11x13 - Darracq

[bunniefuu]

This time on Wheeler
Dealers, we celebrate

our 100th motor through the
workshop by taking on a veteran car.

Ed feels the heat as we try to
get our veteran back on the road.

I realise the size and
the cost of the job ahead.

And after weeks of work,
disaster strikes by the roadside.

Have we got a casualty?

Look at that!

We're spilling oil.

That was the last speed bump.

We're headed for
our toughest test drive

ever, the London to
Brighton veteran car run.

It's getting windy again.


in a 110-year-old car.

Come on, girl, this is good.

Well, it's good for you.

It's our 100th car through the workshop.

So we want to tackle
something extraordinary

that celebrates the
history of the automobile.

We're on our way to go
and collect a 1903 Dirac.

It's historic and it's a
veteran car that truly deserves

to be restored and given
the test drive of its life.

But more importantly than that,
the Mark of this car are responsible

for perhaps one of the most
famous film star cars of all time.

Genevieve.

In 1953, the charming story of
four friends taking part in the annual

London to Brighton veteran car run
captivated cinema-goers across the world.

I must say, considering
how little time I've had to

work on it, the old girl's
really behaving herself.

You should never say a thing like that.

The real star of the film was a 1904 Dirac.

Glorious to look at, but like most
veteran cars, unpredictable to drive.

If that old crock of yours falls
to pieces, you've asked for it.

Come on, Rosalind.
First on Westminster Bridge. You're on.

Genevieve is responsible for
kick-starting Matt's interest in the

veteran car movement, bringing
in millions of new fans worldwide.

I loved all the scenes, particularly the
ones when the car would break down.

They had to fix it themselves,
because that's really one of

the things that got me into
mechanics in the first place.

Just that idea that you could rummage
around in a mechanical thing and fix it.

Genevieve has inspired
us to choose a Dirac and

given us an idea for our
toughest ever test drive.


famous London to Brighton veteran car run.

Our Dirac will be on loan from a car
museum deep in the west country of England.

It's valued at £180,000 and there's
probably only about 100 left in the UK.

We're here. The Haines
International Motor

Museum in Somerset,
founded by John Haines, OBE.

It looks like they're having a
bit of refurbishment going on.

Yeah, they're building a new
building and one day the Dirac

that we're working on is going
to form part of a major exhibit.

The museum is a treasure trove of
cars and motorbikes through the ages.

We're here to meet curator Michael Penn,
but we can't resist a look around first.

And Alain, we've done one of those.
I love that car.

So fond memories of that car.

There's amazing cars,
but where's our 1903 Dirac?

Now a Dirac will be, surely
it's got me that one. Look at that!

Oh, Ed, that is fantastic. 1903.

So this is 18 years
after the invention of the

motorcar and already it
looks like a car, doesn't it?

It's got headlamps, seats, steering wheel.

Pedals, the whole thing.

And you recognise it as a motorcar.

This would be the first car we've
ever done that's got some brass on it.

There you go.

That is true, that is true.

I'm going to have a
little look in the engine.

What are we expecting to find, a V6?

Maybe a cylinder.

That is the engine.
You've got eight-hole horsepower here.

You can recognise all the parts.

You've got what looks like the
beginnings of sort of a carburetor.

You've got your exhaust
system going on there.

Spark plug.

There's a spark plug,
there's a whole spark plug.

And then I guess that's actually
kind of like your water reservoir.

Here's your radiator.

And should we have a
look what these do, then?

Yeah, what were the pedals, a little bit?

It's got one on the left, one in
the middle and one on the right.

Do the one on the right first.
I think that's the throttle.

And it is...

That one on the left.

There we go, yeah.
So that's definitely the clutch g*n.

You can actually see the kind
of this cone moving in and out.

What looks like a flywheel.

These two pedals go together.

There's a brake on the
transmission, rather like a Land Rover.

That's pretty cool, isn't it?

Michael Penn, the museum
curator, has agreed to loan us the car.

He was the last person to drive the
Dirac on the road and he's full of advice.

You've got to understand
that this motor car.

has not got any automatic controls on it.

It's all going to be done by hand.

You've got to really think
about how you're driving it.

And, of course, it's got wooden wheels.

Wooden wheels tend to dry out.

They wobble a bit.

The whole thing takes a
lot of concentration to drive.

It gets very hot, so you've
got to be careful with that.

You may see steam and oil and
all sorts come out of everywhere,

so you've got to be able to cool
it, run it, bring the gears down.

