A man has spent 15-years transforming a rusty wreck into the vintage car of his dreams. Terrence Cleife, a retired motor engineer, bought the wreck of a 1916 American LaFrance saloon car in 1998. The pre-war vehicle had been dismantled and was lying as a pile of scrap on the floor of a barn. The car’s missing parts were welded by Terry out of bronze and cast iron to match the vehicles original chassis and the engine completely re-assembled. Now 71, Terry has the car of his dreams and has completed the painstaking piece-by-piece restoration.
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MotorTranscript
00:00 [ENGINE REVVING]
00:02 [BIRDS CHIRPING]
00:12 [METAL CLANKING]
00:15 [ENGINE STARTING]
00:22 [ENGINE RUMBLING]
00:25 It was completely dismantled.
00:40 It was basically a heap of scrap metal on a barn floor
00:43 when I first saw it.
00:44 And then I came into the garage for the winter
00:47 and started on the engine and other bits and pieces
00:49 that were missing.
00:50 [METAL CLANKING]
00:53 Well, on the top here, we've got the priming taps.
01:01 You have to prime the cylinders with fuel before it will go.
01:06 Ignition on.
01:09 Neutral.
01:10 Retard.
01:11 Hand throttle.
01:15 And that stuntman hasn't turned up yet, has he?
01:17 [ENGINE RUMBLING]
01:20 The four-cylinder 10-liter T-head design.
01:23 The valves are exposed.
01:24 You can see them going up and down when it's running.
01:27 Looking at the dash, we've got the speedometer.
01:32 Here is the ignition switch for the coil and distributor,
01:37 operated by foot when driving.
01:40 Then we've got the ammeter, the horn.
01:44 Here is the magneto switch.
01:47 Oil pressure gauge.
01:48 It reads very low, actually, because they didn't use very
01:51 much oil pressure in those days.
01:52 [BIRDS CHIRPING]
01:54 [ENGINE RUMBLING]
01:57 When out on the road, a lot of modern car drivers
02:01 flash their lights and a few wave.
02:05 It's actually very pleasant.
02:06 It's a bit like riding a motorbike or flying a plane.
02:09 I don't normally go more than 60 miles an hour,
02:12 which is fairly uncomfortable for the passenger.
02:15 I'm OK, because I've got the monocle screen.
02:17 [ENGINE RUMBLING]
02:19 Would I ever sell it?
02:27 Well, I'm getting on a bit now, so one day I will.
02:29 But I'm not ready yet.
02:31 Not ready to put my feet up yet and put the slippers on.
02:34 [BLANK_AUDIO]