Meet the 20-somethings keeping the classic car trade alive
telegraph.co.ukboxy Japanese saloon is an automotive unicorn, so rare that even experts can’t agree on why it was made but then not produced in any great numbers.
Downs has modified and detailed his so that it is now unique. ‘I always slightly modify my cars,’ he explains, ‘it makes them personal to you.’ This is a theme common to all the young enthusiasts who appear on the following pages.
They like to take an old car and make it bespoke, stamping it with their own identities. The images are part of a project by Sheffield photographer Fraser Havenhand, himself a passionate car man. ‘Old cars are a big part of my life outside of work and I’ve met a lot of really good mates through them, so I wanted to honour that in a project,’ he says. ‘I started off by asking a couple of close friends with cool cars and it took off from there.’ Another thing Havenhand’s subjects have in common is that they are all actively involved in restoring and maintaining their cars themselves. ‘I’m by no means a mechanic,’ admits Ellie Grant, 26, when I ask whether it can be off-putting, all the breaking down and waiting by the side of the road. ‘You just get an AA membership,’ she laughs.
In fact, she has learnt a lot about mechanics and maintenance since buying her first classic BMW, and is part of a wider community of enthusiasts who meet up online and IRL. ‘There are loads of young people getting into it and everyone is really happy to help each other out.
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