[Mike] This time...
-[laughs] Wow. -Look at that.
[Mike] Yes, look at that.
...we're taking on the high-class cousin
of one of the most unloved cars Britain ever built...
-Right then, Elvis, step into the office... -Ah.
...of the Vanden Plas.
...to see if we can change people's opinion
and prove they've got it all wrong.
So you start to fall in love with that little car, then?
[laughs] Well, love's a strong word.
So can Elvis be this motor's Prince Charming?
[Elvis] This is gonna be like trying to wake Sleeping Beauty, isn't it?
Apart from the beauty bit. Here we go.
[Mike] Get it wrong, and we'll be the laughing stock
of the automotive world.
Either we haven't got a spark in each of the four cylinders
or that spark's not strong enough.
That does not look right.
[Mike] But get it right,
and this car could get the second life it deserves.
-What do you think of ours? -Aged like a fine wine.
Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.
I love you. Thank you so much for saying that.
It's like holding onto a wild beast.
I'm Mike Brewer, and I've been buying
and selling cars for nearly 40 years.
It's rattly, smelly, and it's blooming brilliant.
Now I've set up shop in Britain's motoring heritage heartland...
Oh, yes!
...along with ex-Formula 1 mechanic, Marc "Elvis" Priestley.
So that engine management light never put you off, then?
Together, we get to buy...
-Think you're the right man for it. -Top man?
-...and fix up... -Look at the state of it.
It's got the Spirit of Ecstasy and everything.
...the most iconic and exciting cars on the market.
-This is gonna be epic. -Bolt a supercharger to it,
and you end up with a car that does this.
With Elvis' engineering skill...
And there it is, the offending article.
...and my car dealing clout...
He's gonna be over the moon, innit?
Elvis better get the posh tools ready.
...we should be able to make ourselves a tidy profit.
Because this is my job, and I blooming love it.
[theme music playing]
So, right turn, Clyde.
Right turn, Clyde.
Straight over at the roundabout.
Go on, then, mate, put me out of my misery.
What are we going to see this time? Why am I here?
You won't be in misery, let's put it that way,
but we're going to see an iconic car.
-[laughs] Really? -Yep, from the 1970s.
-Okay. -Yeah, it's British.
-Yeah. -And it's probably the most unloved car of all time.
-What? An Allegro? Is it an Allegro? -[laughs]
-Is it? -Sort of.
It's an Allegro that's been at a plastic surgeon.
-It's the Vanden Plas 1500. -What do we want with an Allegro?
Well, actually, they got really bad rap,
-the Allegro. -Yes, for a good reason.
They called it an all aggro.
This one's been dressed up with the Vanden Plas stuff, it's got the big grille.
It's got the walnut dashboard and a leather interior,
-so it should be all right. -Yeah. I mean, look, you're right.
But you can put lipstick on a pig, it doesn't make it beautiful.
[laughter] I've seen beautiful pigs. I have.
Hear me out, all right. Because it's an Allegro,
there's a strange movement afoot,
which is people now appreciating these unloved classics,
and they're having gatherings, they're actually having meetings...
-Yeah. -...and getting together.
And I reckon we can tap into that market,
plus, I don't think it's that bad a car.
I think they're actually quite a good car,
-and I want to honor that and celebrate that. -Yeah.
[Elvis] I mean, tell me they're giving it for not a lot of money.
The couple selling it, they're called Peter and Gwen.
Peter's unfortunately not well...
-Oh, dear. -...so it's an unfinished project.
But, I know that he's really done some good work to the car,
that's what his wife tells me.
And hopefully, if it's good,
they're only asking 1500 quid for it,
we should be able to wrestle it away and save it.
Okay. Well, listen, you know me, mate. I'm all about saving cars.
-So, let's hope it's better than I suspect it is. -It will be.
Released in 1973,
the standard Austin Allegro was born at possibly the worst period
in British car manufacturing.
It suffered from terrible build quality,
a questionable gearbox and dumpy styling,
which is why it was often touted as one of the worst cars ever built.
However, its top-of-the-range cousin,
which was primped and preened by coach builders,
Vanden Plas was the spec to have.
Inside and out, it was given a luxurious makeover
that included wall-to-wall carpet,
a big chrome grille, and picnic tables in the back,
transforming it from an everyday run-around
into something for the more discerning motorist.
So I'm on a mission to prove that the world is wrong,
and that this version of the Allegro
doesn't deserve the poor reputation it's had up until now.
We've travelled to the suburbs of Epsom for a look at this motor.
And what Elvis hasn't quite worked out yet
is that I've not brought him along for his conversational skills.
-You must be Gwen. -I am indeed.
Gwen, how are you? My name's Mike.
-Hello, Mike. Nice to meet you. -Lovely to meet you.
-And you. Hello. -Hello, I'm Elvis.
So, how long has the car been here?
About seven years.
-[Mike] Has it? -[Gwen] Yeah.
-[Elvis] What, just sat like that with a cover over it? -Yeah.
So why now? What's the decision to, uh, to sell the car now?
