Mon, Feb 9, 2004
Claire Barratt and Suggs restore one of the few remaining Amphicars, a Sixties sports car designed to float on water. This unusual vehicle has been gathering dust in a barn for 20 years, but with the aid of custom car enthusiast Lance McCormack, the engineers set out to return it to working order, and put it to the test by driving 150 miles up the Thames. Suggs also takes a look at the aquatic automobile's history from its Nazi origins to its dangerous Channel crossings.
The team members attempt to refit a Massey Harris 780 combine harvester, a model used by almost all the country's grain farmers in the 1950s, although there are now only 10 left. Their challenge is to restore the machine back to working order in time to bring in the last of the summer wheat. However, with its internal components almost destroyed, it's going to take a lot of work to get it running again.
Mon, Feb 16, 2004
The team attempt to restore a Scammell Scarab - a 1950s three-wheeled lorry used for carrying cargo from goods trains to its final destination. With Britain's railways no longer operating a parcel service, this is one of the last relics of a forgotten transport system, and has been rotting in a back garden for the past 20 years.
2004
Claire Barratt, Suggs and the team restore a 1912 racing car, but are surprised to discover that beneath the machine's striking design and solid brass exterior lie the inner workings of a Model T Ford. However, the modified engine of this vehicle was capable of speeds of up to 75mph. Suggs sets out to discover who would think of turning an unglamorous Ford into a racing car, eventually learning the remarkable story of its creator AE George, an international cyclist who was the first man to fly a mile in Britain, and meeting his daughter, who remembers riding in the car.
2002
The team attempts to rebuild a 1930s steam-powered crane that has been lying in pieces for decades. Claire Barratt enlists the aid of steam engineers Ian Howard and Jack Meeker and the staff of the Blist Hills Victorian Museum to help with the project, but they hit an obstacle when it turns out there are several missing parts that must be created from scratch.
The team refit a 1931 Sentinel steam-powered lorry, whose elaborately designed boiler made it a very efficient mode of transport, capable of holding its own against diesel-fuelled rivals. However, it is this complexity that presents the engineers with their biggest problem - no-one has built a machine like it in 50 years, and they have difficulty coaxing metal into the unusual shapes necessary.
The team restores an M10 Achilles tank destroyer, a vehicle used during the D-Day landings and one of the few Allied weapons capable of taking on the German Tigers. Enlisting the aid of war veterans and expert Steve Cobb, the work gets underway while Suggs investigates the legalities of refurbishing a machine capable of demolishing buildings at 200 metres.