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Practitioners of automotive restoration
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"we do far more than just great paintwork"
How Prestige Paintworks can help you...
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From general servicing to diagnostic and carb tuning, there's very little we can't take on
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Practitioners of Automotive Restoration
Concours winning body and paintwork specialists.
"Prestige is more than just a name, it's a standard.."
"Prestige is more than just a name, it's a standard.."
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Based in the fabulous Sussex countryside, Prestige Paintworks have quietly and steadily created a reputation for "consistently delivering excellence and for producing some of the best paintwork in the industry" those are our clients words not ours and although what started out as providing beautiful paintwork for clients has now grown into providing a one stop shop for all restoration needs. We do far more than just paint..
So that said, we feel we have made it easier for those who are at the point of deciding who restores their pride and joy. With so many companies claiming to be restoration specialists when often the reality is really quite the opposite. Some claiming to be restorers and doing everything in house when in fact many outsource the most integral part of the process, the body and paint, which in truth is the where the heart of any restoration is then claim the merit for themselves, at best they are nothing more than project managers. We continually promote the core ethics of our business of transparency, honesty and passion for this craft, so knowing exactly what you are getting and from whom... We take care of the restoration from start to finish and communicate regularly with owners and with our carefully chosen work partners on the few elements we don't do ourselves, all so the restoration is an enjoyable experience rather than an arduous one. We accept we can't be experts in everything, nor do we need to be, so engine - gearbox - diff rebuilds - upholstery and chrome plating are the only elements we outsource to carefully chosen and trusted marque specialist partners who share our work ethic, whilst every other element is dealt with in our purpose built restoration facility housed with all the necessary specialist equipment and knowledge to carry that out including all general routine maintenance, servicing and mot requirements. We are a small team of experts, artisan's if you like dedicated to providing high-end automotive restoration to a select target audience and have been building a reputation that's being recognised and utilised by some very well respected companies known the world over. We pride ourselves in constantly trying to improve our processes and with our meticulous attention to detail where the mantra for some of "that'll do" , for us simply won't... For those wanting something extra it can go beyond putting it back to original too, we improve it wherever possible with sympathetic upgrades, whether that's by using more modern techniques or using better materials etc, we simply want to achieve the best result we possibly can for the customer and of course the car.. We are fortunate enough that a large part of our workload is for private collectors where zero compromise is the objective with as much attention and time taken on the parts you don't see as the ones you do, so much effort goes into even the smallest detail to make these cars as close to perfect as one can possibly make them so they can be their absolute best, this high attention to detail on panel fit and paint finish is the standard in the custom car and hotrod world with show cars, with very high expectations and a budget to suit is now being seen more in some concours prepared cars now too. A zero compromise restoration depending on how good the condition of the project is to begin with can typically take in excess of 4000 man hours to complete so it doesn't take much to realise that doesn't fit with everyone's budget, we appreciate that and it's certainly not something remotely achievable on a 'fixed price restoration' offered by many other restorers where inherently compromises are made to make the restoration come in on said budget. Little things like powder coating a chassis and suspension parts for example will not receive the same attention being prepared for powder coat as they would be if they were being prepared for painting. They just wont have had the same level of labour input so can't honestly be compared in a monetary term. Is powder coating as good as wet painting ? Quite honestly that's down to the individual but we don't believe it is, but it can save thousands of pounds, we can only give our experienced opinion and advice. It's all down to what the customer wants as a finished product and is prepared to pay for at the end of the day. Practically all our work is from recommendation as we rarely advertise our services but on the few occasions we do it will be in a marque specific publication for example 'Vantage' for the Aston Martin enthusiasts, the Aston Martin 'From Race to Road' publication from Motorsport Magazine and most recently 'The Concours Year' a great publication highlighting all the major concours events of 2019 by Hothouse Media, the guys behind the fantastic Magneto magazine. Our niche is predominantly the Heritage period Aston Martins with models ranging from the Feltham era DB2’s and 2/4's of the 50’s through the DB4's, DB5's and DB6’s and latterly the DBS 6/8's and AMV8's and after lengthy discussions with Antony Forshaw we are now working with Aston Service Dorset to cater our businesses to the private collectors of those models to produce world class restorations from a world class team. It's worth noting we don't often have anything from the modern era in for body and paint because that's simply not where our passion lies and although Aston Martins dominate the workshop we don't discriminate other marques that carry the "Prestige" status either, Jaguars and Ferraris are occasionally here too with at least one E-Type usually with us at any given time. Well respected world class historic race car experts Crosthwaite and Gardiner have entrusted our paint services for the last 10 years with their special projects too, with an A Type Auto Union, now in a museum in Germany,. Several Mercedes W125's with another due shortly and a Grand Prix winning Bugatti Type 51, raced in recent years by Simon Diffey although that has sadly now gone to the USA. For another historic race team we had an ex Graham Hill winning Lotus 16 in for paintwork and Goodwood regular Rainer Becker's Porsche 910. We are also able to carry out complex composite repairs in house too as we have done on a Brabham BT8 and Rainer's Porsche 910. All our restoration projects are recorded photographically from start to finish so the journey of the vehicle is always well documented. We are fortunate enough to have Gun Hill Studios, one of Europe’s leading infinity cove studios on the same site as our restoration facility, making it possible to provide some truly stunning imagery of your vehicle once the restoration is complete. Being experienced restorers, identifying problems and spotting problem areas are all part of our job so it makes perfect sense that one of our services is to carry out inspections for clients wishing to purchase, either to add to a collection or maybe it's their first time experiencing the classic car market and for overseas purchases we inspect outside of the UK too. With the aid of a borescope camera we are able to check cavities and box sections for corrosion and/or damage therefore armed with a better understanding of the car being viewed so in turn negotiating paying the right price for the car. Now with over a decade under our belt of restoring some fantastic motor cars by ourselves we capped off 2018 with a DB 2/4 Mk1 Drophead that scored 86 points at the AMOC Spring Concours at Englefield House taking 2nd place then after some detail changes scored 91 points and 1st at the AMOC Autumn Concours at Hoghton Tower. 2018 was our first year for any of our cars entering an AMOC Concours event and this year (2019) won two more 1st place AMOC Concours wins in the Feltham Class and has now been promoted to the Elite Class for 2020. It has proved to be a fantastic platform to showcase the standard of bodywork and paintwork we provide for our clients and some assurance that there are a select few companies like us who consistently deliver the best, leaving cheap fixed price repaints to those who prefer that market. Please contact us if you would like more information or to discuss a particular project that requires that personal touch. |
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