Restomods: where the cool and the classic meet

The new book from Waft zooms in on a trending topic in the classic car world: restomods. And there are quite a few links to motorsport visible as well.

It’s one of the attractions of restomods: making a classic car either more usable every day, or make it perform better. In this last case, the links with motorsport are clear. As is the case with the Alfaholics GTA-R for instance. Or Automobili Amos’ Delta Futurista, to name but two. Racing seeps into the book from the first chapter onwards, on Eagle. Henry Pearman is not just one of the brains behind Eagle, the E-Type restomod par excellence, but he also owns a large Porsche 956/962 collection. You can find more on that in this book.

Lightweight E-Type

The story on Eagle’s Lightweight offers references to the aluminium lightweight E-Types Jaguar offered in 1963 but never actually made. It was just a ploy to homologate some lighter E-Types for racing purposes. Now wait a minute, the good folks at Eagle said, this sounds interesting to us.

Bart Lenaerts and Lies de Mol, the Belgian Waft duo behind Restomods, make clear in the intro that this is just volume 1 of a Restomod series. Which explains the omissions that strike you as odd at first: no Singer, no Cyan P1800. There are still many more interesting Restomod stories to be told, and as we interpret it, these are in preparation for new volumes to come.

Mostly UK and Italy

In this first Restomod book, the main focus is on the English and the Italian scene. Next to Eagle and their work on the E-Types, there is the GTA-R Alfa Romeo Giulia by Alfaholics, the Kimera Evo 037 – a modern Lancia 037 for the road – the MGB as imagined by Frontline Developments, the Mini Remastered you can find at David Brown Automotive, the InterceptorR from Jensen International Automotive, Automobile Maggiore’s Project M (a Ferrari 308).

There is Gallet Automobiles’ take on the Citroën SM, the Automoboli Amos Delta Futurista, the Arkonik Defender, MZR Roadsport’s Datsun 240Z and Thornley Kelhams’ sensational Lancia Aurelia Outlaw, an Aurelia B20 Coupé that was developed around the chopped Lancia Giovanni Bracco used in the Carrera Panamericana in 1951. Quite the list.

Just the one 911

Oddly, but actually it’s a relief, there is just one Porsche 911 restomod present in the book, the one Sander Automotive offers. This could have easily been a 911 restomod book only, but rather than stick with just the iconic 911, Lenaerts and De Mol rightly paint a picture of the restomod scene as an incredibly diverse one. The use of colour in the layout only adds to this.

A look in the restomod kitchen

Whereas Restomods is an entertaining and informative read, the layout choices are not always easy to follow due to the varying widths of the paragraphs. Whilst most paragraphs remain short, at times you are confronted with fairly long text bits that demand a bit of concentration. The use of coloured elements through text hinders reading at times as well.

Overall, these are just minor grips, as the most important thing remains: this is a fun book to read. The square size makes it easy to handle, and the pictures give you both an inside in these passionately-built cars, as well as a look inside the workshops. Restomods takes you deep into the kitchen.

Bart Lenaerts is an expert at storytelling and it shows in Restomods. Here is a guy who is not just selling you a book. He tells you ti sit down and listen, for he has stories to tell. We are already looking forward to the next series.

Restomods is 254 pages, measures 30 by 30 centimetres and costs 60 euros. Available with Waft. For 180 euros, you can buy the limited edition (250 numbered copies), which comes with 13 art prints that were created especially for this book.