RETROPOWER · RICCI’S GARAGE · GAME · CONCEPT
Meet the siblings making a name for themselves in the retro world. Don’t believe us? Just ask Gordon Murray
A glimpse behind the scenes at the Retropower garage, Mark falls foulof a terrible new disease and we play Indianapolis 500
According to Nathaniel and Callum Seviour director brothers of Retropower in Leicestershire ‘bespoke’ is too small a word to explain what they do “When a client has that first consultation we ask so many questions ” says Cal his older brother nodding along vigorously “What cars have you had before that you like? How do you want it to drive? What are you going to use it for? Is it supposed to be a daily or regular driver or just a weekend or track car? How do you want it to feel not just look we’re more than just a ‘pick a colour and interior fabric’ kind of place ”
He isn’t kidding Even though the company huddles in an unassuming set of buildings on a farm just outside Hinckley the projects it has on the go are the stu of retro fever dreams idle fantasy and half cut pub banter Not so much plain restomods as full on genetic engineering This is the eugenic modelling of machines breed desirable traits together to improve the result and a good natured two fingered salute to convention If it works for the customer then Retropower will put it to work
Hence you get projects like Kaiser a ’ W Mercedes with Jaguar subframes air suspension and a venerable LS V from a Corvette There’s a similarly LS’d Jag XJC whose joy is in its relative subtlety and gutted and rebirthed interior An Alfa Romeo GT Junior whose owner required it to be “faster around a track than any M badged BMW” so it’s painted in a very rapid shade of VW light blue and features a bhp litre naturally aspirated Millington Diamond motor engines more commonly used
“THE PROJECTS IT HAS ON THE GO ARE THE STUFF OF RETRO FEVER DREAMS”
in competition Escorts Sadev six speed and Cosworth rear end A pretty thing outside and in and apparently more than capable of the go to match any BMW show
And it doesn’t stop Hunched partly disassembled under a cloth and sporting some amusing oil drum rear tyres is a Lancia Stratos HF Volumex emerging from a reworked Lister Bell kit sporting a supercharged v Alfa Busso V A delve into the thinking here? The Stratos isn’t influenced by the usual Group rally cars but the Seventies Stratos Zero Concept Marcello Gandini’s ode to a form that looks like it’ll slice a pedestrian o at the knees These are thoughtful cars with inspiration from directions you may not expect
“We make a great team ” says Nat “In basic terms I’m the engineering side and Cal deals with the design he makes it look right and I make it work And we hardly ever argue maybe a bit but nothing serious We just want to mess with cars if it can be a business then that works ”
There’s a strange thing going on here Both Nat and Cal are lovely people who give the impression that Retropower just happens by happy accident Yet that’s completely at odds with the ruthless application apparent on the actual cars Nat is a mechanical engineer who’s worked for various high end manufacturing outfits now responsible for the fabrication and engineering Callum an ex bar manager and longtime casual restorer and modifier of interesting things who takes care of design oversees assembly and wiring There’s a team built up around their core skills that takes care of everything else from bodywork to paint to interiors and if there’s one thing that stands out it’s the quality of the work And the attention to detail
“IT IS GLORIOUS – SPRIGHTLY AND PRECISION BUILT”
And it’s the kind of thing that gets noticed How about a commission to build none other than Gordon Murray’s ideal MkI Ford Escort? Murray’s new megacar the million V son of F T is a window into the designer’s mind Obsessive weight saving forensic attention to even the most banal of minutiae intelligent yet out of the box engineering solutions to problems already worn intellectually thin by big corporations It’s a manual with that bhp naturally aspirated Cosworth V It has a refined and improved version of the Brabham BT B Fan Car ground e ect tech and it is tiny packaged down to sinew and skin and not much else And he asked Retropower to build him a car When you get the king of engineering detail and nuance on the phone don’t you just worry that it’s going to be a nightmare?
What resulted is a very clean very subtle MkI sporting a litre Cosworth Duratec and divisive independent suspension for the rear end instead of the usual live rear axle something that Nat convinced GM into because he wanted a decent ride on British B roads There are heated seats and improved HVAC steels and a slim body but no radio It’s a pared back ode to what Retropower does and what Murray wants as a car to use rather than a slave to convention This is fitness for purpose rather than contrarian for the sake of it though Callum again “We make cars that interest us That make us smile That’s why there’s so much di erent stu here we could make more money repeating ourselves but where’s the fun in that?”
He’s got a solid point Retropower it has to be said does not make it easy on itself Each car requires specific skills and input addressing a whole new set of engineering and aesthetic challenges Never repeating yourself means that cars take time And deep pockets budgets are agreed but each Retropower project is costed by the hour so final bills can be somewhat variable Even the stu that doesn’t look too complex turns out to be DNA deep remastering Take the Suzuki SJ GTi build for example A reworked SJ with widened steel arches and the engine from a Suzuki Swift GTi on individual throttle bodies obviously stu ed under the bonnet Only ish bhp but it apparently makes for a hot hatch experience in a completely inappropriate shell And yes the team messed with the suspension so that it doesn’t just fire itself at the scenery at the first hint of a curve You thought the little New Jimny was retro fabulous? Just take a look at this thing
Then there’s Project Utah a ’ MkII Jag the name a nod to the car’s original prototype designation fact fans a big bodied classic that’s been tweaked and smoothed with surgical precision There are now wheel spats which look frankly like they should have been there in the first place and a JZ six pot on Jenvey throttle bodies is due under the bonnet And yes you did read that right Heresy or genius?
But that’s the joy of this place This is a group of people driven by passion rather than bottom lines joy rather than margins They could make more money by churning stu out but they don’t Retropower does what most of us only talk about makes dreams reality And it does it with a warmth and enthusiasm that has you desperately figuring out what car you’d present to Nat and Cal for their own unique twist And it turns out that Callum is right For Retropower ‘bespoke’ really is too small a word