Well, unfortunately, Peter has got dementia,
and he doesn't even know the car's there,
let alone to do any work on it.
-So, um... -What a shame.
I guess you just love to see somebody finish the job
-that he started all that time ago. -Yes. Yeah.
Well, that's what we do. We try to, you know,
restore and recover cars back to how they used to be.
So hopefully, we can do that with this.
Right. Here we go then, Gwen. Let's have a look.
And that's fantastic.
So he sort of started a paint job but didn't finish it.
All marked up, ready to go. Let's get rid of this.
Look at that.
[Elvis] Oh, it's got no wheels.
Oh, it's got no brakes on the front, either.
[Mike] No, none on this side either.
We can't really have a proper look at it unless we can get it outside.
I mean, I've got the tools in the car. If the bits are in here,
if you want to look around and find them,
I'd start putting it together quickly, and we can roll it out.
-Would that be all right with you, Gwen? -Yes.
-Would you leave us with it for a little while? -Yeah.
We'll get it built up, push it out, then we'll give you a shout.
-That'd be fine. Okay. -Yeah? We'll see you in a bit.
-Thanks, Gwen. -Yeah, see you later.
-What have we got over there? -Well, definitely need a hub
because I've got nothing to bolt the wheel to.
-Well, I found a hub down here. -Have you?
So I've got a wheel and a hub.
[Mike] Look at that. I knew I brought him for a reason.
We're not gonna be able to get it out on the road today
because it's been sat here for so long,
but at least we can get it out of this garage.
-Are you actually pushing? -[Mike] Yeah, of course I'm pushing.
-Nice. -I'll tell you what, mate, it's not bad.
Not bad at all, is it? Once it's out.
-Look at this engine bay. -Look under here.
-[laughs] Wow. -Look at that.
Yes, look at that. That is good.
[Elvis] He's done some really good work to this, hasn't he?
I mean, chrome on top. Is that standard?
[Mike] That's standard for a Vanden Plas I do believe, yeah,
because it's all about the Vanden Plas, so...
In fact, they never called this car an Allegro at all.
They called it the Vanden Plas 1500.
But it's almost a desperate attempt to detach itself from a car
-that no one liked... -Exactly that.
...back in the day.
And in condition like this, I mean, look at the inner wings,
there's not a blemish on the inner wings.
-They look like they're new. -So, we don't know if it runs yet, of course.
There is a bit of gamble in that side of things.
There is one thing I've noticed,
it's sagging over on one side,
-but it's obviously fixable. -That's fantastic.
I absolutely love it.
-Should we have a look inside? -Yeah.
-Right then, Elvis, step into the office... -Ah.
...of the Vanden Plas.
Look at that.
It's... It's like the day it was born.
-Look at that headliner. -[Elvis] Mate, that is immaculate.
I don't think I've ever seen one that good.
That is fantastic. Leather interior.
Isn't that nice? Automatic gearbox.
-Look, wooden dashboard. -What year is it?
Uh, 1976, this car.
Same year as me.
-Is it, really? -Yeah.
That's a reason to buy it. I'm already falling in love with it.
Doing better than I am, innit?
Let's have a look at that paint work down the rear.
Mate, I suppose the only real work that I can see is down the rear.
-I mean, I think the engine will jog into life. -Yeah. I mean, suspension.
The suspension, we'll have to address that but,
this is where the real problems are.
I'm sort of reluctant to paint the whole car
cos the front end, it's almost immaculate, it's original.
I like to leave that. But when you think about
only painting half a car, particularly a car of this age,
trying to match the paint color is difficult, isn't it?
Well, you've been busy, haven't you?
-We have. -Looks fantastic, doesn't it?
Your husband done some remarkable work to this car.
The engine bay is almost immaculate.
-Yeah. -It looks really, really nice.
It comes down to price and how much money you want for it,
-and we'll see if we could put a deal together. -I think 1,500 would be...
No arguments from us. We have a deal with you.
-Thank you very much, Gwen. -Thank you very much.
Lovely. So there you go.
Just brought a Vanden Plas 1500
-for 1,500. -[laughter]
Don't call it an Allegro.
Come on, mate. Cheer up.
We got a Vanden Plas, an enhanced Allegro,
slung out on the back of our discovery.
Aye? And we only gave 1500 quid for it.
-I think that's a bit of a bargain. -Yeah, I mean...
It's not that enhanced, is it? It doesn't work.
And there's a few little things we need to do
to get it looking like a Vanden Plas.
We need to sort out that paintwork.
We need to do, the listing over to one side,
-we need to sort out that suspension. -Yeah.
And obviously, we've got to get it running as well.
Yeah. What I don't yet get is what people see in these things.
What is it about a Vanden Plas that...
Where do people see beauty in it?
Because at the moment, I can't see it.
Well, let me put it this way. Right?
When Vincent van Gogh,
when he was alive, he sold one painting.
Yeah. Now he's dead, everyone wants one, right?
So sometimes you just have to wait for the rest of the world to catch up.
And I think people are now catching up
with the Vanden Plas and they're gonna celebrate it.