All of these things take
a little to get it used.

Do you reckon it'll start up?

Yeah, we could give it a go.

We push the car outside,
I pull on a period coat,

and with a few checks, Ed is
sure it will start... ..eventually.

Ooh!

That definitely kicks,
that definitely kicks.

Oh, it shudders, it does shudder.

You know, I just think it's not run.

This thing hasn't run for
many, many, many years.

I think the thing we need to
do now is just try and push start.

Yeah, let's call in the cavalry.

That is what the cavalry look like.

Really? Yeah.
Is that the best thing you can do?

That's Bob, and he's responsible for
keeping this whole collection running.

Hey, I'm Bob. Hello, Bob.

Wow.

You don't seem to have
very many tools with you, sir.

Good to meet you. Good to meet you.

How you doing, Bob? You all right, mate?

Yeah, good to see you.

Ooh! Yeah, I've got one of them.

I've had no idea, Ed.

All right, then.

There's a lot of smoke.
I don't know whether that's water or oil.

What have you done? What have you done?

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Yes!

Oh!

I'll work on that.

And you keep looking at your
feet, right, which isn't helping.

You've got to keep your
eye on... Come on, baby.

Oh!

It's like driving a thunderstorm.

But when you was driving it, like me,

did you not feel that it
was all over the place?

Well, the wheels seem really, really wayward,
even though the steering is very stiff.

So clearly there's something wrong
with them, because they're wooden.

You know, I mean, they could be rotten,
they could be falling apart, I don't know.

So we're going to have to look at that.

Calling, that's another thing.

That's a big issue.

Well, yeah, I think the lights.

I mean, you know, we don't necessarily
need to see where we're going so much.

Everybody else needs to see us there.

I mean, because there'll
be a plume of smoke,

perhaps, there'll be
steam and everything else.

But, yeah, we need to do all that as well.

A shouting passenger.

It screams from the middle.

But I think it's going to be awesome.

It's going to be a proper adventure.

It will be a massive adventure.

This is the biggest thing
we've ever taken on.

We've never worked on an antique before.

Every part is handmade, and this renovation
has the potential to cost us a fortune.

We work on an hourly rate, and
it'll take us as long as it takes us.

OK, well, we've got an hour,
so shall we get on with it?

And there's more pressure, because
the historic London to Brighton Run

is just six weeks away, and we've
got to turn an ageing museum exhibit

into a veteran capable of
tackling 21st-century roads.

We've gone back in time
and chosen a rare and

valuable 1903 Dirac to be
our 100th car we restore.

We want to drive it in the
epic London to Brighton Run

for our cars not keen on
coming out of retirement.

And when we eventually get
it going, the drive is terrifying.

We can't do this clearly.

The hand-built car is in
need of Ed's healing hands.

The cooling system is boiling over.

The lights aren't fit for a bicycle,

and those dangerously
wobbly front wheels need fixing.

Oh, wow. Yeah, look at that straightaway.

You can really easily see.

Look at that. The spokes are
rattling around all over the place.

And also, you can see
there's a kind of a gap

between the spoke and the rim
there, where it's actually pulled away.

So you can see where the wood
has actually sort of shrunk away.

That's not looking good at all.

But this would explain why it
feels so wayward on the road.

The front wheels have got to come off,

so I can inspect the rims and
check the steel ball bearings,

which ensure the wheels
spin freely on the stub axle.

With the dust cover
off, I remove the split pin,

and then I can crack
off the castellated nut

which holds the wheel's
bearing together precisely.

Last thing to free off is the retaining
plate holding the bearings in place.

There's a nice little
collection of ba*ls here.

Now, I was expecting
these to be rather damaged.

You can actually feel if there are
any kind of pits or dents or flat spots

and actually then really good nicks.

I reckon if we pack these with grease
again and we put them back together again,

then actually that bit of the stub
or the axle is going to be fine.

I think the wheel is another story.

It's the same on the other side.

The bearings are in great condition, which
means I need to come up with a clever plan

to sort the damaged wooden
spokes and outer rims.

Our wheels are made of ash and hickory,

and they've dried out and split.

OK, Paul, can you turn it on? OK.

In the old days, they'd soak
wooden wheels in a river

so they absorb the water and
expand again, closing the gaps.

I've got to say, this is pretty weird.

I have done my research and
I've checked with the museum,

and there is even a
technical name for this.

It's called plimming.

What I'm going to do is dunk my wheel.

And then just have to leave
these for about 48 hours,

and that should be enough time for the
wood to swell and the wheels to be sorted.

