Steve's Speedshop: Recent Episodes
Steve Berry
Pier Dowall paints crash helmets. He's painted helmets for Petter Solberg, James May, and er, Steve Berry. Over thirty years he estimates he's added a bit of art and individualism to over 6,000 skid lids. Entirely unrelated but undoubtedly interesting is his passion for aero-engined cars. He's acquired a genuine supercharged Merlin engine and is starting out on what he reckons will be the two-year-build to create a car to contain it.
Steve Tarrant was one of the people caught up in an infamous finish-line accident at The Goodwood Festival of Speed. It was an accident that claimed the lives of two people and Steve himself suffered life-changing injuries. But he hasn't let it define him and twenty years on his passion for motor racing is undiminshed.
Speedway arrived from Australia and quickly established itself as the second most popular paid-for sport. Crowds of 75,000 were not unknown. Ken Eyre comes from a family of off-road riders competing in trials, scrambling, and like his dad, riding for Manchester's Bell Vue Aces at the same time as six-time World Champion, Ivan Mauger.
Nick Burnett is a man with an interest in interesting cars. And he's owned his fair share of exotics down the years. He's always on the lookout for something different which is how he ended up buying the Sultan of Brunei's much-modified Maserati Khamsin. And he just managed to find a 2009 Porsche that cost 70k when new for - wait for it - 2k, with a full-service history. Find out how in this episode of Speedshop.
Robert Dean has had a long and fascinating career in and around some of the world's greatest cars. And spent a big part of that career managing perhaps the most significant collection of historic racing cars on the planet. Find out who he worked for and much more in this episode.
Like an ill-fated fifties, film star the Vincent motorcycle lived fast, died young, and left a very handsome corpse. There were no underfunded or ill-advised attempts to compete with cheap lightweight bikes from abroad. Vincent only ever built super-fast, high-end gran touring bikes for adventurous gentlemen in a hurry. David Lancaster has made a fascinating documentary that blends unseen archive footage and celebrity interviews with the likes of Jay Leno, John Surtees, and Paul Simonon, bass player in The Clash. 'Speed Is Expensive' is narrated by Ewan MacGregor and tells the story of the man, Phillip Vincent as much as the machine.
Stephen Mosley is the motoring correspondent of The Chap magazine. A quarterly publication that describes itself as ‘a guide to living well in the modern age’
Guy Loveridge is one of the authors, along with Tim Beavis of Paddock Transfer. 1970-4 an evocative, behind-the-scenes look at top-level motor racing from a golden era.
Bizzare Jet Ski accidents, the joy of old skool scrapyards, and the iconic Austin Cambridge with my guest John Hanlon
Alex Parkinson is one of the people behind Total Headturners. They're based in Essex and specialise in replica cars for those unable to muster the six-figure sums required for a GT40, a D Type, or a Cobra. But banish any idea of the cheap and nasty, when I looked the most affordable car on their website was north of 55k.
Paul Jayson is The Motorcycle Broker and sells the kind of investment-grade motorcycles that are built to be ridden. Not just looked at. A man after my own heart.
Stuart Haslam runs the very modestly named Haslam's Body Repairs in Bolton, Lancashire. A garage where you might expect Fords, Vauxhalls, and the odd crumpled Toyota. Instead, his workshop is populated by Bentleys, Fraser Nash, and Ferraris, and people;e bring their cars from all over the world for restorations that go beyond perfection
David Eaton is the man behind the Icon 917K a road-going homage to a legendary race car, the brutal and beautiful Porsche 917K - the flat-12 engined car that dominated the Le Mans 24hrs in the early seventies.
Joe Mehers restores cars. We were supposed to talk about the dark arts of metal-bashing - Planishing, English Wheels, Dollys - that sort of thing but, we got distracted.
Nathan Richardson loves a barn find, who doesn't? The difference that's instead of saving a single neglected classic from the steely embrace of the crusher he'll buy fifty, a hundred, or even more in one go. Hear the car auction business explained and the huge difference between how modern cars are sold compared to classics.
Rupert Richards has never really met an interesting car or motorcycle that he didn't like. Inevitably he found a war to get paid to be around some of the planet's most-desirable motors and his family home Gawsworth Hall hosts two of the North-West's best car shows.