I see. So it was ahead of its time?
-Yes. -Yeah, okay.
All right. We're halfway there because,
-like Vincent van Gogh, this one's dead. -[laughs]
So the story of the Allegro and the Vanden Plas
may well have emerged out of the mayhem
of early 1970s British car design.
But almost 50 years later, could they be seen differently?
I'm still yet to be convinced, because so far all we've got
is an unattractive, 1500 quid paperweight.
As this car's engine has sat dormant for so long,
I can't just fire it up.
That would risk doing some real damage to the internal components.
So I need to run through a few steps to breathe it back to life.
First thing I'm going to do is soak the balls with a penetrating oil
in the hope it will turn freely when I need it to.
I'm going to leave it to soak for 24 hours
in the hope that I can bring this dormant 1.5 liter engine back to life.
We've bought a Vanden Plas 1500,
a very special edition of one of the most
unloved cars of all time, the Austin Allegro,
to see if we can convince the world that this ugly duckling
has matured into a beautiful swan.
At least that's what Mike keeps telling me.
But there's no way this bird will fly
if I can't get the engine up and running.
So the penetrating fluid has been working its magic overnight
inside the balls of the engine,
but I'm also going to drain all of this horrible fuel
that's been sat in this tank for many, many years,
and replace it with fresh stuff
and run that right through the system.
You might not think of petrol as having a shelf life,
but it actually only lasts about six months
before it starts to degrade in quality.
With fresh fuel in the tank,
I disconnected the fuel line ahead of the filter
which I'm going to clean out in a moment.
I'm going to use this suction pump to draw that fresh fuel
through the lines that run underneath the car,
because in all honesty, that's where most of the sediment,
and dirt and rubbish is most likely to collect,
before I even think about trying to turn this engine over.
I'm also throwing the car up onto the ramp
so I can drain the old oil out of it.
We have no idea when that was last changed.
And, as the automatic gearbox on this car
shares oil with the engine,
it's even more important to make sure that it's running
with clean fluids when we try to turn it over.
The last few jobs are fitting a fuel filter
to catch any debris that may get pulled through the tank,
cranking the engine by hand to make sure it isn't seized,
adding some fresh oil,
and fitting some new spark plugs.
That's prepared the engine as best I can.
But will it turn over?
Well, this car's been asleep for many, many years,
but this could be the moment we wake it up.
It's like trying to wake Sleeping Beauty, isn't it?
Apart from the beauty bit.
-Here we go. -[engine starting]
Come on.
-[engine sputtering] -[laughs]
-[engine shuts off] -[laughs]
Okay. Well, we breathed it into life, almost,
but that wasn't good enough. I'm going to try it one more time.
[engine starting]
No. Okay, that's gonna need a bit of investigation.
Well, we've clearly got some kind of spark
because it almost burst into life.
Either we haven't got a spark in each of the four cylinders,
or that spark's not strong enough.
All four leads are on,
and I've definitely got fuel flowing 'cause the filter is full.
This car has been upgraded to have electronic ignition,
perhaps something Peter did when he was working on it.
All right, we're good. It's actually much better
than the old point system, much more reliable, but...
your little magnetic rotor inside the distributor cap,
if I can get it out... Oh! Here we go.
Yeah, look at that. That does not look right.
It's got damage on the top. That's really unusual,
I don't think I have seen that before but,
the top surface of that should be completely round,
and it's not. It's got a chunk missing.
This has four magnets, and as it rotates,
each of those magnets makes contact and transfers the current
through the cap and along the leads, creating the spark that we need.
And whilst this is probably getting three very good sparks,
I would bet my house on the fact that the fourth one
is either not working or is barely working.
And that is almost certainly our problem.
Mike will have to find me a new one of those,
which is frustrating 'cause I can't start the engine without it.
Whilst I'm waiting for that to turn up,
it will give me a chance to have a good look around the rest of the car.
There will almost certainly be plenty of other areas that need my attention.
This is still fundamentally an Allegro after all.
And having been around all four corners,
there's definitely an issue on this one.
There's some play in this wheel.
At first, I thought it was the wheel bearing,
but on further investigation,
I can actually feel that the play is all in this top ball joint here.
Now, the nice thing about cars from this era
is that components like that were serviceable.
So, unlike a modern car,
you don't have to throw it away and replace it with a new one.
What I hope is that that wear and tear
is not too bad. It doesn't feel too bad.
There are shims inside the ball joint,
and what I hope is that there are still enough shims left
to give them the adjustment that I need
to get it back to being perfect.
As the joint wears over time, it develops play
which can result in problems with the car steering and suspension.
[tool whirs]
By removing a couple of the shims, effectively metal spaces,
it should tighten everything back up.
Okay. So this here is the ball joint in question, and it's quite loose.
If I pop the dust cover off,
get rid of that,
you can see how it works.
And actually, there you go, I can feel a whole lot of movement.
You can even hear it.
That's this ball that's moving up and down inside this cup, and it shouldn't do that.
