‘we call it the toy shop’
Combine unique pre-war cars, classic racers and petrolheads, shake not stir, and you have a wonderful place to spend time
it used to be a garden centre.
Now the airy, glass-fronted building on Sint Jansveld in Wommelgem, a little east of Antwerp in Belgium, is full of proud old motor cars being worked on by experts as versed in computer-aided design as they are in magicking away imperfections in ancient bodywork or restoring the engine for a supercharged, twin-cam, eight-cylinder 1929 Maserati 26M. Meanwhile, shiny and imposing machines sit in the showroom or out front for potential buyers to admire.
Here, at Historic Competition Services, old meets new. Fears that the skills needed to maintain, improve and restore vintage cars are being lost, evaporate as soon as you pass through HCS’s showroom, via more glass, and into the workshop. The Invicta S Type gearbox that youthful-looking Tom is building looks ancient but the gears inside it are new, CAD-drawn by Ben to founder and owner Julian Messent’s design. You can see that they all love their work and this is central to HCS’s ethos and that of Julian Messent. His business is absolutely humming with activity.
A glance across the workshop’s immaculate epoxy floor past its bespoke wooden workbenches takes in the prototype Riley MPH, a Talbot-Lago 150C, the 1949 French GP-winning Talbot Lago T26C, a pre-war Alfa 8C 2300 and two 6C 1750s, a 150bhp supercharged Lagonda Rapier, a Delage D6-70 TT car on the ramp, the 1936 Mille Miglia Lagonda M45 Rapide, a unique 1914 Lancia Theta Race Car being made ready to race again, and... well, quite a lot more, as this shop is packed with wonderful and exotic machines from all over the world.
Some are in for repair or restoration, some for maintenance, and many of them are being readied for the Mille Miglia. ‘It’s our busiest time of the year,’ says Julian. ‘We’re working every hour we can. Right now there’s a 1949 Talbot Lago GP car to test; it’s been firing oil out past the scroll. So we’ve fixed that. The customer will be here in a minute...’
HCS does all this with a staff of only seven employees. So how has Julian built this bustling business from nothing and in such a short time? Through relationships and loyalty, largely. He came to Belgium from Britain 25 years ago, and for 20 of those years built-up and managed another historic-car specialist. In the end he and his business partner had different views about how to develop, so Julian took a big breath and walked away to set up HCS and do things his way.
‘And the customers followed. They were wonderful and got right behind us from the start. I’m sure some even “invented” work for us, nding faults in their cars for us to sort out. Others gave storage space while we were setting up. I daren’t call them
customers, really – they’re all dear friends who we will always remember.’
Where do these customers come from? ‘Mostly they are Dutch and Belgian, but we have a lot from Germany and there are Swiss, Italian and Czech customers, even a couple of Americans. We work for many top collectors, sales specialists, and even other restoration companies. Every day someone new phones up. Being in the centre of western Europe, it’s the ideal location.’
Julian admits he was lucky to find this site. ‘The estate agent asked me: “What’s your dream?” and I said I wanted plenty of parking, a glass front and glass on the way to the workshop, so the customers can always see what is going on. And this is what we’ve got. We call it “Customer Clarity”.
‘We took over the bare shell on 19 November 2013 and finished everything on 30 January 2014. Friends, wives, they all pitched in, and the landlord didn’t even charge us for the first month. Two of us made 600 metres of 80x80mm square tube into many metres of bespoke workbenches, and we had to grind 1000 square metres of polished concrete floor so the epoxy would stick to it. Then the whole space had to be heated to 17ºC – in the winter – for a week before the epoxy was laid. After drying the floor, we installed the machinery, most of it sourced from England. Oh, and we had to design and fit the garage doors in the middle
Above right and below
HCS can supply a new engine block for an Alfa 6C 1750 Testa Fissa like this one; twin-cam cylinder head for a pre-war six-cylinder takes shape from new. of all that. Proper, structured organisation is how this type of business runs.’
Time for a tour, beginning with the ‘dirty room’ where components are cleaned and blasted as required. Next, the machine shop with, among other equipment, two Harrison lathes and a CNC milling facility for the components that HCS makes from scratch. Now the engine-building room, meticulously clean, air-conditioned and beautifully wood-panelled. In there is a Rolls-Royce Phantom engine all the way from South Africa, whose white-metalled bearings had fallen apart and whose cylinder head studs were corroded. So HCS had to re-make everything. New Teflon-coated Arias pistons await fitting, along with a new head. Next to it an MG K3 Magnette engine is being built around a new head and block, with pistons, con-rods and crankshaft all made by HCS, as is the new magnesium supercharger.
There isn’t enough manpower to complete all the processes in one location though, so two years ago Julian took another deep breath and HCS took over the ownership of Formhalls Vintage and Racing in Salisbury, England (www.formhalls.com). With many decades of experience under founder Terry’s belt, the intention is now to develop this side of the business to give owners on the Continent better access to this specialist area of automotive engine white-metal bearings and dedicated engine machining.
HCS has recently had some new Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 fixed-head monoblocs cast
(Testa Fissa, as the Italians would say), a process that costs ¤50,000 just to get to the first proof casting, which is then chopped in half to check its internal dimensions – one is already running better than ever before.
Back in the main workshop, the 12-plug Talbot-Lago T26 engine belonging to a Czech owner hasn’t been run for 30 years and needed a new crankshaft, as the originals are prone to shedding their bolt-on counterweights via the side of the engine. And there’s that Maserati engine, the original magnesium crankcase of which had holes the size of a fist in the side, all now perfectly patched and welded-up, then precision re-machined.
Julian wants HCS to be about play as well as work, though. ‘We’re in the process of acquiring and adapting a new building. It will have a mezzanine floor, a full bar, kitchen and Chesterfield sofas. It will have a gentlemen’s lounge like the RAC Club. Gantries will overlook the showroom. People will feel they are coming into a toy shop manned by real enthusiasts. We’ll have events here, and customers and friends will be able to use the club free of charge. We want to give something back to our customers because they give us happiness and life.’
He warms to the theme. ‘We’ll have some drive-in Sundays, and anyone with an oldtimer can come in for coffee and cakes. When I was 17, I would drive to Duncan Hamilton’s garage and press my nose against the window, but they would never let me in. We want to be the opposite of that: enthusiasts catering for enthusiasts, mixing in a highly professional yet friendly environment.’ www.historiccompetitionservices.eu
‘People will feel they are coming into a toy shop manned by enthusiasts’