Now, one of the amazing
things about this car

is it's not that dissimilar to
what you have on your drive.

Today, it's water cooled.

You can see at the bottom here, you've got
this whacking great big brass water pump,

and, of course, that does the same
job as the one in the modern car.

It pumps the water
around the cooling system,

and you can see here you've
actually got your radiator

sitting in front of your engine,
again, like a modern car,

and then you've got your hoses and
your pipes just to connect the circuit.

My first focus is on the radiator.

If that isn't working at full
capacity, then the car can overheat,

so I need to remove it for inspection.

I'm going to drain down the cooling system,

and, of course, it's quite an old car,

so you'd think all the
nuts and bolts would be

imperial, but, actually,
it's an old French car,

and, of course, they started
using the metric system in

about the 1800s, which means
it's more likely to be metric,

so I'm pretty sure it's
going to be about 13 mil.

It's funny, because everybody thinks
that the French invented the metric system,

but, actually, it was an English invention,
a guy called John Wilkins in 1668.

The system drains fast, and the
coolant looks in good condition.

Clearly, it's recently been replaced.

Classic top tip, whenever you drain
something down, whether it's oil or coolant,

make sure you put the
drain plug back in at this stage

to make sure you don't end up
with stuff all over the floor later on.

When the Darrac was built,

they really were pioneering
every aspect of car design,

but they borrowed from other trades,

so this pipework was probably
inspired by domestic plumbing.

Look at that.

Looked quite smart in an
Edwardian home, wouldn't it?

The radiator is full of
Edwardian filth and muck,

discolouring the foam.

Let's have a quick check for any grit.

There are no big chunks or
anything, a few little bits and pieces.

There's actually really good news,
which means the radiator is fine.

There were no leaks, and it
wasn't really blocked up either,

but we still know the car
overheats, so I think the

only other thing it could be
is perhaps the water pump.

Now, to get a proper look, I
obviously need to take it off,

but you can see it's still
connected up to a few bits.

So the first thing I'm going to do
is you just undo this last pipe here.

Now, you can see that the rubber.

is quite old now and beginning to crack,

so we're going to have to
replace that at some point.

It's quite tough, but there we go.

Look at that.

To get access to the
inside of the water pump,

I first need to remove
the inspection cover.

Wow, you've got this kind
of eccentric cam almost.

All right, okay, so as you can
see, as the engine turns round,

what's going on is these
little brass bits here are

actually being flung out by a
little spring in between them,

and they kind of draw the water, because as
you can see, if you watch just down here,

you can see that there's a
very small chamber there,

but as the chamber, or
as the whole thing rotates,

you can see this chamber gets
bigger and bigger and bigger.

That actually creates a vacuum,

and in the same way, of course, it's
pushing the fluid back through there.

So it's actually quite
clever and very simple.

So the problem I can see is
that these little veins, if you like,

are actually quite loose.

Now, if I take them out,

first of all, you can see the
spring that pushes them apart.

That gives you the seal at the edges.

But looking at them closer,
they're quite badly worn,

so you're not getting a really
good seal against the edge.

Therefore, you're
not getting maximum

efficiency moving the
coolant around the system.

So I think, really,

these little bits of phosphor bronze
here are going to need to be remade.

Each veteran car was handmade.

You can't buy parts for a
water pump off the shelf,

so I'm visiting an expert
who does bespoke work.

Well, I'm in the right place, aren't I?

Look at these cars!

Shop! Anybody around? Where's Nigel?

Morning. Is that you, Nigel?

How you doing, mate? I'm Mike.

Nice to meet you.

I recognise that.

This is my... Yeah, my walls are pumped,

which is incredibly heavy.

Yeah, well, it looks like a
very nice Darroch pump.

Good.

Let's see how tired it is.

OK.

Right, so what have
we got inside here, then?

Right, so we're looking to see what
wear we've got on the impeller blades here,

which are sprung-loaded apart,
and they look pretty tired out to me.

OK, that's not good news, then, is it?

No.

Nigel strips the body down,
looking for any more damage.

The main wear we're
looking for is in this shaft,

and as you can see, it's very worn,

especially when you look at this end.

Oh, yeah, I can see it moving this
end much bigger than the other way.

So that's the impellers and
shaft which need replacing.

We'll have to hand-make all the parts.

So none of this sounds like it's
going to be cheap and easy to do.

How much is it going to cost?

We don't price.

We work on an hourly rate,

and it'll take us as long as it takes us.

OK, well, we've got an hour.