The cup is screwed down onto the hub,
and underneath that cup is a series of shims.
And this is the nice part.
Cos at the moment, that cup's being spaced up,
and that sound you can hear is the ball moving in a gap
that shouldn't be there. So if I take the cup off,
remove a shim or two, we'll measure that accurately,
it'll pull it down even tighter over the ball,
and we should get nice, stiff movement with absolutely no play.
Firstly, I'm folding back the tabs on the locking washer with a chisel,
before loosening it off with a spanner so I can get to whatever shims are left.
All right, there we go.
The good news is we've got plenty of shims in there.
They're all different thicknesses as well,
which is useful because it allows us
to get that accurate adjustment that we need.
In this case, what I'm going to do
is take out two of the really thin ones,
pop it back together and hope we've got it close.
There's a bit of trial and error with this,
but luckily, it's a relatively easy job.
All I need is a bit of lubrication and then some elbow grease
to tighten it back up and check the results.
So, I've checked what the correct torque setting is in the manual.
It's really important doing this job because what you're doing is
you're clamping that cup down over the shims that we've put in.
Particularly, as you're going back and forward here,
checking, undoing again, checking again,
that we always torque it up to exactly the same tightness.
Do it too loose, of course you don't clamp the shims down,
if you do it too much, you risk overstretching the thread,
and that will again change the adjustment you've made.
Yeah. Okay. So it's definitely too tight,
which shows you how fine the measurements are
because I only took out two very thin shims.
I'm pretty sure with that. Yeah.
I'm gonna have to put one of them back in.
All right.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, that's loads better.
Perfect. Nice and consistent all the way around.
It's not too loose, but it's also not too tight. I'm happy.
I'm then going to grease it up, put it all back together and zip it up.
Yeah. Perfect.
That is that sorted.
So the only thing really now I'm waiting for
is that magnetic rotor for the inside of the distributor cap,
I hope Mike brings that back soon. And then...
fingers crossed, we can get the engine started.
[Mike] Don't you worry, buddy boy. I'm a moment away,
and I've come bearing gifts from the parts supplier.
[chuckles] There she is, our little beauty.
The car's not bad, either. How are you, buddy?
Very good. I brought you back the world's heaviest part.
-Where is it? -There.
[both laugh]
Well mate, that might not be the world's heaviest part,
but it's an absolutely crucial part to this job.
I'm pretty sure this is the one thing standing between me
firing this engine up for the first time in years.
I can't wait to hear it go. What else you been up to?
Well, whilst I've been working through the engine problems,
I've also... I've done all the shimming of the ball joints on the suspensions.
-There's no more play in that, so that's all good news. -Lovely.
There's a couple of things inside that are on the list but I haven't yet got to.
Is there anything I can help with? I'm standing around
-doing nothing at the moment. -Absolutely. Yeah.
Look around the corner, you'll see the dashboard's
got a bit of delamination, few bits coming off it.
Yeah, I noticed that when we bought the car.
-Yeah. -Dashboards.
-My wheelhouse, that's what I do, dashboards. -Yeah.
-Take the dash out, give it to me, I'll get it fixed. -Love that.
-What are we gonna do about that paintwork? -That is the next challenge,
I feel like it's a reasonably big one.
I don't want to paint the whole car,
and so we try and find like a paint blending process
to match the old paint with some new paint.
Yeah, I think that's the idea.
I just hope someone can do a really nice match, you know.
-All right. That it? -That is it, mate. Yeah.
So, um... Yeah, I think we're ready to go.
Do you want to get on the key?
-Should we go for it? -Yeah, let's give it a go.
-Do you feel confident? -This could be a moment.
I'm 99% sure that's the one thing missing.
So now that we got it, it should burst into life.
-Right. Ready? -Yeah, I'll get the throttle.
-Fingers? -Go on, then.
-[engine cranking] -Come on!
[Elvis] We're trying to breathe life back into a 1976 Vanden Plas 1500
that hasn't run for the best part of a decade.
Not until now.
-[engine starts] -Yes. [laughs]
-Look at that. She runs. -Yeah.
-Oh, man, that's amazing. It sounds so good. -It sounds good.
-It sounds strong, doesn't it? -It does. Sounds lovely.
-Right. Let me turn it off. -Yeah, go on then.
[engine shuts down]
-Oh, man... I'm so happy. -Are we all done?
That's a huge chunk of the re-commissioning process.
I'm done with that thing working. and I'm so happy with that.
You start to fall in love with that little car, then?
Well, love's a strong word, but,
I mean, look, now that that's working,
a part of me is starting to like the Allegro.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Allegro? You can't call this Allegro.
-It's a Vanden Plas. -[laughs]
Is it a Vanden Plas or a Vanden Plas?
It could be Plas or Plas.
-Just don't call it an Allegro. -[laughs]
Regardless of how you pronounce it,
ours isn't going to be gaining any new admirers
until I can fix its paintwork.
But before I do that, there's something else that needs my attention.
Now, when Mike and I first went to see this car,
I could tell that it was sitting low.
And it's got a slightly unusual suspension system called hydro-gas.
