MG Car Club of South Australia

From... Steve Spong

Sunday 5th November 2017 Finch Restorations- Mount Barker

t was a perfect spring day for our visit to Finch Restorations at Mount Barker, where we had kindly been invited by Peter & Harbinda Roberts, to visit their facilities which they had purchased 3 years ago.

Finch are the oldest, and probably the largest, vintage and classic car restorer in the country. They can undertake coach building, interior fit-outs, plus mechanical works for cars, trucks and even motor bikes. They offer a full service from minor dings and body repairs or just routine serving, through to full ground-up restorations and mechanical rebuilds. They will even build a replica for you if you want!.

We were welcomed with coffee and then given a detailed tour of their premises by Peter, where he gave an account of every vehicle that they are currently working on( some 2 dozen) and described the wide ranging scope of the works involved. One project was the reconstruction of a very rare front wheel drive Alvis two seater sports car( circa 1930) that was being constructed from an artist ' s rendering of the time, as detailed technical data was simply not available( refer photo).

They have also undertaken an in house project, being an extension of the successful pre-war SS90 & SS100. They asked themselves " What if SS100 production had not been interrupted by the War, and Lyons further developed the SS90 / SS100 series on the SS100 or Mk V chassis? Perhaps, Lyons might have evolved an‘ SS120’ eight years earlier than the XK120." Finch are therefore

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doing just that and are building a‘ whatif’ car; being a SS100 variant based upon a Mark V, and they can offer a range of coupe and convertible styles. The first model being scheduled for release at this year ' s upcoming Adelaide Motorsport Festival.

There was a great Club turn out for the visit, with:

with all of the MGs being displayed at the front of the premises for photo opportunities,

The person who travelled the furthest for the visit was Gary Stephenson ' s brotherin-law Dave Rothwell, who was over from the UK. Dave is in fact the manager of Moss Motor ' s UK so was professionally interested in the restoration works being undertaken.

I would recommend that you visit their web-site for a full list of their services plus a detailed catalogue of vehicles that they have worked on over the years. They even have a section dedicated to MGs, so it was great to have Maurice Linehan ' s newly acquired TD along as this had been the subject of a ground up restoration by Finch.

We must have been fairly well behaved as Peter & Harbinda have in fact extended a further invite to the Club and to all MG Registers. Their details are on their website www. finchrestorations. com. au, or I would be happy to put you in touch with them.