Simon Hope is one the 'H's in the classic car and bike auctioneers, H&H. He's sold a Ferrari 250 for twelve-and-a-half million dollars and once shifted 2 million quid's worth of motorcycles in a single day. But he's never ridden a motorcycle, although that may change after this interview.
'Tim Layzell was voted Young Motoring Artist of the Year when just thirteen. That was a while ago and he's since been established as one of the world's best-known painters who choose cars as their subject matter. He also loves TVRs, but then we all do - don't we.'
Anna-Louise Felstead is an acclaimed artist who is immersed in the world of historic motor racing.
Laurence Sayers-Gillan has bought and sold more cars than he cares to or indeed can remember. He's been involved in motorsport and the collector car world for long enough to have accumulated a stack of stories to amuse, inform and entertain those of an automotive bent.
Frank Westworth is the editor of Real Classic magazine and likes old British bikes, new American bikes, and things with three wheels made by Canadians. But, as we say around these parts, don't let that put you off.
Rod McDonagh came late to motorcycling but has moved fast winning the British GP Championship with Spirit Motorcycles and acquiring world-renowned wheel maker, Talon Engineering.
Ian Flux, known to friends and enemies alike as 'Fluxy' has raced in more formulas than he can remember and taught thousands of people how to drive a racing car. His helmet bore the legend 'For Flux Sake', which is - inevitably - the title of the book he's just finished writing about a life lived as hard off the track as on it.
Andy Jones loves pre-war British cars. And post-war British cars. Has a massive Bentley and a tiny Austin 7. Eclectik? We can't spell it, but we do know what it means
Dave Redshaw is one of the team behind the revival of the V10 Connaught and Levis motorcycles. He's also heavily involved in Veterans Garage, a charity that works with ex-servicemen.
Martin 'Monte' Males loves a quirky car. In fact, some of them are so quirky they're not even cars. Although since his De Dion trike predated virtually every car in existence he's got a good excuse. Dan Tanner' Ford T-bird, Beetle convertibles and The Swallow Sidecar Company all in this edition of Speedshop
Lee Marshall had owned around forty old cars but still isn't sure he likes them. He's owned E-types and Rolls-Royces but thinks the Porsche 911 is so much better than all of them it's almost embarrassing. He also reckons his C Type Jaguar replica is the worst car to spend the night in and the classic Range Rover he bought himself for a big birthday is, by some way, the worst car he's ever owned.
Richy Barnett has been writing about his love of cars for most of his working life and is an acknowledged authority on the classic auction scene. Although we never got round to that talking instead about handguns, hand-built Bristols, and the predilection of Northern comedians for full-sized American automobiles.
Neil Liversidge has been a motorcyclist all his life graduating from the inevitable Honda Cub to a Harley-Davidson that shares his garage with a Cafe Racer Triumph and a Bonneville Chopper. He's an outspoken advocate of rider's rights and was only too happy to share his forthright opinions on a variety of topics.
Edward Brown is first and foremost an enthusiast. His knowledge of the collector car world is breath-taking but he’s managed to reduce his own fleet to just a couple of cars, both vintage Bentleys. This is one of the most wide-ranging chats in Speedshop history. And that’s saying something
Darren Collins works with Dowsetts Classic Cars, owns possibly the nicest DMC Delorean in existence and is one of the people behind the revival of Radford
Tony Keating is the man behind the Keating Supercar which was, briefly the fastest street-legal car in the world - before Bugatti went even quicker. Now he’s swapped four wheels for two and has revived Manchester motorcycle marque, Dot relaunched at Goodwood at this year’s Festival of Speed.
Tim Fawthorp has been a biker all his life. He graduated from a Puch moped that was flat-out at thirty miles an hour to the latest adventure sports bike from Triumph. He clocked up 50k miles in a year on a Honda CX500 when he worked as a despatch rider in London and is now heavily involved in the fight for rider's rights with the Motorcycle Action Group.
Matt Kelly has been involved in motor racing since he blagged his way into a kart when he was a kid. He raced in various formulas and wound up running a team for a super-rich Sheikh. He's funny and opinionated and that always makes for a great guest.