Hydro-gas suspension was originally developed by British Leyland in the 1970s.
It uses a suspension fluid that cushions the car as it travels along the road.
It's not uncommon for that fluid to gradually seep away,
especially when a car's been sat for a long time.
But the good news is I can top the system up
and get the car back to that correct ride height.
I've got the workshop manual out,
and it gives us a very specific dimension
between the axle and the bottom of the wing here, the wheel arch.
That dimension should be 373 millimeters,
but on ours, well, we're down at 308 millimeters.
Luckily, raising it back up 65 mm isn't a very taxing job,
but explaining how the system works is.
So I've put together a little demonstration.
Now, I know it may well look like there's been a kid's party going on here,
but bear with me, because I've knocked up this.
An oversimplified model representing the hydro-gas units
on each of the four corners of our car.
Now this one's made up of two plastic bottles and a toilet plunger,
with the toilet plunger representing the suspension leg or strut
on each of those four corners.
As the car travels over the road, moving over the lumps and bumps,
that movement is transmitted through this strut
as it moves up and down. Now, above that,
we've got this green cylinder, in our case a green balloon.
Here it's filled with water, but on the car,
it's filled with a suspension fluid that's made up of water,
a rust inhibitor, and an anti-freeze solution as well.
At the top of the green cylinder are some tiny little holes,
and as that movement is transmitted through the suspension leg
and it moves up and down, that fluid passes
through the tiny holes from the green cylinder
into the bottom of the red cylinder.
Now because the holes are so small, they act as a restrictor
in the same way that a traditional damper works,
giving us that smooth and cushioned ride
as the car travels down the road.
Now in the case of our car,
this green cylinder has lost some of its fluid over time,
and we now need to refill it,
because refilling that system has this effect.
It extends that suspension leg, pushing it down,
making the overall length of the hydro-gas unit even longer,
and it's that that resets the car's ride height
back to where it should be.
At least that's how it should work in theory.
Time to see if it's just as smooth in real life.
Now in order to get the car back to its correct ride height,
I'm going to use one of these.
It's a very old-school looking, hand-operated hydraulic pump,
but it's going to allow me to refill the system.
The Vaden Plas has two hydro-gas systems
that control the ride height, one on either side of the car.
So first off, I'm connecting to the driver's side,
and hopefully, pumping it back up
to that all important 373 millimeters.
Yeah, I'll take that.
That is absolutely perfect.
Back where it should have always been.
I just need to check the other side, and then,
then I can get onto this monumental challenge
of getting the car back to being the right color again.
[Mike] I'm on the way to get the veneer on our dashboard salted,
but it's not in the traditional way.
It's great news that Elvis has got our Vanden Plas
running again as it should be, which I'm very excited about.
The one thing that lets our car down, really,
is the dashboard inside because the interior is so nice.
But the dashboard being walnut burl veneer,
well, it's cracked, it's faded, it's peeling off.
So I was looking around if there is a different process,
something that's maybe a little bit cheaper, a little bit quicker,
and possibly a little bit more durable.
And there is, it's called hydro dipping.
So, I've sent our dashboard ahead to some friends of mine,
and they reckon they can not only make it look like a veneer dashboard,
but it will be better than what was on the car originally.
Hydro dipping is a process where you lower an object
onto a thin plastic graphic sheet
that's been made pliable by a warm bath of water.
You can then choose pretty much any design you can imagine.
But because this is a Vanden Plas no less,
the trick today is going to be finding a match
for our original dashboard's color.
-Lyle, how are you, bud? -Good. How are you doing?
-Yeah. Good. Nice to see you. -And you.
Um, did you get the parts I sent you down?
-Yeah, I did. -How far we got with them?
Well, the main part of the dash is prepped, ready to go
and we need to decide on a color which we need your help with.
So we've got the glove box still to kind of move forward with,
but I'm going to get you some colors,
so you can have a look.
-Okay. -And then, the glove box itself...
-Right. -...is here.
-So, I've got to match that? -Yeah.
-But that's way too gold, isn't it? -Yeah.
But that's close, isn't it? And that's a walnutty look.
Yeah but his is our favorite. This is the one we would recommend you choose,
but we just want your opinion on that before we,
you know, obviously, go ahead and do what we think is right.
I agree. I think that... I think that will look lovely
going all the way across the dashboard.
That will look fantastic, yeah. So, yes,
-I choose that. -Excellent.
[Mike] To get the glove box prepped for its fancy new covering,
Lyle starts by sanding off the original lacquer and veneer.
All good?
Yeah, I think we're good to go.
[Mike] Next, we're handing this bit of the glove box
over to one of the painters so it can be primed,
whilst we crack on with the center section of the dash
that's already been through the process.
And now it's ready to have the hydro dip transfer applied to it.
Ah! Right now...
That is a real surprise. Orange.
-Why so orange? -We need to allow for the ink in the film,
and once it's applied, you will end up,
basically, with a finish that looks more like that.
So the base you put down is that thick orange...
