Martin Freeman's Vauxhall Sportshatch.

This rare Vauxhall Sportshatch is believed to be only one of five left in the U.K. It belongs to the same family as the Firenza and is based upon the Vauxhall Magnum. The engine is a 2.3 Litre slant four and the car boasts the droopsnoot families tweaked suspension and tartan interior.

The car came to us with a fair amount of work having been started but not completed. Having been welded underside by another company, we were asked to carry out the repairs and paintwork to the bodyshell.

This job was made difficult for two reasons. Firstly, the rarity of the car meant that replacement panel availability was near non-existent. Meaning most repair panels had to be made. Secondly, the car had rotted in a number of difficult to repair areas - namely around the window apertures and rain gutters. Any less than perfect repair would have made refitting the windows impossible.

Also not helping, was the work previously carried out to the car. As can be seen above, the car had been fitted with now obsolete lower wing repair panels. But they had been fitted slightly out of position, making them stand proud of the door. We were able to reposition them. We also replaced the rear wheel arches and repaired the badly rotten lower rear quarter panels.

With the welding repairs carried out - rain gutters, window frames, rear wheel arches, rear panel, rear lower quarter panels, front wings - the car was ready for paint. Here the car is in primer, the next page shows the car in top coat.

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