On the 13th and 14th April, our resident Mechanic and genius with a ratchet set, Alan Bull was part of the Practical Classics team on stage at the NEC for the Restoration Show 2014.

He and a team of mechanics, engineers and car-fixing legends were presented Channel 5’s Fifth Gear presenter Vicki Butler-Henderson’s first ever car to lovingly restore in just 48 hours.

DiscoveryUKs Wheeler Dealer presenters, Edd China and Mark Brewer headed up the team for a Classic Car Rescue 2 day stage show. Vicki Butler-Henderson abandoned her first ever wheels and they have sat in a barn at her house for fifteen years- untouched, unloved and heading for the scrap heap.

The challenge for the team was to get the car in working order for Vicki to drive off stage on the Sunday evening. The Practical Classics team took the vehicle apart, piece by piece, had the body shell re-sprayed, took the engine completely to pieces, re-built the entire motor, added new trim and new wheels and tires. They re-built the brakes and fine-tuned the engine until it was ready to be driven off stage. Vicki was reduced to tears as her 1979 Ford Fiesta L, which was originally her Grandmother’s car completed the Drive-Off within time. The car looked almost as good as new at 4pm on the Sunday afternoon as the Classic Car Rescue challenge closed the show in front of a packed audience at the NEC.

The weekend was somewhat of a busman’s holiday for our Alan who spends more of his time under tanks and jeeps than cars during the week at Armourgeddon.

Alan is a part of the team here who spends their week repairing our tanks and military vehicles that get damaged at the weekend whilst being put through their paces on Armourgeddon’s former WWII Battle Field track. He also assists in the restorations side of the business. Alan and the restoration team are often presented with a new-arrival and April was no exception as a Green Goddess Fire Engine was dropped of in the Tank Battle courtyard. The Green Goddess had also spent a good decade and a half in slumber before arriving at Armourgeddon but after 10 days or so of work, she is working, moving and sitting pretty already. Alan is largely responsible for the mechanical and re-wiring projects at Armourgeddon Restorations and previously spent a considerable amount of time getting our Citroen Olympia- the actual vehicle used by Tom Hanks as a shield in Saving Private Ryan, back to working order.

Alan is a great source of knowledge on all our vehicles- both those working on experience days and those in our 50-vehicle strong museum collection. When you are here, if you ask any of the instructors to point him out, Alan will be more than happy to tell you about his latest project.

In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures of Alan with his Wheeler Dealer presenters for Practical Classics, standing with the Green Goddess and the Olympia.