-Yeah. -...and then over the top of that the transfer,
-uh, which is this? -Yeah.
-And then the orange comes through that. -Yeah.
-That little sample piece there, if you overlay that... -Yeah.
...it'll give you a bit of a close, like, indication
-of how it's gonna look. -Oh, yeah, look at that.
-Still very orange. -Yeah.
You're gonna have to convince me
that this is the right shade of orange.
Right. Let the magic begin.
First, Lyle cuts the film to size,
and then we're ready to take the dash for a dip.
-What do I do? -Just drop it down slowly,
till it touches down.
[Mike] Now the film is floating on the warm water,
it slowly starts to melt,
becoming a flexible film on the surface.
Okay, Mike, if you can get ready to grab me the dash,
I need to get my mask on and get ready to activate.
No worries. Yeah, I'm standing by.
Next, Lyle sprays the film with a catalyst solution
which turns the ink into liquid.
Then it's time for the big moment.
[laughs]
Get in. [laughs]
Look at that. It is magic.
It is literally magic right in front of your eyes.
That is fantastic. Isn't that cool? You pleased with that?
You can't say anything. Lyle, are you happy with that?
Yeah, mate, it's awesome. That's about as good
-as it's gonna get. -You've done an amazing job
and that's before it's even lacquered and varnished
and put together with the rest of the bits.
Mate, I can't wait for you to get it finished, lacquered up, back to the workshop.
Elvis is going to love this!
[Elvis] Whilst Mike's out taking care of the dash,
I finished sorting out the suspension.
So it's time to turn my attention to the big one, the paintwork.
Now, because the paint on the front end of our car's in really good condition,
it doesn't make any sense to paint the whole car.
But I do need to know exactly what color it is
so I can apply that to the rear end.
Now, it's a tried and tested method
but I have seen it go horribly wrong,
and so I've enlisted the help of Nick here from a local paint matching company.
You might be thinking, why aren't we looking up
the original paint code from the 1970s and using that.
Well, for two reasons.
Firstly, 50 years of weathering will have faded the original color.
And secondly, because it looks like our car's being touched up
a number of times over the years.
So, we need to match the existing paint work
to make sure any new paint blends in seamlessly.
Right, Nick... What are you saying then?
-You had a little look around it. -Well, it is an Allegro,
it was never my cup of tea, but, uh...
You can't call it an Allegro, mate. It's a Vanden Plas.
But I know what you're saying. [laughs]
In terms of matching the paint then,
so how do we get the exact color from the front end to then be applied here?
What we'd usually do now,
we'd clean off a panel and then we'd scan it,
and then that will give us a reference point to start with.
[Elvis] Nick's brought along a fancy bit of kit called a spectrometer
which can analyze the paint and provide us with a match.
But to get a good reading, I first need to polish off a section
with a little cutting compound.
-Is that all right there? -Yeah, it's good, but just do the top of that wing.
I think that looks a bit...
I don't know if the wing looks a bit different to the bonnet.
-Do you reckon? -Well, yeah.
-Can you not see it? -[laughs]
No, that's where your expert eye comes in.
It looks all right, it looks the same.
It actually comes up as a lovely color, doesn't it?
-That's nice... -There is a tiny difference, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah. The bonnet's slightly lighter than the wing.
So therefore, if we scan the top of the wing...
-Yeah. -...we should be...
that'll be the same batch of paint that was used for the side.
So you're more likely, more keen to scan the wing
because that's on the same side profile of the car,
and that's going to help distract people's view,
-and less likely to see any differences. -Yeah, definitely.
[Elvis] Nick's scanning the car with a spectrometer five times.
It analyses the wavelength of the light reflected by the paint work
and then creates an average of the results.
This should give us a match that's around 90 percent accurate.
We're waiting for the green tick.
Big green tick, means it's got a good image?
-Yeah, it's means the scan's been a success. -Good. All right.
So I take this back to the shop and hand it to Kelly,
our color technician, and she'll sort it out for you.
[Elvis] Because I can't take the car to the shop
to compare it to the color chip the spectrometer's gonna select,
I've taken off a small panel that I can easily take along with me.
-Hello. Are you Kelly? -Hello. Yes, I am. Are you Elvis?
-I am indeed. -Hello, I've been expecting you.
-Good. Did Nick give you the spectrometer? -Yes, um...
So I've got the results from the spectrometer this morning.
Should we have a look at the panel here?
-Yeah, he asked me to bring a piece along. -Brilliant.
So, that's what the scanner's produced?
This is what the scanner's produced this morning.
-That looks good to me. -It's pretty good.
That's amazing.
If you're happy with that, we can take the formulation today.
-I can go ahead and mix it. -Excellent. Perfect, okay.
To mix the perfect paint, Kelly needs to blend together
just the right quantity of various colors.
Luckily for us, the computer's giving us a recipe to follow,
so we know we're going to end up with exactly what's on the color chip.
-Right. So this is moment of truth, isn't it? -This is, yes.
So let's give it a mix and see how looks.
Go on then. Okay, let's have a look.
Yeah, look at that. That's a lovely color.
