Re-creation Automotive - Workshop Profile

By: Guy Allen, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 30.11.2016

Re-creation Automotive

Re-creation Automotive

Re-creation Automotive

Re-creation Automotive

Re-creation Automotive

Re-creation Automotive

Re-creation Automotive

Re-creation Automotive

Let's take a look inside the workshop of Re-creation Automotive - the classic and collector car restoration business responsible for the Motorclassica-winning Monaro featured in issue #395

Re-creation Automotive's restoration of this Monaro won Motorclassica.

Re-creation Automotive

- Video coming shortly

Alistair Taylor and Peter van der Sluys are the brains behind Re-creation Automotive, the outfit which built the Motorclassica-winning Monaro. The pair have worked together a number of times over the decades and "we have complementary skills and personalities," explains Peter.

"The Monaro arrived at our workshop via the second owner and we carried out a bit of work for him. At some point he decided to pass on the project. We introduced Terry to him and they struck a deal.

"It was already in our workshop and Terry said let’s look at Motorclassica – we were already doing another car for him for the show.

"We looked at what we needed – there were quite a fewthings – we got in touch with Phil Bartolo, who is one of the best Monaro experts you can find. He sourced all these things for us.

"We had a view of what we wanted to achieve with the car. We sent the chrome to America and had a trimmer who we believed could deliver the goods. We relied on people who we knew could deliver.

"The main issue was the authenticity of the car and with Phil we were able to do that.

"The car took about two years of full-time work – there was a huge amount of hours. A lot of information came from a lot of different people, and what we had to do was take that information and sift through it to find what we felt was the right way to go.

"Like every Australian icon, everyone had a brother or uncle who had one!"

Peter acknowledges the car is restored to a higher standard than you’d normally expect from an assembly line back in the day. For example the gaps are right and it has, after all, been hand-assembled. That said they were stunned by the number of folk who wandered up and asked if it was a new car – had it been kept in storage all its life?

"That’s a pretty cool thing when someone looks at the car and doesn’t think it’s restored," comments Peter.

We’re looking at the car and it’s still fun to have in the shop. It becomes very emotive – you spend so much time with the thing you become quite attached to it. There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears that have gone into it."

This isn’t a first concours award for the team. Peter spent several years in America at one point in his career, where his involved in a number of prominent Pebble Beach cars. The best-known was the Marx Brothers Mercedes-Benz S, which had a very colourful history.

It seems he and Alistair are going to be kept very busy in the near future: "The response has been overwhelming and we’re inundated with calls."

Thanks to: Phil Bartolo for his knowledge and guidance on authenticity and supply of NOS and rare parts; The team at DeeBee Engines who handled all the mechanical aspects of the car; Peter from Unique Auto interiors for the interior; Scott from Metal Master Panels for the repairs and polishing of the stainless moulds; Doug from New Image Restorations for parts; Brightworks USA for their chrome.

Re-creation Automotive Tel (03) 9738 7738

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