Shall we get on with it?

Well, we'd better get a move on, then.

Out the back, there's a machine
room full of specialist tooling,

and Andrew is going to
turn the water pump shaft.

So how can you begin to
make a new one of these?

What's the material we're going to use?

Well, we'll use this
bit of steel over here.

Oh, blimey, that's heavy.

Oh, a great big piece
of steel like this, yeah?

Yeah, and then we'll turn this,

and then we'll put a slot across it,

and then we'll drill the
holes to match the gear.

You make it sound so simple.

Go for it.

This is a parting tool,

and it's capable of cutting through
solid metal to finish the shaft.

Lots of coolant, so it doesn't get too hot.

No way.

That is brilliant.

Yeah, let's have that.

Now, I've heard the saying,

knife through butter,

but that's amazing.

The impeller vanes are next on the list.

A chap called Pete is prepping them,

and I'm hoping I can lend a hand.

So how's it working?

First, of course, you have to add a cut.

Which you can do.

Lift this up to zero on there,

and away you go.

Look at that.

And then that starts milling it down.

Do you know, I want you to do
something like this, because with this car,

I'd just like to know that I've
done something in the car.

You know, it's going
to last for hundreds of

years, I hope, once
we've finished with it.

To get the Dirac back on the road,

we're spending money we've earned over the
years buying, restoring, and selling cars.

Final cost for the water
pump rebuild will be £810.

The new impeller blades are finished,

the ones that you helped make.

It all fits nice and snug now.

Lovely.

Like it should do.

Yeah, wonderful.

The main thing is it will be ready on time.

Ready on time?

That's the words I'm looking for.

Yeah, well, it's been a
pleasure having you help.

That has been absolutely brilliant.

It's now just four weeks until
we tackle the veteran car run,

and we've still got the wheels to mend,

a new lighting system
to design for the Dirac,

and the overheating problem to resolve.

Will Ed be able to get it ready in time?

You can get very old trying
to start one of these cars.

Me and Ed have chosen a 1903 Dirac

worth £180,000 to be the


It's a simple-looking car
from the dawn of motoring,

but it's throwing up a lot of problems.

We can't do this journey!

We planned to drive it
in the London to Brighton

veteran car run, and a huge
worry was the overheating,

so Ed cleaned out the radiator.

After all these years, it's going to be
full of some pretty nasty Edwardian filth.

Thankfully, the brass
water pump's been restored.

I'd just like to know that I've
done something in the car.

You know, it's going to last for hundreds
of years, I hope, once we finish with it.

Ed, how are you doing? You all right, son?

I'm good, I'm good.

Wow, look at her engine, all exposed.

Now we have a brilliant
refurbished working water pump.

What do you think of that?

That's very lovely, isn't it?
It's fantastic.

I'm really proud of this, because actually
I did some of the work in that myself,

so I'm going to take a part
in this car's future history.

Well, that's the thing, I think.

It's a real honour to be working on
this car and to become part of its history,

so it is a fantastic
thing we're doing here.

Now, there's the big twirly thing here.

Where they gone? Where they missing?

They're taking a bath.

OK, so it's a little bit like when
they used to make wooden ships.

They used to put them in
the water, so the wood would

swell up and it would
stop the ship from leaking.

Well, yes, that's the theory.

Is it going to work?

I don't actually know, to be honest.

I mean, like everything on this
car, it's a bit of a voyage of discovery,

but I've had them in
there for a couple of days.

Two days?

Yep, and that's supposed to be enough.

I hope it works.

I really do.

The rebuilt water pump,
I'm just turning the crank

just to make sure that the
teeth on the gear's mesh

and cleaned-up radiator
go back on the Derrick.

This is our freshly cleaned radiator,
or at least on the human side, anyway.

To improve performance,
I'm replacing all the

hoses and clamps with
new items with a period look.

They certainly make all the difference.

They just look the part, don't they?

Pour in some waterless coolant, which
has a boiling point above 180 degrees,

and I'm really keen to test
the running temperature

of the engine and
check our water pump fix.

Here we go.

You can get very old trying
to start one of these cars.

Yes, again!

Wow, OK, so now that it's started,

I'm going to leave it
running for about half an

hour or so to get it nice
and warm so I can check

that the temperature
of the coolant is the way

it should be and it's
not going to overheat.

So, see you in a bit.

OK, Paul, we're going to turn it off.

Right, it's been running
for about half an hour or so,

so just check the temperature here.