-It is. -Let me grab the piece.
Hold that together... I mean, it's not bad, is it?
I mean, I guess it'll dry a tiny bit different to that?
Yeah, probably about two shades darker,
-so I think it's going to be good. -Yeah, that sounds perfect.
If it's going to be a bit darker, that will be an absolute exact match.
Mm. Yeah, are you happy with that one?
I'll tell you what. I think I am.
[Elvis] Our little Vanden Plas 1500 is almost complete.
And don't tell Mike, but you know what?
I think I might just be starting to develop a little soft spot for it.
I've got some really exciting but also nerve-wracking news this morning
because the Vanden Plas has been delivered,
freshly painted, back to my workshop.
I'm just hoping that that color that I chose for the rear end
perfectly matches the color that was already on the front end.
[chuckling] There it is.
-Hey. Morning, mate. -How are you doing?
Look at this. That looks incredible, doesn't it?
-Looks good, doesn't it? -You can't even tell
where the old paint finishes and the new paint starts.
Whoever scanned in that color match was a genius.
The paint job is exceptional as well.
That's incredible, isn't it?
-Hello, hello. -Hello, hello. You ready?
-Yeah, go on. -Ta-da!
-You look at that. -Did you buy a new one?
Well, if I did buy a new one, it would be very expensive,
like, between 500 to 700 quid, but this is our old dashboard.
-No, it isn't. -It is. It's not even wood.
-What do you mean? -It's wood underneath,
but this has been hydro dipped.
This is actually a graphic,
a transfer that's been put on then lacquered,
and it will outlast the veneer in the car.
-It's going to be in the car forever. -That is incredible.
-350 quid. -Oh, mate, nice work.
Honestly, that looks so good and so does that.
It may not be the most attractive car in the world,
but I tell you what, it's a lot less ugly with these bits on it.
It's funny people still think this car's ugly.
I think it's beautiful. So much so,
I'm going to line up somewhere really beautiful
to drive it at the end once you get all this stuff fitted.
Nice work.
This has been one of the most marmite renovations in Wheeler Dealers' history.
You can put lipstick on a pig, it doesn't make it beautiful.
-[laughter] -I've seen beautiful pigs. I have.
We took one of the most unloved cars on the planet...
It's a bit like trying to wake Sleeping Beauty, isn't it? Apart from the beauty bit.
[Mike] ...and sprinkled it with Elvis magic...
All right.
Oh, that's loads better.
[Mike] ...transforming it from an ugly duckling...
Don't call it an Allegro, mate. It's a Vanden Plas.
But I know what you're saying.
[Mike] ...into a beautiful swan.
But beauty comes at a price.
So how much did this makeover set us back?
We originally bought the car from Gwen for 1,500 pounds.
Recommissioning the engine set us back 128.
And new hydro dipped dashboard was 350,
and the paintwork, 582 quid.
Finally, we've also stuck in a new battery
and put on a new set of tires for 251 pounds,
which gives us a grand total of 2,811 pounds.
But the big question remains.
Can we convince people to give this unloved motor
a second look, 50 years on, from when it was first launched?
Mate, this is absolutely fantastic.
How good is this? I can't believe we've come such a long way
from where this car first started, but the way it drives is fantastic.
It's the first time you've driven it.
It's the first time, and it's smooth, it's quiet.
-It feels kind of regal in here. -[laughs]
I kind of like it. Gearbox is lovely.
Automatic, so I can just cruse along.
-We've nailed it, haven't we? -Well, we have, to be honest.
It is nice to see what was a half-finished project
turn into a proper Allegro and now back on the road again.
You've said it again. It's not an Allegro, it's a Vanden Plas.
You can't say Allegro, you'll upset a whole community of people.
This is what Austin intended the car to be,
the Vanden Plas.
And to show off our Vanden Plas at its best,
I've brought us to one of the most beautiful villages in England
to demonstrate that this unloved car actually fits in
to this stunning setting rather well.
Look at that. Let's see, little knowing nod from somebody there.
They appreciate the Vanden Plas.
Look at this. How pretty is it?
There, another little nod from somebody.
Look at this place. Yeah, this is where this car should be.
This is the picturesque town of Bourton-on-the-Water.
-A little river running through it. -It's gorgeous.
[Mike] Ducks on the pond. Look at that. Isn't it lovely?
This car sits perfectly here. What you don't know,
because I like to keep these little things a secret from you,
is that I've arranged for us to drive to the museum
-here in Bourton-on-the-Water... -Yeah.
...where I've arranged for other unloved cars like this Vanden Plas to turn up,
and because you put this in amongst them,
and it's gonna shine.
I just want to get the car sold. I want somebody to enjoy it,
somebody to drive it around and show it off,
and maybe people will fall in love with this unloved classic.
Right, so here we are. This is the center
-of Bourton-on-the-Water. -Yeah, look.
-Look at all those old cars. -Yep. All those unloved cars.
-How good is that? -[laughter]
[Mike] We brought together some of the strangest looking...
The previous owner's children, they called it the Vomit Comet.