Mark Wilsmore is the man behind the revival of the iconic Ace Cafe, a petrolhead paradise in the shadow of London's Wembley Stadium.
Peter Grimsdale is the author of Racing In The Dark. How The Bentley Boys Conquered Le Mans
Six at Six. We are six years old and still going strong. Although we might need our cambelt doing and a bit of welding in the not too distant. To celebrate my guest is the show's Producer, Paul Ripley. There's chat about his mother's switch from a nifty little NSU Prinz to a big beautiful S-type Jaguar. His beloved Garelli Tiger Cross and his teenage lust for the legendary Yamaha 350LC
The Indian motorcycle market is the biggest in the world worth 19 million sales annually. Sanjay Tripathi has been in it all his working life with stints at Yamaha, Harley-Davidson, and Royal Enfield he knows works for India's largest manufacturer, Hero Motocorp. A fascinating chat about an unique and fast-expanding motorcycle culture.
When Jeff Bloxham told the careers officer at his school that he wanted to be a motorsport photographer he was informed that such a profession ‘does not exist’ Despite that he’s now been photographing racing cars for a living for half a century and shows no sign of stopping
Mal Nicholson owns more than forty motorcycles, the most powerful Alfa Montreal on the planet, and a replica of Admiral Lord Nelson's topsail schooner, HMS Pickle. Oh, and he’s one of the world’s top 2-stroke tuners.
Vic Norman had to give up racing iconic sixties sports cars to concentrate on his formation wing-walking display team - the only one in the world. But retained a love of thunderous board-track racing motorcycles. It's been quite a life.
Peter Baker used to cycle to Brands Hatch to watch the likes of Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart and the man that many, including him, consider the greatest of all time, Jim Clark. These days he's an enthusiastic competitor in his classic Lancia. and runs the online resource, Team Retro Speed.
Peter Birtwhistle is the author of 'An English Car Designer Abroad. Designing for GM, Audi, Porsche, and Mazda' Quite a career.
Tim Beavis bought a box of old motor racing slides from the sixties at an auction. When he got home and looked at them he realised they needed to be seen by a wider public and put them into a book 'Admission 7'6' He's my guest to talk about that and so much more.
Gary McCaffrey buys and sells motorcycles. But not the kind of motorcycles made in factories by BMW, Triumph, or Hons. the bikes he deals in are built-in sheds, lock-ups, and basement cellars. Choppers, bobbers, trikes. One-off dream bikes that sometimes turn into a bit of a nightmare. And he loves vintage Japanese 2-strokes. What's not to like?
Allen Walker likes the kind of car you don't see every day. I first met him on a SALT - Soviet Auto Luxury Tours - Rally when he turned up in his glorious Tatra 603 with its rear-mounted. air-cooled V8 engine. The next time I saw him he was in a lovely Lavender Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. A true enthusiast and a great guest.
Simon Maynard is the Chairman of the Jaguar Club but if you’re not a fan of the Great British sporting saloon don’t worry because we ended up talking about eighties Alfas, modified Minis, and the genius of the VW Golf.
Bernard Williamson arrived at the studio with a list of every car he has ever owned and there were pages and pages of them. A former Chairman of the Veteran Car Club he loves cars from the turn of the twentieth century and from the Roaring Twenties.
Andy Entwistle has worked with cars all his life and the driving force behind the revival of The British Motor Show at the Farnborough Exhibition Centre August 19-22nd. And he owns a Renault Twizzy, but as we say, let's not hold that against him.
Steve Saxty grew up in Essex dreaming of a career as a car designer. Inevitably he ended up working for the Blue Oval. Now he writes books, the last one They Cars Ypu Always Promised Yourself’ was nominated for RAC Book of The Year’ his new one is called ‘Secret Fords’ but I’m not telling you what it’s about, you’ll have to listen
Paul Mathers is the Aussie behind Motorclassica, the southern hemisphere's premier concours event. Now he’s here in the Uk with a new show, Auto Royale in July. All that plus, V8 Supercars, Bush Mechanics, and Holden’s mighty Monaro
Rupert Bravery once finished one of the most famous historic rallies in a hire car. He likes armoured cars, stripped-down street scramblers, and rotary-engined tourers. But then, who doesn’t?
