Long time followers of Retropower might recall that, almost a decade ago now, we were commissioned to build a one-off Jaguar XJC restomod, a car we subsequently called ‘Project XJC430.’ The build in question served to both inspire the imaginations and tax the collective abilities of everyone at the company...
Jay Leno once famously described the Jensen Interceptor as being “like a Dodge Coronet that went to college at Oxford,” and, frankly, we can’t think of a better description of Jensen’s most beloved creation. Of course, it’s not hard to see where Leno was coming from, what with the Interceptor’s...
It’s doubtful whether any British car has been as maligned or denigrated as the humble Austin Allegro, the car with which British Leyland sought to establish itself as one of Europe’s premier mass market car makers. Conceived with a radical front-wheel drive layout and shod with Alex Moulton’s innovative hydrogas...
This is Project One, a restomod creation based upon everyone’s favourite blue oval saloon, the first-generation Ford Escort. It’s a car we a Retropower have a long and storied association with, and one we suspect most of those reading this (at least those of a certain vintage) will also have...
For anyone with passion for Jaguar, motorsport or the golden years of the British motor industry, the fifties to the late-sixties, the name Norman Dewis is bound to raise a wry smile and a nod of recognition. As it should, as Dewis, an RAF veteran of the Second World War, became...
There aren’t a great many Jaguars with a greater standing in the classic car world than the Mk2, perhaps the archetypal sixties saloon car and one that, if you’re of a certain vintage, will doubtless bring back sepia telly memories of The Sweeney’s John Thaw smashing through cardboard boxes, probably...
Project St Joan – Toyota Land Cruiser Restomod Project St Joan is our take on the Toyota Land Cruiser, specifically the original FJ-shape that did so much to dethrone the Land Rover Defender as the de facto means of getting to far flung corners of the world in the middle of the...
The latest Retropower restomod undertaking sees our collective skills brought to bear against the Morris Minor, perhaps the archetypal British classic and car we’ve long longed yearned to put our own unique spin on. The opportunity to do just that arose just last year, when the Minor’s owner, a long time...
If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, then the proof of the restomod project car is in the driving, which is how we’ve found ourselves in the enviable position of once again being asked to commence work on a custom Vauxhall Chevette, one with liberal dashings of...
This car was imported from its native United States by its current owner, our client, though the deal was done on the understanding that the car had recently been treated to a complete, ground-up restoration, a claim supported by the images sent over at the time. Fast forward some months...
"Getting the car back was like having a new one delivered, except it's better than new. Retropower was great; nothing was too much bother, though I think they tore out a lot of hair!" ...
We’re firm believers in the ability of wheels to either make or break a project car, something which applies to automotive builds of all types, scales and budgets. The correct set of carefully selected wheels can either be the cherry atop a long time, all-or-nothing project…or can effectively be the...
The enduring popularity of builds like the Murray Mk1 Escort and the Stratos ‘Zero’ mean that it’s easy to see why Retropower is best known for powerful, highly modified projects. Projects of this kind tend to grab the attention of petrolheasds of all creeds, not to mention garner impressive social...
The NSU Ro80 is one of those classic cars that every petrolhead knows for one reason and one reason alone, its Wankel engine. NSU were actually the first car firm to mass produce a rotary engine of this design, paving the way for Mazda, Citroen and several other pioneers. It’s...
There's a common thread running through all Retropower projects, a commonalty evident in builds of cars of all kinds, from all eras and all budgets - the passion of the people charged with building them. Every single member of the Retropower stuff is hopelessly obsessed with old cars, and while...
We’ve been working on retro cars for almost ten years now, long enough to have tackled all manner of builds on an immense variety of different models. All have posed their challenges, and it really doesn’t matter whether the build in question is a traditional restoration or a ‘restomod’ undertaking...
It's taken well over two years, has caused us to scour vast swathes of Germany in a frantic search for OEM pieces of trim and has consistently taken up a disproportionately vast portion of the workshop, but the Mercedes W116 S-Class is slated to leave Retropower in the coming weeks....
We’ve always found it exceptionally difficult to resist the allure of a classic Jaguar, particularly a classic Jaguar built along restomod lines, which is why we at Retropower jumped at the opportunity to put our ‘spin’ on a Mk2 when it arose in the autumn of 2019. Why the Mk2? Well...
The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noted that we've actually already undertaken an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint restoration, a build that lead directly to the one shown here. Currently in the middle of an extensive fabrication phase, this Giulietta might well be one of the most challenging projects we've yet...
