauff at vintage cars,

my next job is to help the marshals on the start line.

- Young Richard. - Hi, Jeff. Nice to see you.

I'm now your newbie.

This is all a bit more technical.

Concentrate, Hammond.

The idea is we want three blue lights.

There's a yellow warning light will come on

if he goes too far, she'll drop it back there.

That's perfect. So then it sits on the chalk.

So our job, get a hold of the wheel and literally wheel it to the line.

What signals him to start? Green light.

Right, so that's now held on the chalk.

Look at that. It's just a work of art.

And the steering components? They've bent those around.

They machined them first. Forged them afterwards.

I love Frazer Nashes. What a beautiful thing.

You understand these things a little bit better than I do.

- It's beautiful. - What model is that?

I think it's a Riley 9 engine with a supercharger.

I saw your little video online the other day, getting your car ready.

So good luck, mister. Thank you.

Les follows you on Facebook.

Poor bastard, should get out more often.

I can't. I can't get out.

Right. So tell me when to chalk it in.

Pull back a bit.

- Right, so. - Right here lock it out. About there.

Then watch that line.

- Wriggle it a bit. - Get in now.

Get in now!

Thank you all assistants. You are clear to stand down now.

Stand down, marshals. Team, well done. Thank you,

for welcoming me. Right. I've got to get this signed.

This, I believe, is the finest signature I need.

- Done. - Congratulations. Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you for your help. I enjoyed it.

I got carried away with the idea of collecting the signatures,

and now I've realised great, I can race at Silverstone

in a really big race. God!

You have a nice time - looking at the car? - Amazing. I just came along for the beer

and we've had a lovely wander around the paddock.

Why don't we go and discuss this

over a cooling glass of something lovely now?

- I think so. - Which way do we go? It's out that way.

Out that way, right, let's do it. Okay, chaps.

Once more unto the breach. The amount of people

that come up to Les,

and his knowledge, I have to say, is... He knows nothing else.

Only about old cars, - Old cars and sheep. - Yes.

Hadrian's been hard at it.

A new steam boiler would cost north of 10K,

so I'm crossing my fingers

he can work his magic.

So this is the inside of the boiler,

and you can see we've machined out the top and bottom.

We've been busy making new plates for this,

so we've lasered them out, machined all the holes.

So now we've got it that the plates are tacked in

and we're just about ready to weld the ends back in the boiler.

It's not just a normal weld because it's a pressure vessel.

So therefore, we've brought in a specialist who only does that

and today is the moment of truth.

This guy that's coming.

He's like a superhero welder?

Well, he's probably the most coded welder in the Shire.

And that's good? That's very good, yeah.

He's not the sort-- Does he have a title?

Hello, Richard. Hello Haidy. Hello, it's Adrian?

- Adrian. - Hi. How are you doing?

You'll certainly be able to reach the high welds, won't you?

That won't be a problem. Tall height, helps a lot.

So, are you ready for this today? Yes, I prepare all of the whole week.

- - Are you nervous? - A bit. - Really?

Always. There's many ways how you can literally fail

and you have to take a lot of precautions.

You have to focus on that. You have to be precise, so you're not going to know

the results till it's going to be finished and tested.

So you've got everything you need.

I won't be in the way. I will stand off and let you do it.

- That's fine. - Carry on. You're not going to offer any advice?

On this occasion, no.

I think he knows more about welding than even I do.

Just go and step in there.

Will all the other guys salute him when he walks in?

I'm not binging out when I say this is mission critical,

because everything he's doing right now

is about making sure that my steam car

doesn't explode, literally,

because that is the heart of the thing.

That pressure vessel, if that goes,

it's a bad, bad day, and then I'm buying a new boiler,

which is going to delay it by months and cost a fortune.

- Hello. - Hi, Adrian, I'm scared to ask.

How's it going? How's it gone?

We're nearly there.

We just have to bring those two ends to meet together.

We've done more than 99 percent of that circumference.

Just be careful. It's really hot. Are you happy with it?

More likely, yes. We've got fairly good penetration.

Were you anxious when you did it? It's always stressful.

- Always stressful. - Well done.

Thank you. That is a lifesaver.

That is the difference between that car working ever again and not.

Thank you, Adrian, I'll leave you to finish it up. Right H, we'll leave him to his work.

Let's crack on. That's good, isn't it?

That is the difference between success and failure.

- Yeah. - Where are we on costs with that?

Now, Richard, you can't put a price on happiness.

Yeah, but somebody's going to, aren't they?

Now, H, didn't you say it'd be ready for the end of summer?

Yes, but I didn't say which summer, did I?

To honour her father's intentions for the Kondor.

The owner, Kate, wants it to appear on racetracks like Goodwood and Le Mans.