I'm using an infrared thermometer,

so that little laser point
there just tells me where I'm

actually pointing it at, and
we've got nearly 100 degrees.

That's good news.

With waterless coolant, it won't
overheat at that temperature,

but the water pump and cooling system
still need to be given a real-life test.

I think they'll work,

but, of course, I'm
not going to know that

for sure until we do a
little shakedown run.

Now, our dried-out wheels
have been soaking up

this lovely moisture for the last two days,
and hopefully, now the wood's re-expanded,

it's actually going to fill up all the gaps

and make these wheels
strong enough for the open road.

So, bath time is over.

Let's have a little look.

Well, I can see that some of the cracks in
the gaps have actually closed up somewhat,

which is good,

but, really, the plumbing doesn't
seem to have completely done the trick.

These wheels will come
under enormous pressure

on the run and I can't
risk them breaking,

so I've sent them down to
Devon to be checked by Greg,

the Royal Wheelwright,

who looks after the wheels on
all the Queen's historic carriages.

Hi, Greg, how's it going?

Hi, Ed, good to see you.

Right, now, clearly, this
is looking a little different

from when we last saw them,
so what have you been doing?

You sent me the two wheels,
one of them was OK, it was tight.

Right, that's good news, I think.

So that one's OK. OK.

This one, the wheel was too small,

so this is what we call a tyre.

Yep.

It's not rubber, but
that's the original tyre.

I've got to make the
wheel now fit that again.

Right.

And what we do is we make the
wheel slightly bigger than the tyre.

OK.

Then we expand the
tyre in the fire, heat it.

Yep.

So the metal expands.

Then we push it onto the
wheel and shrink it really quickly.

Wow.
OK, now that just tightens everything up.

That tightens everything up again.

That's really smart.

So I guess we need to load up a fire.

Now, this is quite an
awesome art, isn't it?

I mean, how many years
experience have you got?

Well, I like to say I'm about 20 years.

through a 40-year apprenticeship.

So learning every day.

Well, the day you stop learning
is the day to give up, isn't it?

You always learn they're all different.

So now this is the plate, I guess.

Yep, this is called a
bonding plate or a tiring plate.

OK.

So what it does is it cramps the
wheel down onto a very stable structure

because we need that not to
move while we're putting this tyre on.

So now what's going to happen, George is
going to put some thin strips of wood on.

Now, these burn really quickly.

What they also do is
hold all the heat down.

Right.

You can see how quickly that
pallet is starting to catch up.

Yeah, so it actually just
keeps it hot from both sides.

It does.

That's even heat.

And using a pallet gives
us a lovely, aerated fire.

So I'm getting all the
heat that I want out of it.

You can rub a piece of stick against it,

and if it immediately
catches fire, it's hot enough.

OK, so you've just got
to get rid of the wood.

Here we go.

Wow. OK.

So we've now got the
tyre that's hot enough.

So do we need to get
the water ready as well?

Yeah, you can get ready on a can,
Ed, but don't do anything until I tell you.

OK.

So now obviously theoretically,
because the metal is the

right temperature, it's now
bigger than the wood beneath.

Yep.

Now you only get one go at this.

The pressure is on.

So we're down.

Right, we're shorting through
now, Ed, so you need to go

against the plate, in there
like that, as quick as you can.

Right, I'm there.

As the water cools, the iron tyre
shrinks onto the wooden wheel,

but is it a good, tight fit?

This will cool really quick
because it's not very thick.

Wow.

That is amazing.

So that's cold already.

The important part is when he comes off.

The sound.

OK.

Oh, of course, whether it's actually
got that sort of dead sound or the ringing.

A dead sound means the wheel is tight.

A ring means the tyre is too loose.

This is where you look at Dad
because you'll know instantly.

Are we ready?

Yeah.

It's your fault, Ed, if it isn't right.

I think he's happy.

I think he's happy.

So that's now a tight wheel.

Fantastic.

A few bolts to get in, a bit of paint in,

but that should see you
for the London Debright.

That's amazing, thank you
very much, that's fantastic.

The wheel which needed work has
been returned to good order for £495,

but it should cure the
wayward handling of our Darran.

Now, the thing about veteran
cars is it's all about the history,

so the custodians of this car,
Haines International Motor Museum,

have been very, very careful
in keeping absolutely anything

that's been attached to the car or
has anything to do with the vehicle.

So this is actually the
original oil lamp from the car.

Obviously it's a very
Victorian-esque thing.

You actually have a wick
inside there and a vessel of oil,

and the idea is, of
course, that this would have

supplied the light, if you
like, that went into our lamp.