Choppers, bobbers, Frisco tanks, sissy bars, ape hangers, big v-twins, and the motorcycle ever made by mortal man, the Norton Commando. It’s all there down a crackly line from Choppershack HQ somewhere in the sun-kissed Mediterranean, with my guest Phil Piper
Ben Hardman works with classic bikes as did his father and his grandfather who started Unity Equipe the world-famous supplier of goodies for old Brit Iron.
Emma Airey is a passionate petrolhead with a penchant for TVR from the seventies. That's right, the wedge-shaped ones. She has owned a bewildering variety of cars and is a great storyteller.
Gary Sanders has built award-winning custom bikes, best-selling Cobra replicas and was the World Lawnmower Racing Champion. Yes, really.
Geoff Smale raced sidecars, ran Liverpool's busiest car rental outlet, and loves classic American muscle cars. One of the most free-ranging - and funny- chats in the history of Speedshop. And that's saying something
Nigel Pickering was riding around a race track in front of a paying crowd when he was eight years old, bought a Ferrari when he was eighteen and once owned a brown Porsche 911 with a brown interior but, as we say, don't hold that against him
Micheal Ward is part of the small but talented team that produces Auto Italia magazine. He's spent his working life around priceless sixties Ferraris but what he really loves is a three-box seventies Fiat
Steve Waddingham is the official historian at Aston Martin Lagonda. He also likes Austin Allegros, but don’t let that put you off’
Producer Paul turns the table on Steve Berry and we find more about the career of Mr Berry
Sam Skelton is easily the youngest guest we've ever had on Speedshop - but don't let that put you off. Not quite thirty he's had almost forty cars and likes big, wafty Citroens, supercharged Jag but can't see the appeal of air-cooled Volkswagens.
The Reverend Adam Gompertz is a car-designer turned clergyman who also happens to be a gifted artist. He owns a 1962 Rover P4 100 - perfect if he was the Vicar in an Agatha Christie novel - but, if he had the money would spend it on an all-electric Polestar.
Alex Reid Entwistle is that are thing, a returning guest on Speedshop! He's the car dealer who actually loves cars and arrived at the studio in a gloriously pre-loved Bentley Turbo R.
John Quinn reckons his Bentley 4 1/2 Litre is the best car he’s ever owned. And he’s had a lot of cars
Steve and Guy talk about their journey of 3,000 miles in a seventy-year-old car in six days
Simon Browse supplies cars for film and tv and his fleet includes a Pierce-Arrow that belonged to a US president and a pink Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible. He's from Essex but let's not hold that against him.
Alex Reid-Entwhistle is that rare thing, a car dealer who's also a car enthusiast. He knows how to tell a story too, which is just as well because he's my - politically-incorrect - guest, on this episode of Steve's Speedshop.
Nick Larkin has been writing about classic cars long enough for some cars that were brand new when he started to being considered classics.. He loves the bread-and-butter British motors of the late-fifties and early-sixties and he's a big fan of buses - but don't let that put you off.
Martin DuRoy has been a sponsor in Formula One, a team owner in Moto GP and once went to an auction to buy a badge and ended up buying a Bentley.
Stuart Owen has hit 117mph on a Lambretta motor scooter and talked Steve out of starting a fight at the side of a busy Autostrada just south of Milan. Find out how and why he did both those things in this episode of 'Speedshop'.
Barry Wills - the first man hired by DeLorean -returns to talk about his time with Lotus, Reliant and his role in the infamous Sinclair C5.
John Gould has never owned an Aston Martin he really liked, thinks the Healey 100/6 is criminally underrated and is banned for life from a US hotel chain for an incident involving a swimming pool and a rental car
Lee Noble wanted to build a supercar you could use everyday and he did it, with Ultima, Ascari and with Noble. Lee speaks his mind and tells it very much as he sees it. Don't miss his undiluted opinions this week on Steve's Speedshop
Philip Newsome is the publisher of Monopod magazine, a talented photographer and once thought he could resort his Ford Anglia with a single aerosol can if met tali’s green paint. You can’t
Joel Mutton owns Bernie Winter’s Rolls Silver Spur. Yes, the one he used to drive Snorkels around in
Nick Gales built choppers for rockstars, A-list actors and royalty. Jean Todt, head of Ferrari F1, threatened to sue him when he built a Ferrari chopper but ended up buying the bike for Michael Schumacher. He's my guest on this episode of Steve's Speedshop.
