Fuzz & Tim’s S.O.S Workshop
The restoration workshop behind the ‘Car SOS’ TV series
S.O.S Workshop is the classic restoration firm owned by Fuzz Townsend and Classic Oils’ top man Guy Lachlan. It’s the workshop where the National Geographic TV series ‘Car SOS’ is filmed, but is also a flourishing restoration business in its own right, which will undertake a wide range of work on customer’s cars from an oil change through recommissioning to a full top-end restoration. Fuzz told PC: ‘We’re unique, certainly in the UK, in being the only car restoration TV show that operates out of a real, working workshop. It’s not a set, and the SOS series cars are treated to the same exacting standards as any other vehicle coming through our doors.’ S.O.S Workshop is an all types garage, not specialising in any marque or model. ‘However,’ says Fuzz, ‘we often get people contacting us to work on their car after seeing us restore the same model on the ‘Car SOS’ series. The TV series shows the restoration in depth and, having now restored 70 cars in front of the cameras, has given us a proven track record.’
When PC popped in, there were 10 customer cars in the workshop for various bits of work from light recommissioning through to full strip and rebuild. Nine members of staff work alongside Fuzz to keep
projects moving – from initial assessment through strip down, fabrication, bodywork, mechanical recommissioning and final reassembly. We asked Fuzz how things differ when they are filming a series of ‘Car SOS’. ‘Each series car takes on average 750-800 man hours from start to finish, so generally it’s all hands on deck to get everything done in the tight timescales we give ourselves. We try to work in parallel wherever possible to ensure that when the car is finally painted, all of its components are already refurbished and ready to simply be re-fitted like a big kit of parts.’
‘Not everything always goes to plan, though, as many of the ‘Car SOS’ cars, in particular, have been sitting around for 30+ years, so previous repairs might not be to the standard you would expect of the car today. We’ve often found neat and elaborate glassfibre repairs or tins of Smedley’s carrots welded into the sills!’
Contact sosworkshop. co.uk, 0121 552 3334