The old lamps still work and they look
beautiful inside the brass carriage cases.

On modern roads, you
need to see and be seen.

We need a stronger, clearer light,
so I've come up with a bright idea.

I want to fit modern LED lighting
parts, a battery, switching system,

cables and bulb into the carriage lamp.

The old paraffin lamp base fits perfectly,

but we cannot damage antiques
by retrofitting modern parts.

So I've had an idea.

Measure it carefully, create a 3D model

and then take a leap
into the extraordinary

world of 21st-century
manufacturing technology.

Well, I now have a 3D model in
my computer that I'm very happy with,

and so obviously I now want to
make it actually real, if you like.

And in the same way that if you
wanted to get a tangible document

out of anything on a
computer, you'd send it to

a printer, and this is
where it gets awesome.

Now, this amazing machine is a 3D printer.

If you think about a conventional 2D
printer, you'll be printing ink onto paper,

whereas this machine can print
a multitude of different materials,

but in this case it's going to be
acrylic resin onto a sheet of metal.

It's incredible.

The machine is laying down 30 microns,

about 0.3 of a mil of
material, with every pass.

The 3D printer tells me it will take around


This machine is on loan to me.

New, it will cost around £120,000.

Now, we left the machine going all night.

It actually took just over


And here we go.

Oh, look at that.

Ever so gently take this out here.

And there we are, these are
our nearly finished products.

Compare them with
the item I actually copied.

You can see they're almost identical,

but of course they've got the
modifications ready for our LED kit.

A 12 volt supply will power an H7 LED bulb,

and I know they'll fit as I gave the


Now, all I have to do is
pop everything into position.

So let's start with this little bit here.

There we go.

So I'll just connect up
my battery pack, like

so, and that should
just now drop straight in.

Look at that, very nice and neat.

And then pop in the bulb holder.

Look at that perfect fit.

So here we go, finally,
the moment of truth.

Look at that.

Let's pop into our lamp.

And then we just lock it into position.

And there we have it.

After almost six weeks of
work and £1517 spent on parts,

we think the Dirac is ready for
the 64 mile London to Brighton run.

That's it Ed, keep coming.

There you go, nice and gently.

Doesn't it look good?

But we can't leave anything to chance,

so we've come to the famous Royal
Automobile Club to give the car a shakedown

and try to master the
challenge of driving it.

Hee hee hee hee hee.

Ha ha, well done, sir.

Yes!

Good job.

Second go.

It's like trying to rub your tummy
and pat your head all at the same time

because obviously you've got to
worry about the advance and the ret*rd.

Let's give it more of that.

The Dirac is running well,
but driving it is a complex task.

I don't know if I want to go into second
gear, but do I go into second gear?

No, no, no.

It's like there's so much going on,
but it's a little bit crazy, but it's fun.

What do you think will
be getting the hang of it?

I'm having to juggle
the timing of the spark,

the fuel-air mixture
on the steering column,

the throttle position and the gears.

That combination is
really hard to get right.

It's vibrating, it's being
like a jackhammer,

but at least the wheel
is in good condition.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

You're going to stall the car.

I've stalled the car, yes.

Yes, I've stalled the car.

Is this the first breakdown of the day?

I'm going to try and bumpstart it.

Ready?

But a few adjustments, a push for a mic,

and we're on our way.

You ready? Go, go, go, go.

Come on, come on, come on, come on.

There we go.

No.

I mean, the scary thing is
there's only going to be a

couple of days before we're
actually on the start line.

I know, that is kind of scary, isn't it?

It's a little intimidating, frankly.

It is.

To be honest with you, Ed, I'm really
nervous about having to go myself.

I can drive almost
anything, but this looks like,

well, it looks so difficult.

Most veteran drivers have had years
of experience before they tackled a run.

We've had just a couple
of hours behind the wheel,

and this is an unpredictable car.

We just don't know if it will
complete the veteran car run.

Whoa, I've got a little
backfire on the exhaust.

Oh, no, come on.

Keep it going.

Oh, no, oh, no.

To think that we're going to do this.

from London to Brighton.

It's 60 miles.

It's like, well, probably
four, five, six, 10 hours.

You know, it's going to be nuts,
and it will probably be raining.

We've been amazingly
lucky with the weather today.

Look, this may be our 100th car,

but I reckon this is our
toughest challenge yet.

Three, two, one.

Come on.

Nearly, nearly, nearly.

And as we head home, one
question sticks in our mind.

