Tin Rabbit Restorations

Chris Schouten is the epitome of the classic Kiwi businessman done good, as he started out of his garage as a tinkerer and slowly built a viable business. When jobs changed and opportunity arose, Chris decided to tackle the business head on, and Tin Rabbit was born. Following a stint at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) doing a restoration course under the watchful eye of Craig Erickson, Chris took his essentially self-taught skills to market and began producing highquality work, and more came in than he could keep up with. Tin Rabbit has recently outgrown its Rangiora unit and headed to Kaiapoi.

All of this took place in seven-and-a-half years, and, as you can imagine, Chris is a busy man: with his team alongside, he’ll be found doing anything and everything to make sure clients are getting their projects on time, in the state they want them.

Tin Rabbit is currently working on a Daimler 250 ute, two Kombis, a ’47 Light 15 Citroën, and a ’72 Barracuda — an eclectic bunch, you might say.

Tin Rabbit undertakes sandblasting and trim polishing in-house, and works with a number of specialists around Canterbury to complete the work to its high standards. It is a certified I-CAR welder and also specializes in TIG, MIG, and gas welding for mild steel, stainless, and alloy.

Tin Rabbit gives each of its clients personalized attention and keeps them informed throughout the project with extensive photographic records, and it will also source parts and panels from around the world.

Coventry Classics has been remanufacturing the aluminium-bodied Jaguar C-type with the correct steel tubular chassis and torsion-bar suspension systems to the original design since 2002. These beautiful reproductions of the fabulous Jaguar C-type sports racer are built to the original factory specification.

Each car is constructed using Jaguar MKVII/ XK120 components and parts unique to the C-type fabricated from raw materials, exactly as Jaguar did back in the 1950s.

There are a number of companies producing kitset C-types with fibreglass bodies and XJ6 running gear, but Coventry Classics builds only genuine-specification C-types, with quality and accuracy the focuses of their business model, complemented by the rare skills required to work with the aluminium bodywork.

Most demand comes from overseas, with 90 per cent of the cars built ending up in the UK, the US, or Australia.

Their aluminium coachbuilding skills and their backgrounds in the aircraft restoration industry drive the fabricators at Coventry Classics to produce a C-type of unmatched quality, specification, and value. Aviation standards are applied throughout.

After many years of researching and building C-types, the latest cars are virtually indistinguishable from the genuine factory cars and are becoming collectors items in their own right. Coventry Classics is also constructing a lightweight E-type, which will be finished later this year.

Ngatea Panelbeaters has been servicing the Hauraki Plains for over 40 years, providing top-quality panel work, smash repairs, automotive paint refinish, and superior customer service. Phillip Broadbent has been at the helm for 13 years and was involved before that for nine.

Ngatea Panelbeaters is committed to quality systems reinforced by its membership with the Collision Repair Association (formerly the NZ Motor Body Building Association Inc).

Ngatea Panelbeaters is a metal-shaping and vehicle-restoration specialist and is able to restore your vehicle to the same standard as when it drove off the showroom floor. The company does full stripdown restorations to ensure that both the parts which can be seen and those that can’t — including the frame, driveline, and engine — are dealt with and brought back to the best standard possible.

Phillip and his team pride themselves on their metal-shaping skills, as well as their ability to rid your car of rust. On top of its restoration work, Ngatea Panelbeaters still undertakes traditional insurance and panel work.

you’re going to do it, do it once and do it right’.

Smash Palace takes no chances. Over the years, it has developed a best-practice bible using industry-leading methods and quality products to ensure it builds its customers’ cars efficiently, providing good value for money while making sure their pride and joy is stunning and will last for generations.

“We’ve got too many cars in our workshop that have come out of other workshops only to have to have the work redone properly. It’s such a waste of money,” Hamish says.

He and his staff also know transparency is important to their customers, so they take hundreds of photos during the build process, which their customers can then view, via an application, in almost real time. “Our customers love it. They get to see what’s going on.”

Smash Palace not only conducts full restoration and fabrication; its paint department also produces high-end paint finishes, specializing in candy paint jobs, with a large range of vibrant colours to choose from.

Give the team a call, and ask about its free offer on its exclusive Chip Protection Clear Coating.