Guy Martin: New TV Series Sees Classic Car Transformed into “Shiny” Racing Vehicle


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Channel 4’s new series Guy’s Garage will see the former motorcycle racer turn four classic cars into speed machines. From his garage in Grimsby, Guy Martin and his partner Cammy have transformed an old Volvo 240 Estate into a folk racing-ready car: a popular ‘glorified banger rallycross’ in Scandinavia.

Guy started his car career as an apprentice at a Volvo truck garage, where he said he stayed for years, calling it “great work”.

He now owns two Volvo cars, a 1996 Volvo 850 T5 GLT which has been described as having a “geography teacher specification” and a two-door Volvo Amazon station wagon.

Guy started his folk racing trip in Sweden where he competed in a race to put his skills to the test for his new business.

While Cammy couldn’t get his hands on a Volvo 240 Estate, he invested in a 1988 automatic sedan, which cost him £ 1,200 and a four-hour trip south to Dagenham.

READ MORE: Guy Martin buys race track to make ‘the best track in the country’

At first they offered £ 1,300 for the manual vehicle, eventually raising their price to £ 1,850 for the engine.

The Volvo 240 was the first car to prioritize safety features in the 1970s and was named the safest car on American roads in 1976.

With folk racing, however, cars need more than normal safety features, with mechanics installing a roll cage and makeshift exhaust.

After testing the car, Guy said: “A big puff of blue smoke came out on this corner. She is terminally ill.

“How many laps has he done?” Maybe half a dozen?

“She’s terminally ill, she’s dead. About as bad as it gets.

To lighten the mood, Cammy joked, “Looks like two skeletons playing ping-pong in a trash can. She’s toast.

After completely rebuilding the engine, it has now reached up to 112 horsepower, a big improvement over the original, keeping their hopes of racing in Sweden alive.

After three races and a record fourth place, Guy Martin said he was “proud” of everything he had done with his Volvo.

He added, “I really, really enjoyed it. What a beautiful country, what lovely people.

“Razzing round in heaps of sh ** e, I think that’s damn brilliant.”

Guy’s Garage airs on Channel 4 at 9 p.m. every Monday.

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