Custom Restore – A One Man Masterclass

The classic car world is a pretty wonderful place to be. There are the cars, the people and the events. It’s enough to make anyone smile. For us though, there’s never a smile bigger or broader than the one we adopt when we learn of talented young hands making their own space in our world. These people, with their youth and their ability to get into low cars without making a noise, are the lifeblood for our passion. They’re the torch-bearers for the next generation, and that’s a mighty position to be in. Without them, the classic car industry would be on borrowed time. 

Of course, with new faces come new ideas, and for the best part, that’s fine. However, classic cars are stubborn old mules, and they won’t always respond to modern technology or approaches. And that’s why people like Wokingham-based Gobin Sura, the owner and founder of Custom Restore, need to be celebrated. He’s a young guy, make no mistake. But his skill-set is developed from tradition, ingenuity and years of handed down insight. He’s a young guy, but with a time-served approach to the work.

Hiding in the Wokingham woodlands is Custom Restore, and as we pull into the yard it becomes abundantly clear that there is no brand affinity here. Old Rovers, Volvos, a Transit, a 6N Polo, a couple of Jettas – there’s a healthy mix of stuff. Gobin meets us before we’ve even got out of the car, and he’s already offering us a brew and a look around at the cars. This is a man who is clearly proud of what he does. He’s brimming with enthusiasm. 

Gobin’s story starts in Kenya. Growing up there, he was taught the importance of quality and of ingenuity. Kenya isn’t exactly a landscape littered with suppliers of vehicle panels, so repairing older cars was the product of clever thinking and determined problem solving. More than that though, it taught Gobin the importance of getting it right and doing a quality, long-lasting job. A mindset that is most welcome in our world of classic cars.

Back in the UK, Gobin’s journey to setting up Custom Restore started as a hobby. His academic background is actually in the digital workspace, but with a passion for cars running through his blood, the metal won over the data! He grew up watching and helping his father buy old commercial vehicles and fix them up, though not for profit. In fact, his dad needed the trucks for work. Either way, this work fascinated Gobin, who soon took to the tools himself, in particular the metalworking ones. 

Outside his academic studies, Gobin would take on jobs for people. General mechanical stuff was included, but it was the metalwork he’d jump at. Gobin lives to solve problems, and the complex shapes of any given vehicle’s panels provided no end of challenges. But they were challenges he would learn to overcome. He learned the art of metalwork, adjusting off the shelf parts or creating new panels from blank sheets of steel. He would take on jobs known to be difficult, so that he could challenge himself and develop his skills even further.

This work saw Gobin make a name for himself, which is why he decided to eventually go it alone, rather than follow the path his academic background would have suggested. Custom Restore was born, and now it is flourishing. 

Gobin’s workshop is a trip into the old school. Boxes of nuts and bolts neatly lined up, press brakes, lathes and bead rollers filling up the floorspace. It’s a bona fide metalworking shop from wall to wall. Though of course, a business of this ilk would be nothing without any cars to work on. Happily, there are plenty.

Outside the workshop, you’ll find Gobin’s pride and joy in the form of a Rover P6 complete with V8, proof that this is more than a job to him; old cars are a personal passion, too. This is further demonstrated by the Volvo estate sitting on adapted Range Rover air-suspension – all Gobin’s work of course. Then there are the customer cars, the MGB that’s in for metalwork, the 6N Polo that Gobin is currently fabricating a custom rear floor, the Rover P5 that has been welded back up so that it may one day see the road again. 

Inside are the big projects. The first, and somewhat curious one is the Toyota Hilux bed. It might seem a strange thing, but different folks, different strokes. The customer needed a new bed for his second-generation Hilux as the old one had dissolved after years of use. Parts, however, aren’t available, so Gobin has pretty much fabricated a new bed from scratch, using the old one as a buck for measurements and reference.

Then there’s the big, BIG project, namely an Alfa Romeo Giulia. With a considerable amount of rot, Gobin was left with no choice but to make new panels, intricate panels that go around the rear arches, the bottom of the B pillars and the sills. It’s all been hand fabricated by Gobin, including proper spot welding and finishing. The only panels he could buy were floors, and now fitted, you’d never know they’ve been replaced. There is an attention to detail here that inspires. Gobin treats the cars not as those of customer’s, but as if they were his own.

It was a huge, brave move for Gobin to start Custom Restore, but it’s one that seems to be paying off. Yes, there is still the odd bit of modern or mechanical work coming through the doors, but the shift into just doing classic cars is advancing. And all through the work of one man, which makes it all the more impressive. And Gobin’s attitude is also refreshing, regularly reminding us that he’s in it for the passion and the love, not for the money (though of course, the money is important to keep the bills paid). 

We think the future is bright for Gobin and Custom Restore. This young, enthusiastic blood filtering into the classic car world is most welcome, and it’s the key to our passion’s future.