...most unfamiliar...
The Avantime was designed for a niche that didn't really exist.
...and quirkiest unloved cars on the planet
to find out what their owner's see in them that nobody else does.
Look at this. That is the Fiat Multipla.
The Ferrari Formula 1 team used to use these as crew buses...
Oh, get out.
-They were the laughing stock of the F1 paddock. -I'm sure.
-Uh, Mick, don't want to be rude to your car... -Yes.
But back in the day, it was a laughing stock. But today, I don't why,
in amongst his company as well, it's pretty cool.
-People love them or they hate them. -Yeah.
But then, I drove up on the motorway yesterday,
and there was people tooting me
and giving me the thumbs up sign through the window
saying what a great car it was.
-Are you sure a thumb? -It was definitely a thumb.
Flipside of the coin is also I've taken it to a Cars and Coffee one morning,
a guy walked up and said, "Please take it away.
-It's making my eyes bleed." -[laughter]
So I absolutely understand the flipside.
-What do you think of it? -I think it's a great car.
It's a car that's been designed.
There's not a single piece of this car
that's not had the designers pen.
I'm upset my children won't come out in it now.
When they were this big, they'd come out,
but now they won't be seen, they won't be seen into it.
-Is this yours? What's your name? -Yeah.
-It's James. -Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you. How you doing?
This is Elvis. Now, that is a cool car.
Yeah, it's a Japanese import, Nissan Cube.
So, what's that like? When you're driving that car down the road,
because it's unfamiliar and it's kind of quirky to look at,
what kind of reaction do you get when you're driving it?
Believe it or not, I get hundreds of people
taking videos and photos as I drive past, you wouldn't believe it.
Do you? What made you buy it in the first place?
-The wife told me not to. -[laughter]
Now, I actually really like these.
-Good. -This is a Renault Avantime or Avantime depending on
-where you are... -I'd say Avantime.
...where you are in the world.
Um, I think it's a great, great looking car.
Renault had the Espace,
the most practical car you could ever own,
and they decided, what can we do? How can we flip it?
We're going to turn it into a two-door SUV coupe thing, that nobody wanted.
It does fit into the line-up perfectly because it's slightly unusual.
This is a home from home for me, I've had four Multiplas,
and we've got a Cube at home as well, so...
-This is like your garage here. -It is.
It is very much like my drive.
But what did this bunch of unloved classic car lovers think to our Vanden Plas?
Has it matured like a fine wine, or is this bottle corked?
What do you think of our Vanden Plas over there?
It's the ultimate unloved lemon, isn't it?
An Allegro and a Vanden Plas...
on top of that. So, yeah, I think it's great. I'd love one.
-She's a beauty. -No, be honest.
Honestly, I'm not sure everyone would have always said that,
but, yeah, aged like a fine wine.
Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.
-[laughter] -Don't feel awkward.
I love you.
Thank you so much for saying that.
Well, that sounds like a resounding success.
And there's one man we hope loves it more than all the rest,
that's potential buyer, Paul.
-You must be Paul. -I am indeed.
-Paul, nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you both.
Paul, I suppose the big question for us, too, um...
-Why a Vanden Plas? -Got to have the best, haven't we?
There's so few left now.
We're down, like, to tens of them now, so...
to be able to obtain one of these today in this day and age,
with a solid shell by the looks of it as well,
-is very rare. -Well, my question is,
did you always love it when it was an Allegro,
or is it since they put those Vanden Plas tweaks in there?
Not so much just an Allegro, I had some uncles and my dad had one,
and the humble base models didn't really interest me,
when this come along, it really caught my eye.
Well, I think we found the guy, haven't we?
-It was destined. -I think you have, yeah.
I have never known a man so excited and enthusiastic about a Vanden Plas.
-Thank you. We love it. -You're welcome.
You like what we've done with this car?
-Very much so, yes. -So if you want this car,
it is going to cost you.
Okay. I thought that was coming, yeah.
-Yes? Okay. Well, good. -Yeah.
Um, but me and Elvis, we've been thinking...
we'd rather put this car out on the road to be enjoyed,
and we're not thinking about the profit on this one.
This is an unloved British classic.
And I think if it's in the hands of an enthusiast like you,
you will show it off in its best light, take it to car shows,
-get people interested in the Vanden Plas. -Absolutely, yeah.
I hope you're sitting down because we'll do something special with you.
I think he deserves it. Don't you? He's so enthusiastic.
If you want the car, you can have it for 3,000.
I'm not even gonna quibble with that.
I'm not gonna quibble with that.
-You got yourself a car. -Thank you very much.
-Cheers, thank you. -Well done, mate.
Thank you.
Well, I think it's fair to say that Gwen and her husband, Peter,
would be really proud of what we've managed to pull off with that Vanden Plas
because think about it, when we found it,
it was an unfinished project
that we actually pushed out of the garage
and scrapped around to try and find the parts for it. But now look at it.
And if you want to see more cars like this
being turned around by me and Elvis,
then join us again soon on Wheeler Dealers. Tala.