Behind The Scenes
NEC
Ethan - “I remember being dragged around car shows as a small child, all I would see were knees and door handles of cars set door to door with one another, like a giant indoor carpark. I didn’t really enjoy them and never really got the point of going. As I got older, I began to see the appeal, but it seems that very few others my age are yet to discover it. Now when we do a show we go all out, our stand is never just a carpark with a desk and a tablecloth. The Speedshop and the Paddock Life team all muck in no matter what their usual role in the organisation may be, we all work together to build a show stand that we can proudly claim is the best stand in the show.”
Lucy - “I’d never been to live car shows before. The only real experience I have with them is with the Paddock Life team. We’ve done quite few shows now and It’s normally a mad rush of building the stand, talking to people, selling magazines and then packing everything up again in the blink of an eye, but this one at the NEC Classic Car Show all our team seemed to click in and we created something quite outstanding. I certainly never thought I’d help put over 3 million pounds worth of cars in such a small space. I love watching this video because it lets me see the stand the way other people get to see it.” - Lucy
Up on the Hill
Craig - “When we did the subscription deal for Paddock Life magazine with the Bugatti owners club at Prescott Hill Climb we committed to setting up our subscribers lounge at the key events, so this real shows our first Saturday at the Hill Climb which was the final championship event of the 2022 season. I brought in our event partners Paddlup who provided the Rocket ‘Airstream’ and the killer Lamborghini STO. I love seeing our team pulling together as we always have a great time meeting our readers. We have massive plans to expand the subscribers lounge offering for the 2023 season as the Paddock Speedshop Motul Morris Minor will be competing on the hill, whilst we create a hospitality area to watch it from, with a suitable beverage in hand of course...”
Silverstone Classic
Ethan – “The Paddock Speedshop television series is about getting the next generation into classic cars; our small team all have the passion and drive to make our vision a reality but sometimes there’s nothing better than some big brand recognition.
Since Motul have given us their support we’ve been elevated to a whole new level. It’s increased our ambitions for the builds and now our resources and abilities can keep up.
We can’t wait to see what the future holds for our relationship with this global lubricant brand.”
Milwaukee
Lucy – “Ethan is always going on about how A bad workman always blames his tools and that A good workmen has the right tools. And in this instance, I can’t say I disagree…
Whether its body work, engine work, suspension or whatever Ethan does you need the right tools”
Ethan – “So I gave Anthony at Milwaukee a call to get us kitted out with everything we need (or just want because it’s a fun tool) We’ve had Milwaukee tools in the King Dick tool chest since the get go but now we have their full range at our disposal.
What I would say, if you’re our age and starting to get involved with cars and building your tool set, is to buy the best you can afford and treat them as an investment”
Hard Work
Ethan - “A day in the life… As any classic car owner knows restoration can be a long and laborious process. You’ll have busy days and quiet days. At the Speedshop we just have busy days, especially when the whole production crew is in to shoot the story narrative and the car builds in one day. In this real we wake up at dawn for a location shoot at Donnington circuit with the MGBs before racing back for a day time story sequence at the Speedshop, then catching the sunset for an evening ‘war room meeting’ scene, which I’ve seen the rough cut of and it looks amazing as the opening scene of episode 2… all in a days work!”
Lucy - “There I was cutting the sill off the Morris, trying my hardest to ignore the full team of camera men behind me trying to capture the sparks from my angle grinder… (and trying not to offend anyone) as sometimes I think the crew forget I actually have to build cars… then it was over to the coffee machine for a ‘what are we going to do scene’ with Ethan who managed to f*ck up making a coffee and covered himself in hot water. learning to work on classics is one thing, learning to do it on camera is a whole new level but I’m learning to live with it”
Harvey’s ARDS test
Harvey – “For some Hill Climb events you don’t actually need a race license, but I’ll be competing in several national championships I will need to hold an MSA Racing license for the Hill Climbs, but my main goal is to be circuit racing in club or classic events to get my licence up to National or even International level this season. So, the first thing after purchasing the MSA pack is to book an ARDS test at a racing circuit. I chose Castle Combe for my test and took along Tom, one of the camera team to capture the day with me.”
Sleeping with Art
Lucy – “I tagged along with the Paddock Life team to the Sleeping with Art event at Hedsor House as I have an idea to create some original artwork on the Motul Morris Minor and thought it would be a good place to start.
The event is all about the crossover between cars and art and now in its second year, I really enjoyed it and some of our artist friends were there exhibiting, and I met lots interesting new people too, so now I have some ideas to work on back at the Speedshop.”
Morris Front
Lucy – “Working on the front for the Morris Minor has been a real labour of love and a massive learning curve. When Steve from HB Body got involved, he taught me the differences between the fillers and helped me master techniques that allowed me to create exactly what was in my head. Then Mirka got on board and provided me with a dustless sanding system, which certainly kept the production team happy… Understanding their range of abrasives saved me loads of time and between HB Body and Mirka I’ve been able to create a custom front clamshell that I’m so proud of. If Harvey stacks it on his first race, he’d best keep running…”
Motul Morris front reveal
Lucy – “I’m so pleased with how this has worked out, painted in grey and satin red it looks absolutely stunning.
The paint scheme is a decoy as you won’t be able to see the actual livery of the Motul Morris Minor until episode 9 of the show. I can say these are the colours but you’ll have to watch and wait to see how I’ll be using them…
so chuffed with this.”
96 Zero Field
Ethan – “As we’re sponsored by 96Zero they send me watches to wear, they are a cool micro brand, started by an ex-forces chap and follow a military theme. The range is of 3 timepieces denoting the three branches of the Armed Forces, Land, Sea and Air and I’ve wearing my ‘Sea’ or Diver as it’s called watch in the workshop through all the filming. The Land or ‘Field’ edition has just arrived so here’s my un-boxing film.”
96 Zero Pink Panther
Ethan – “Here’s another 96Zero watch, this time it is a limited edition of just 50 pieces. The watch is called the Pink Panther and is based on ‘Pinky’ the SAS WWII desert Land Rover that is famously painted pink. The watch face is based on the Land Rover dashboards central dial. All the watches in the 96Zero range are very interesting and never fail to start a conversation and are incredibly reasonably priced, check them out online.”
Coffee & Chrome Collective
A crisp cold Sunday morning at the Impney Estate near Droitwich. The Paddock Life team set up to host their Subscribers Lounge for the Footman James Coffee and Chrome Collective - Our event partners Paddlup provided the Rocket Airstream machinery and the coffee beans remain on theme specially roasted for petrol heads by the Carburetta Coffee Company ready for the first car meet of 2023. Fabulous Ferraris, perfect Porsches Neo classics, Hot Rods and everything in-between. Throw in a complimentary bacon roll and you have the makings of a sensational Sunday morning.