Will we make it over the
finish line or stall at the start?

That wasn't very good.

That's not very good at all.

Here we go.

It's D-Day for the Dirac, me and Ed.

We've spent weeks
transforming this veteran car

from shiny museum exhibit
to road-ready automobile.

Oh, yes.

Yes, again.

It's been a journey of discovery,

and we've learned how to do
things the old-fashioned way.

Even though I've checked and
double-checked this process,

and I know it's the right thing to
do, it still seems really, really weird.

And created new parts
with 21st-century technology.

And then we just lock it into position,

and there we have it.

Now the time has come to
see if the hard work will pay off,

or will we be left weeping
tears and oil by the roadside?

It's 6am in the morning, and in
the beauty of pre-dawn London,

around 400 veterans are
massing together with drivers

and support teams for the start of
the historic London to Brighton Run.

It's an incredible
mix of cars, from the




Hey!

How are you?

You look amazing!

I didn't know you were
going to get dressed for this.

I've got to show you the best bit.

Look at that!

You look like some kind
of Edwardian superhero.

What have you came for?

Do you want me to tickle
anything or do anything?

I think we're good.

Yeah?

The Dirac starts first time.
A good time for the run.

I am now, I think, pretty
much 100% ready for this.

You and the Dirac seem
to have this real connection.

What could go wrong?

Begun in 1896, the longest
running motoring event in the world,

the London to Brighton
Run is about to start.

Tension is riding.

The red flag is ripped to celebrate
the start of modern motoring.

Then it's 7am and we're off!

Here we go!

Yes, we've got him!

The route heads past some
of London's iconic sights.

I am driving over one of the
most famous Bridges in the world.

And a 110-year-old car is just epic.

And then down through
the traffic of south London.

These buses seem quite
big when you're up here.

Yeah, they're very intimidating.

But give it a clean run and
its single cylinder is happy.

You know, it's getting that fast.

I'm going to invoke Superhero Gobble.

We're in third gear and
we are motoring now.

This is great.

Here we go.

I'm going to slip through exactly that.

Like an Edwardian Formula 1 car.

Look at that. That's a wonderful car.

The first rest stop is Croydon,
nine miles from the start.

I don't stall it now.

We reach it at 9am.

Whoa!

Oops, the direct suspension
wasn't built for speed bumps.

Have we got a casualty?

Look at that! We're spilling oil.

Wow, that was the last speed bump.

The feed from the bottom of
the oil tank has come away.

If I can't re-secure it and get
it fixed, then our run is over.

Thankfully, I've come prepared.

So now, I think the thing is, this should
be some kind of compression fitting.

I guess that last speed
bump was what took it out.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

Banging a bit of solder into place.
I don't think that's ideal.

Yeah, but listen, in these
situations, I think anything goes.

This is actually oiling the engine, obviously,
and we have to keep going with that.

Or just tape it up as well.

Now, this has got to be the first time I've
ever done any mechanical work in a cape.

I mean, you've just bandaged it, basically.

Our roadside fix needs to work because
there's 55 miles left of steep climbs,

scary hills and gruelling traffic
before the finish line in Brighton.

We've just been overtaken
by a car head on a pushbike.

You do realise that?

It's actually got more gears
than us, though, so to be fair...

It's got like I'm always
on the edge of a precipice.

You know what I mean?

It's like there's always
something about to happen.

It's like you can't relax.

Sorry, your heart's are relaxed.

Come on, boys. Come on.

We strike up a bit of rivalry
with CAR 266, a 1904 Peugeot.

Here we go.

On the inclines, the
Dirac, with its eight

horsepower engine, is
stronger, but on the straights,

the lightweight two-seater 266 catches up.

It doesn't work!

It's working! It's working!

It's getting windy again. Time for goggles.

It's nip and tuck over the next
ten miles with the yellow Peugeot.

As we head towards the next rest stop.

We're past the halfway Mark, 36 miles in.

Hang on, I've got to get up.

But Ed is struggling in the Dirac's
Edwardian driving seat and cramps us in.

This is actually so much more comfortable.

Crawley offers a chance for
drivers to check the veterans over.

Look at the number of people.

My roadside repair on the oil
tank appears to be holding up well,

so I check the levels.

It's been getting on.

It really will.
I don't think you've met Ed.

This is Ed.

Hello, Ed.

This is Nigel.
Nigel did the work with me on the walk.

Thank you very much for that.
It's working an absolute dream.

I didn't realise you were
bringing a giant with you.

