PROJECT FIGARO PART 4 INTERIOR REFURBISHMENT

We head down to The Figaro Shop in Didcot to get some expert help with one major and several minor improvements in the Figaro’s cabin.

So far, the work we have carried out on our Figaro has concentrated on making it safe and reliable on the road – new tyres, exhaust, drive belts, cambelt and indicator relay. With the car then running sweetly, last issue we took it to Simon Smith of the Figaro Owners Club for his impressions and while he did point out a few tasks that needed doing, it is fair to say that he was very impressed with the car overall and especially with the way that it drove.

Our next port of call was The Figaro Shop in Didcot, who have been specialising in the model for the best part of a decade now. Owner Tobyn Brooks had very kindly offered us a space in the workshop in which we could work on our car under the watchful eyes of their expert technicians. The beauty of this arrangement was that I could tackle bigger jobs than I would be comfortable doing at home, safe in the knowledge that help would be at hand to explain what needed to be done, and to step in and take over when I was struggling. An added bonus was that I would have instant access to The Figaro Shop’s huge stock of new and used spare parts, so we could test some components by substitution if necessary and know that work would not necessarily be brought to a premature halt by a broken or missing widget.

And believe me, I was expecting a few broken widgets because one of the main tasks we were planning was to change the top of the dash. This is notorious on the Figaro for cracking, and our car had a split of epic proportions right ahead of the driver. This did not affect the way the car drove of course, but it did let down an otherwise fairly tidy interior. And since The Figaro Shop offer a leather- covered replacement for £350, we had ordered one of those.

The technician assigned to babysit me through the work was Ant Absolom, who took on the role with cheerful enthusiasm and was extremely generous with both his time and his expertise. Ant was not alone in this regard, because everyone at The Figaro Shop was most welcoming and helpful. And before the cynics among you say: ‘He would say that, wouldn’t he?’ I must point out that I am under no obligation to sing The Figaro Shop’s praises, but I was genuinely impressed by their enthusiasm for the model and the expertise they had in it.

After two days, we came away with a much improved Figaro and a bill for parts that came to £645.83 once the VAT had been added. As you discover how much that covered, I think you will agree that it was a bargain for such a rare and unusual car which was never sold new in the UK, especially as over half the money went on the new leather dash. I will save the breakdown of costs until next issue though, when we have put it all back together.