Julian Nowill invented the banger rally - motoring adventure for the masses - with the first Plymouth-Dakar, which didn't start in Plymouth and didn't end in Dakar. He once flew to Moscow to buy Russia's worst car and drove it all the way back, on two cylinders. He is my - fascinating - guest tonight on Steve's Speedshop
Ruben Goulding used to climb mountains for a living, now he deals in classic British motors. Instead of the scrapyard the terminally rusty get turned into desks, barbecues, and works of art. Even if beauty was never even skin deep, to begin with
Julian Grimwade went to buy a Ferrari and came back with a boat instead. And he's owned the Top Trumps legend the Monteverdi Hai and three Citroen 2CVs. But he doesn't like BMWS. Find out why on Steve' Speedshop.
Max Wakefield owns a Metro 6R4, raced speedway bikes and drove the fearsome 1200bhp Lola Beatrice. And he's just bought a pair of bulldozers. Find out why on this episode of Speedshop.
Simon Duval Smith sold cars at Autodrome, Europe’s biggest classic dealer, in the nineties is now the award-winning editor of eVISIONS magazine, and rides a Garley chopper in leather pants but has never owned a leather jacket. He’s my guest tonight, on Steve’s Speedshop
The Gran Torino in 'Starksy and Hutch'. The Lotus 7 in 'The Prisoner. Steed's Broadspeed (or was it?) Jaguar in 'The New Avengers ' Which was your favourite from television's classic era? Fire up the Quattro our kid because, tonight on Speedshop my guest is MIke Smith
The BAC Mono is the street legal, single-seater that frightens Ferrari owners. There a new incarnation of the Mono and it’s even faster. In fact it’s considerably quicker. Neil Briggs from BAC joins me to explain why and how they did it
Meyer’s Manx, Falcon Caribbean. Gawk Gt. Never heard of them? Then listen to Steve’s Speedshop tonight when my guest is Steve Hole from Total Kit Car
Iconic eighties hot hatches, the renaissance of Detroit and the great, lost marque that was the Riley, with John 'J Lo' Lomas from Blue Diamond Riley Services.
Big floaty Citroens, turbo-boosted Saabs and the cars that British Leyland got right (yes, there were some) with James Walshe from 'Practical Classics' magazine
Rallying with the greats, restoring some of the world's finest and most valuable road cars and mastering the Yamaha TY80. All that and quite a lot more with Rob Atkinson, tonight on Speedshop
What's the connection between a WW2 fighter ace, the world's long-serving radio host and the Queen's husband ? The answer is they all owned an example of the Coventry-built Alvis, find out what it was and who they were, on Steve's Speedshop
All things air-cooled and rear-engined with Keith Seume. You'll believe that a VW Beetle Bug can run under ten seconds in the quarter-mile. Tonight, on Steve's Speedshop
The story of Soviet cars isn't just utilitarian transport. Alongside the Ladas and Trabants there were Chaikas, ZILs, and the mighty, rear-engineD, air-cooled V8 Tatras - but only for the high-ups. Yes, all comrades were equal - of course -but...well, you know the rest. Oh, and high-performance seventies Vauxhalls. Tonight, on Steves Speedshop
Adrian Hall’s Ford Escort left the factory with around 65bhp - it’s now limited to 500bhp. He’s owned for over thirty, it was unbelievably the car he learnt to drive in. He’s my guest tonight
Like motorbikes? Yearn for adventure? Great, you'll love this episode because its all about motorcycles and being adventurous on them
In the mid-sixties the Jensen CV8 was the fastest four-seater car on the planet. After a quarter-of-a-million miles with it's first owner this one headed for the Bonneville Salt Flats with a chap called Ian Northeast behind the wheel to claim the title. World's Fastest Jensen.
John Sykes has the most eclectic collection we've ever seen. So expect chat about pink Jags, WW2 Fighter trainers and a 50cc chopper sentenced to death by the Cheshire Police.