How are you getting
those legs in there, then?

It's not easy. I actually got a
cramp earlier on. It was a bit tricky.

You've made it to Crawley.

We've got here.
All we've got to do is get up Clayton Hill.

So, tell me about this Clayton Hill.

Basically, you'll get to the bottom.

And there'll be marshals.

Get into a low gear at the bottom

and just don't over-rev it
and just plod your way up.

We'll look out for your little green cart

and you'll get out and
you'll give us a willing push.

Well, I'll wait as I go by.

So, have you got more horsepower than us?

No, I've only got five. You've got eight.

Nearly a mile out of the rest stop
and the engine cuts out on the Dirac.

That wasn't very good.

That's not very good at all.

This time, it doesn't want to restart.

Not happy, is she?

The first ever recovery service, then.

Come to recover us.

But, our luck's in.

Veteran car specialist mechanic,
Nigel, sees us and stops.

Nobody ever said this was
going to be easy, did they?

No, that is true.

It's been running really strange.

It must have just been left
crawling, so... It's like it's missing.

I don't know if there's any top thoughts.

It might be straight away.

I used to plug it to start with.

And my chimneys look
better than that in my house.

I've got another one.
We've got another one.

The Dirac stopped because
the spark plug has sooted up,

a symptom of a bigger
fault with the points,

which regulate the
spark and make sure the

engine makes best use
of the fuel-air mixture.

Our points are dirty and corroded,

but as a fast roadside
repair, they can be sanded

down and cleaned and
a new spark plug fitted.

The thing is, we stopped
for that coffee break.

And I think the car
wanted to carry on going.

We shouldn't have stopped.

But will it start now?

Yes!

Look at that!

Job done.

That's all it was.

Lovely.

Here we go.

The Dirac seems to have changed car.

She's going on quite nicely.

Amazing the difference.

Good now.

And even the rain can't dampen our mood.

I'll tell you what, just a little higher
so I can actually see the road.

But the journey has been slow,
just 50 miles in seven hours.

The thing is, now it's a race against time
because we've got to get to Madeira Drive,

or at least the checkpoint
beforehand, by four o'clock.

It's actually, that's
part of the challenge.

You've got to be in by four.

Okay, so there's no stopping
between now and then.

Trouble is, Clayton Hill, our
biggest challenge, lies ahead.

We're joined by veteran after veteran,

all desperate to time
their run and reach the top.

It's a painstaking climb.

We're going to do this, as
long as she's sticking over.

Come on, baby, you can do it.

Come on!

As the engine note
drops, the car struggles.

We need to lighten the load.

Go on, get out, get out, go.

Come on, Gail, this is good.

Well, it's good for you.

I'm desperate not to stall,

as a hill start on this
incline could be very tough.

I leave Mike behind on the hill.

I can't wait.

I have to get the Derrick to the top.

But once again, I can
hear the revs dropping.

The Derrick is close to stalling,

so as a last-ditch measure, I jump out too.

Oh, what a challenge!

Go on, mate, go on, go on.

Yes!

I'm dead.

Thank you.

I'm absolutely dead.

Brighton is three miles away.

The roads at last open out, wide and flat,

and the Derrick is on song.

We're happy, but exhausted.

We've been on the road
for around eight hours.

Wow.

Awesome, awesome, awesome.

And look at us now.

We're properly motoring, aren't we?

At 3.45, just inside the 4pm cut-off time,

we've finally reached the
end of this incredible journey.

Madeira Drive, we've made it.

Yeah!

The 100 car for a workshop
has been the most memorable.

Yes!

And from the first day has
been such a good laugh.

We've gone back in time to
find ways to mend the Derrick.

So that's now a tight wheel.

We've come up with modern
answers to Edwardian questions.

And here we go, look at that.

The moment of truth, we have light.

And we've met some wonderful people.

We'll look out for your little green car

and you'll get out and
you'll give us a willing push.

Well, I'll wait as I go by.

As we cross the finishing line,

it's a chance to celebrate our achievement.

Thank you.

Oh, that's a journey.

Oh, man, that is awesome.

In the end, we spent £1,517 on spares
and the derac is back in rude health.

We did it for the love of
this very special motor.

Well, it's been really
challenging but a fantastic journey

and, boy, I'm never going
to forget the 100th car.

Nor am I. We're quite a team, being you.

Absolutely.

Do you fancy doing some more cars?
Of course.

If you want to see more cars
being turned around by me and Ed,

then make sure you join us
again soon on Wheel of Dealers.

Ta-da!