That means it'll have to be engineered to modern standards.

The problem is, the car was designed in the 1960s,

and I'm really worried about how much more work that will involve.

I need some specialist advice.

Fortunately, I know just the person.

Okay, are we ready to ship it off? You gonna steer?

Yeah, up the M6 to Ric's, then?

That's the thing Richard's learned, hasn't he?

If you're not sure, get a second opinion.

That's it. Ric is the racing man.

Dodge the drips.

- Handbrake off. - Let's go!

Ciao.

See, I'm nice. I got you something for the journey.

Look at that, sweets for the journey.

Thank you very much. - Get there safe. - See you later.

It does make sense for it to go to Ric,

we're not experts on race cars,

so we're not really sure of how long it's going to take

and the costs involved.

So Ric's the man for this.

Ric has been building race cars, especially Fords,

for over 30 years.

I've asked for a detailed condition report.

In here we've got what is left of a wiring loom.

This is just a fire waiting to happen.

All needs changing.

That steering column is a rusty tube with a rusty column

with some weld around it,

and you wouldn't do it that way, nowadays.

You can't have steering columns failing.

The other bit, I think needs attention

is the bump steer on it

and the geometry and this front wishbone.

And what I mean by that is

the wheels are going over bumps

instead of them tracking evenly.

When they go like that, as they go over bumps,

they need to go up and down together.

They tend to go like that as they go up and down over bumps.

So that needs fixing.

Everything needs doing, the brake system, the fuel system,

the suspension, the geometry.

To be honest, there's not anything in this car that doesn't need doing.

But it is what it is. And it deserves doing properly.

It's their decision, but it's going to be a big one.

Good afternoon, Richard. How are you?

I'm all right. How are you?

- Yeah. Okay. - You know, I'm calling about the Kondor,

have you had the chance to have a look at it?

- Yes, we have. - What are the big headline issues with it?

The ones that will take time and swallow the budget? For me, bits missing,

just make a fuel tank just do a fuel system.

And I've seen it all before. It was done as a concept car,

but then never quite finished off.

And I'm sure he drove it, but, like,

it wouldn't be safe to drive it nowadays.

So it needs just a bit of love and re-engineering.

It's going to take time. It just takes ages.

Brutally. Is their 18 grand going to get anywhere near it?

No.

No, I kind of got down around 30 grand.

- Yeah. - Plus parts.

And I bet there's 18 to 20 grand for the parts.

I kind of feared that was going to be the case.

It needs some love.

Okay, I'm gonna have to have a word with them, I think.

- Okay. - Okay, catch you later.

Cheers, Ric, take care, mate. Bye. Take care, mate.

That's not a big surprise. I totally take Ric's word for that.

He was saying it there, and I did hear it.

Hang on a minute, he's seen it all before.

Because, of course he does race cars, one offs.

They've been built once. Somebody's built this race car,

they're nearly always unique.

And it would be dishonest,

disloyal, remiss of me, to carry on with that car.

Telling them there was a chance in hell

I was ever going to do it for their budget,

and If Ric can't, nobody can.

It's a real shame not to be able to finish the Kondor.

I've actually got quite attached to it, spending pretty much eight hours a day

toiling away, trying to find parts

or solutions to stuff.

It was great to play just a small part in getting it finished,

and hopefully that does happen sometime in the near future.

But nothing stops in the workshop.

Moving on now, I'm working on the Lotus Europa,

which the lads have started, so I'd better crack on.

Jamie, I'm sure you like me, are immensely relieved

to see that Europa Lotus in paint at last.

- At long last. - But more importantly,

that was Jon's first proper job for us.

- Yeah. - So come on, then, Maestro, what do you think?

It looks good to be honest. I think he was nervous.

What is it with painters?

I'm asking one painter to say something nice.

They never do. It's all right.

It's turned out well. - Really, you happy? - Yeah. Yeah.

With him having done the paint, that's great.

It's now handed over to Matt.

Also a new boy, how's he getting on?

- Superb. - Really? Yeah. Absolutely brilliant.

The good thing about Matt as well,

if he hasn't worked on something, he goes on the Internet, get books, and he knows what to do.

The lads we've got, I couldn't wish for anyone better.

They don't stop. It's a bit like a workshop.

It's a proper workshop now.

- Blimey, mate. - This is going good.

Let's not get carried away we've done that before.

Yes, it's all working.

All the wheels have come off and I'm ruined it.

So let's just hope. They do all seem happy.

Have I come to the right workshop?

I'm scared. I'm going to be killed under the world's smallest car.

To get it on the road... Good God!

Is that just to get it - road legal? - Yes.

What the was that? You just done a tyre.

We're broken. I don't want you to look at that.

You're really nervous, aren't you? I am quite scared.

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