As well as the glamorous sales, Specialist Cars also offers an extensive restoration service. A popular service, especially among the company’s Chinese customers, is a full rebuild, where everything is stripped and refurbished.
“We paint everything, [including] underneath the car, back to factory standard,” Hawkins explains. “All the suspension is sent away to be refurbished and repainted. Then we powdercoat all the brackets and everything. Then we reanodise all the nuts and bolts before putting it back together.”
The quality of work from Specialist Cars’ technicians is testament to their training. While many modern mechanics rely on diagnostic tools, Hawkins’ technicians are well versed in traditional maintenance.
“I was in the workshop looking for something,” John says, “and one of the technicians was tuning the carburettor with a pipe in his ear.”
This sort of expertise led to one technician being sent to Hong Kong to service a customer’s collection, including a 964 RS, 993 Turbo and 993 RS, as well as “a couple of earlier cars.”
With some customers having upwards of 25 cars in their collection, such a service is not unheard of at Specialist Cars. This dedication to their customers – the ability to go above and beyond what others can provide – is what has turned John Hawkins’ first 944 S2 into a 911 collector’s dream.
