Nostalgia and memories driving projects at Mount Barker business Finch Restorations

Located in the relatively quiet back streets of Mount Barker, Finch Restorations continues to receive a flood of local, national and international customers looking to have classic cars, trucks and motorcycles restored to their former glory.

Largely driven by nostalgia and sentimentality, there are many farming families amongst those looking to evoke memories of years past by getting vehicles, steeped with fond memories, back on the road.

Established in 1965, Finch Restorations was bought by current owners Peter and Harbinda Roberts in December 2014.

It has enjoyed a remarkable growth period in those years, expanding seven-fold to employ about 30 staff at five workshops in Mount Barker and Woodside.

It specialises in restorations and customisations of veteran to modern-classic era (1900-1990) vehicles, completing everything from panelling, painting, reverse engineering of parts, upholstery, tray building, electronic and lighting installation, timber work, chroming and even 3D scanning to customise and modify vehicles to meet clients desires.

The business works on up to 70 projects at a time, with some vehicles in for a week while others are multi-year restorations.

"We've got a vehicle here that has been in the business more than 20 years," Mr Roberts said.

"We're the third owners of the business to work on it."

Mr Roberts said clients generally come from one of three categories - a collector, the owner of an heirloom, or those looking to drive around in a boys - or girls - toy.

He said the most common professions of clients was winemakers and car dealership owners.

"We also get a lot of farming families, who mainly bring in trucks," Mr Roberts said.

One of those farming family projects was a 1949 Commer truck, or 'lorry', brought in by Margaret and Ian Rose.

When the Hicks family farm at Agery, where Margaret grew up, was sold she was hit by a wave of nostalgia recalling the summer school holidays where she'd drive the trusty red Commer while carting hay bales with her father and uncle.

The truck was also used to take fat lambs to the Gepps Cross abattoir and for carting bagged grain.

The Commer had originally been purchased after the family was repaid for wool and grain funds that had been donated to the war (World War 2) effort.

Before the farm was sold, the truck was retrieved from the back corner of one of the sheds and transported to Finch Restorations.

"Dad had left some money and we thought we'd use it to restore 'the lorry' as he called it," Margaret said.

"He would have been thrilled to bits because it was restored better than what it had looked like when it came off the production line."

The truck was fitted with a custom-built Tasmanian Oak tray, and featured the original engine, a four-on-the-floor transmission, bench seat, and even the physical hand signs that extended from the door to act as indicators.

The only new feature added - to meet roadworthiness standards - was blinkers.

The Commer was driven back to its home for the Kernewek Lowender - the world's largest Cornish festival - where Margaret's extended family were overwhelmed by the nostalgia and memories it evoked.

"I couldn't believe it when we got back to Kadina, almost its hometown, I just had tears of joy and couldn't believe we'd got the vehicle back there and looking like that," she said.

The overwhelming emotion felt by vehicle owners during the unveiling of their restorations is a common occurrence, and one of the most satisfying aspects for Finch owners Peter and Harbinda.

Harbinda said customers were extremely passionate and updated routinely throughout the restoration process.

She said it was almost akin to a re-birthing process, with the end result of a higher quality than the vehicle's original condition, but also done to match the period it came from to make it authentic as possible.

One of the their most memorable projects was the rebuild of a 1959 Mk 2 Jaguar, which was also customised to fit a bigger engine and incorporate the luxuries of a 2023 model car.

It had been more than a 30-year process for the owner, with the car's shell sitting at various crash repair shops for 25 years, before being brought to Finch.

They are currently building an SS Jaguar 100 for a client from Florida, have restored a 1933 Dodge Tourer which has been in the same family for nine decades, and have completed projects on brands like Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, MG, Bentley, Studebaker, Austin, Chrysler, Plymouth, Morris, Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes, Buick and of course more recent cars like Holden Monaros and Toranas, and Ford Mustangs and Falcons.

There are also many utes that come in like Dodge Coupes and Chevrolet Pullmans and Maple Leafs, Ford pickups and Bedford Tippers, Landrovers and Landcruisers.

A truck restoration of note was a 1930 Thornycroft A1 for a tannery owner in country NSW, while a 1912 Wesson motorcycle prototype was brought to reality.

The team is currently working on the build of a 1910 Halley chain-driven truck originating from Glasgow, Scotland.

"I think that's one of the significant things about where our business is today is the systems engineering of being able to take on a 1910 Halley truck or 1912 Wesson motorcycle," Peter said.

"There's no manuals, there's no spare parts for these things. It's research, it's reverse engineering."

"We fabricate a lot of them, we try and source original parts if they exist but they can often be in poor condition," Harbinda said.

The technology used by Finch to make parts and customise builds includes a 3D scanning system, which won their employee Andrea Manclus Clemente a Women in Innovation award recently for work done on a 1968 HG Monaro.

Harbinda and Peter believe in time these classic cars will become even more valuable, not only for the invaluable nostalgia but their unique charm that is not offered in modern day cars.

"Computerised vehicles will likely be recycled in future," Peter said.

"There's not going to be the Rose's or Hicks trucks because it's so easy these days to recycle vehicles.

"They also don't have the charm or aesthetics of these older vehicles," Harbinda added.