Historic motorsport engineering firm and Classic Renault specialist, Rob Campbell’s Racing Restorations, has moved to sizeable new Worcestershire premises.

Speaking from under a vintage Connaught Grand Prix car, set to be the first project finished at the new facility, Campbell said speed and efficiency would be the biggest change for customers.

“Our new buildings have more space, more light and improved energy efficiency. Located alongside the M5 corridor, we’re closer to clients and suppliers, benefitting from lower business miles and becoming less wasteful. Working from a market town with easy rail access, means city customers can drive their classic road cars to us and catch the train back to the city, enjoying real craftsmanship without city labour and storage rates.”

Current projects reflect Campbell’s varied taste and client base: a small block Chevy is going into a Mitsubishi monster truck, a modern Jaguar V8 is heading for a Cobra chassis and the aforementioned Connaught body restoration is just about done. A chunk of classic Renault and Alpine work reflects Campbell’s long association with the marque. Two Renault 4 vans, a GTA Turbo and a GTA Le Mans are all in progress.

“Classic Renaults have long been undervalued,” says Campbell. “As UK and European markets wake up to the wonder of an early Renault 4, 5 Gordini, Turbo 2 or Alpine GTA, more cars are being re-commissioned. Most of our work this year has been on vintage race cars like GT40s and E-Types, classic R4 saloons, vans and pick ups, and mid-engine Renault 5s. The upcoming Renault 4 festival is bringing some great cars back to life!”

We’ve started adding some of our completed projects to the blog. First up is this really interesting WRC Escort shell repair.

This was quite a technical job, as the shell had to be de-stressed (it was already distressed) to allow us to jig it, then we fabricated a new floor including the classic ‘swirl pot’ and sorted the new panels, using bumpers and light units to get the panel gaps right.

Notice the lack of body filler. Professional fabricators don’t need filler to make up for deficiencies in their work.