Junkyard Tom is the most enthusiastic man I've ever met. His daily driver is an Austin-Healey Sprite with no doors or windows and his Sunday car is a Wolsley. What d'you mean, you never heard of 'em?
Graham Sykes wants to go very fast but he wants to do it sustainably and he wants to do with... steam.
Andy Middlehurst has had an incredible motor racing career first on bikes, then in rallying, he was a works driver in the BTCC. Today he's still racing - and winning - in Historic Formula One. Don't miss this one...
John Pogson has lived and breathed Ferraris for over forty years. He's best known as a racer for his exploits in F40s but is a big fan of unfavoured road cars like the 308GT4 and the much-maligned Mondia
Allen Millyard is simply the most original and prolific one-man motorcycle manufacturer in the world.
On Steve’s Speedshop tonight there’s a Lada chat about Russian cars with Paul Scanlon from Croft Street Garage. Between the two of us we own three Ladas.
Introduced in 1972 the Kawasaki Z1 - codename New York Steak - had four cylinders, twin overhead camshafts, electric start and a top speed of 132mph. It was also one of the best-looking bikes in the history of motorcycling. This was the birth of the Superbike and tonight my guest of one of the world's acknowledged experts ( and an old mate) Dave Marsden of Z-Power
The iconic Lotus Carlton, the epic Honda CBX and the genius of the original Fiat Panda... seriously. Tonight on Steve’s Speedshop
Ford Model T, Volkswagen Beetle and the Mini. The three most significant, innovate and influential cars in the history of motoring. But none is loved like the Mini, the brainchild of Sir Alec Issigonis perhaps the only real genius in the story of the UK car industry. The Mini celebrates its sixty birthday this year and we've devoted the whole show to the best big little car in the business. Joining me in the studio Andy Harrison from Acespeed Historic Motorsport
Ed Brown is a collector, restorer, racer, and rallying but above all, a car man. He’s my guest tonight on Speedshop
Lotus, Morgan, Caterham, Noble we're talking traditional British sports cars tonight with Jonathan Jarratt and we meet Larry Houghton a man who builds clever propellers, award-winning custom motorcycles and has just completed an amazing one-off single-seater, hot-rodded street racer
Mick Honest has owned hundreds of cars and has an opinion about each and every one of them. Find out what he thinks of the Land Rover experience, dual mass flywheels, and the Morris Minor. and why went buy a Bentley Continental and Aston Martin DB9 and came back with neither tonight on Speedshop.
3,000 miles in six days in a car that had been locked in a shed in Salford since 1962.. My guest is Guy Loveridge who accompanied me for every yard of what was a (fairly) epic adventure.
Lister Cars were phenomenally successful in fifties motor racing with drivers including Sir Stirling Moss and indefatigable Archie Scott Brown, Lawrence Whittaker talks Lister now and then and we're joined by touring car legend, Jason Plato whose written a book called 'How Not To Be A Professional Racing Driver'
You'll know names like Norton, Indian and MV Agusta but do you know Fantic,Paton and Arch? We're at the opening of the new Krazy Horse store in Oxfordshire where you'll find all those names and more. And we go for a drive in French countryside in a 1965 Porsche 912 to talk GT40s, twin-engined 2CVs and using a battle tank to commute into central London with collector, racer and hotelier, Martin Overington
We're at Bicester Heritage Centre talking early Porsches with James Turner from Sports Purpose and our guest in the studio is the man, the legend Bonneville Bob57 years on British bikes and still riding.
In this episode, Steve talks electric bikes and it’s Minis, Miuras, and Micheal Caine .......Steve celebrates the 50th anniversary of ‘The Italian Job’ with author and filmmaker, Matt Field
In this episode, Steve chats with John Hamer a fantastically talented metal fabricator who built a car with bits of scrap leftover from his day job and to Andy Saunders the UK’s most prolific creator of one-off vehicles.
Steve's Speedshop returns for season 3 with a feature on a '63 VW Beetle that's faster then a MacLaren F1 and, in the week that 'Framing John De Lorean' with Alec Baldwin as the charismatic car maker comes out on Blu Ray & DVD we've got a fascinating and revealing interview with the longest-serving employee of the DeLorean Motor Company, Barrie Willis.