‘Skilled work like this takes time, but it’s nowhere near as expensive to own as you might think’

EDITOR PHIL BELL SAYS ‘Parts-bin spotters love to use them as a point of criticism but I admire the way that hand-built manufacturers incorporate mass-market parts so cleverly that they look as if they were designed for the car. Take the taillights on the Aston and Alvis, both from Rootes products and both used with great sensitivity on other low-volume cars too.

‘I also love the details, features that would be too difficult or expensive to body engineer into a volume-built car. The way the Aston Martin V8 strake floats across the its vent is the sort of thing that would give pleasure every time you leather the car off after washing it. Delightful.’

PRODUCTION EDITOR JOE BREEZE SAYS ‘Old British cars are revered (and occasionally mocked) for their frequent use of leather and wood inside, the latter invariably veneered with time-honoured techniques. But it was under the skin that craftsmanship endured. While much of industry abandoned ash-framed bodies in the Thirties, Morgan and certain British coachbuilders – including those who bodied Alvises – perservered and perfected the craft over subsequent decades.

‘Enamel badges were another feat of craftsmanship, particularly when they were required to curve with bodywork contours. Creating one with traditional jeweller-inspired methods would take up to 20 hours.’

NEWS EDITOR SAM DAWSON SAYS ‘For me, a crucial feature of a traditional British coachbuilt car is the dazzle and curve of wheeled aluminium. The traditional Italian approach to shaping aluminium involves beating it into shape with a hammer over a sandbag, leaving dimples all over the inside. But when fed through a wheeling machine in the British style, you get a beautifully smooth curve that reflects the light back exquisitely. Skilled work like this takes time, but the beauty of it is that it’s nowhere near as expensive to own as you might think, thanks to Morgan’s retention of these old techniques within relative mass production. Thankfully some things never change.’