Happy New Year 2016

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year 2016 and all that…..

by Bill Rawles

Hi everyone and welcome to my first blog of 2016. In fact I should re-phrase that as welcome to the first blog piece that I have ever written. Anyone who knows me will know that I belong in the workshop, amongst the cars and the action. The workshop is where the real work happens and I leave all the photography, writing, Blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking and the mystery of spreadsheets and office work to my wife, Rose Rawles. I was asked to put pen to paper by her indoors and after a few failed attempts I think this got a pass.

Having had a very busy and exciting year in 2015, finishing the very successful commissioned built 100S remanufactured car and also completing the full restoration of NUE 854, AHX 16 the first right hand drive Austin Healey 100 produced, plus several other restorations, we move into 2016 with a busy, exciting order book with more restorations to complete and new ones to start.  As Spring approaches we will start receiving calls for maintenance and servicing work as many customers like to start the season with a service and safety check to ensure they get as much use and reliability as possible out of their cars during the better weather.

New Faces and New Places for 2016

At the end of 2015 we welcomed two new members of staff to our team, to help with our expanding work load. That brings our team up to six full time, two part time members of staff, Abbie our work experience girl and not forgetting Alfie the dog. We would like to take this opportunity to formally welcome Adrian and Will to our team and to introduce them to you.

Adrian is a fully qualified mechanic with 35 years of industry experience, coupled with the added advantage that he is also a Healey owner and enthusiast. Adrian with his wealth of knowledge, expertise, reliability, commitment and hardworking attitude is a hugely welcomed addition to our team. He is pleasant, approachable, and friendly and a great new asset to Bill Rawles Classic Cars, we think you will like him too.

Will is our youngest new member, who will be celebrating his 19th Birthday at the end of January. Will has also had a couple of years working as a mechanic at another garage. He is eager to learn and is quickly picking up a lot of the necessary required skills to become a fully competent restorer and mechanic. Again Will is a fantastic young person, with an incredible work ethic combined with a great personality, attitude and sense of humour. More importantly he makes a fantastic cup of tea and again we think you will like Will too.

Car sales in 2015 were strong and with our new additional premises, which we acquired in October, we can now offer a fantastic space to display our growing stock of cars for sale.The space means that potential buyers have ample room to view and look over the cars and a test drive is always available, weather permitting. Whether you are buying or selling a classic, we take pride in customer service, before, during and after the purchase of the vehicle. We endeavour to make your experience an enjoyable one. We offer fixed price commission car sales, which has proved very popular with vendors. There are no hidden costs, which gives the seller peace of mind. For the buyer we offer a no pressure sales environment, with as many visits, test drives and questions that you deem necessary before making a decision to buy. We can also offer a full after sales service, if required. We hope to offer an increased volume of car sales in 2016.

Space also means we can offer short or long term storage, keep larger amounts of new and second-hand parts and the gives the ability to organise more efficiently, allowing work to flow through the main workshop more smoothly.

Gaining more space in 2015 means better car sales facilities, improved vehicle visibility and enhanced work flow organisation

 For more photos and to keep up to date with any changes or new additions at Bill Rawles Classic Cars please take a look at our Facebook Album New Places, Faces & Spaces

 Racing, Hill climbing and many more events

In 2015 we took part in many classic car events, shows, pub meets and planned drives. My reflection of the year gone cannot miss mentioning my purely magical father & son moment. Jack and I gave the race Healey an overhaul after a few years sitting unloved, untouched but never forgotten. Jack Rawles, having been born into a life of classic cars and motorsport has a natural love for Healeys and racing. With Jacks enthusiasm, energy and drive we hauled the old girl, my Healey not Rose, out of the corner of the storage barn and spent many long evenings together preparing her for the 2015 Autumn Classic HDI Invitation Healey race at Castle Combe (Oct15). With a newly built engine FSL 246 made an appearance and she did us proud. Unbelievably Jack in his first time out racing a Healey was 2 seconds a lap faster than his old man. He managed to start the race in pole position  and finished second. Now the seed has been sown, the addiction has taken hold and so in 2016 Jack and I will be out racing the Healey in the Classic and Sports Car Championship

I am also very pleased to announce that in January Charlie Rawles passed his ARDS test and he too now has a race licence. Jack and Charlie are planning to race a Mazda MX5 in the 750 Motor Club Mazda Championship. It is starting to look like a very happy new year……

2016 has already started with a trip to the Autosport International Show on January 15th. On the 26th, 27th, 28th February we will be at Stonleigh for the Race Retro Show. We have been invited by Race Tech Magazine to exhibit our Austin Healey 3000 Race car, FSL 246. We are really looking forward to attending this show.

We are also members of The UK Austin Healey Club and supporters of the New Forest Austin Healey Club Events. Our first event of the season kicks of with Annual Dinner Dance & Prize Giving at The Hotel Miramar, Bournemouth on the 20th February 2016.

In March I have been asked to host a Technical Support day for the Thames Valley Austin Healey Club Centre

Saturday April 02nd is when our 2016 Coffee Mornings start. This is our fifth year of hosting our coffee mornings. Year on year they have grown and become very popular. We get a fantastic and interesting gathering of people and cars, not just Healeys. At these mornings we just ask you to enjoy yourselves and maybe make a donation to one of our charity boxes – The Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice and The Alton, Petersfield & District Multiple Sclerosis Society

13th-15th May we are sponsoring and taking part in The Healey Drivers Club International event at Arundel Castle.

We will also be repeating our sponsorship of the Big Healey Class in the 2016 Healey Sport Hill Climb Championship and hopefully getting along to support the competitors at some of the meetings.

Well that is just mentioning a few things that we will be getting up to in 2016. There is plenty more and  it is already looking like 2016 is going to be an action packed, exciting year. If you want to catch up with the action keep an eye on our website and our Bill Rawles Classic Cars Facebook Page. Please come and say hello if you are at an event or race meeting where we are in attendance. Race supporters are always welcome!!

If you require any help or advice with your classic please email or call and ask to speak to myself or Charlie Rawles. Our friendly nature and our open door policy means that you can call in anytime that we are open. Whether it is just for a chat, some advice or to see how we operate or more importantly to monitor the progress of your work. We actively encourage our customers who are undertaking a large restoration to become actively involved. Hopefully when you visit someone will make you and me a cup of tea.

That just leaves me to sign off with Happy New Year, Happy Motoring and thank you for your continued support. I hope Rose doesn’t commandeer me to write another Blog post too soon.

Kind Regards

Bill Rawles