Andy Saunders: meet Britain’s custom-car king

Where others view a carcass, Andy sees a feast, much of the body aft of the bulkhead having been crafted by hand: “My mate Colin Ware accompanied me to collect it, and he unintentionally came up with the name.

“As the barn door swung open, he said he wasn’t going to touch it without having a tetanus shot first.”

To describe Andy as a car-builder seems reductive somehow.

He is much more than that, having created more than 60 one-offs, spanning everything from cartoonish Mini redoes to concept-car-like kinetic sculpture.

‘The World’s shortest Mini’ by Andy Saunders appeared in Street Machine magazine

The Dorset man is two parts artisan, one part mad scientist, his creations a Frankensteinian mash-up of shapes and parts robbed from various sources.

The point is rammed home as we view the base metal for what promises to be a sort of Art Moderne Bonneville streamliner.

The bare bones of a Lancia Aprilia body were bought on eBay for £515.

Andy doesn’t look at cars the same way as anyone else, swimming out confidently against the prevailing tide.

Unusual models complete Andy Saunders’ eclectic garage display

“Custom Car editor Tim Baggley wrote in the 1990s that the only thing my builds have in common is that none of them have anything in common,” Andy says, before allowing himself a chuckle.

“My fascination has always been in styling; I have never been massively interested in the mechanical side.

“I am a visual person, so the look of an item is very important.

“My dad was an influence in many ways; he was an electrician, but in 1963 he rented the forecourt of a small garage in Poole and started Ron Saunders Car Sales.

“He didn’t build anything, but his cars were often souped up a bit.”

The Picasso is a jumbled remodelling of a 1983 Citroën 2CV

“What really started my passion was going to the National Motor Museum in 1970,” Andy recalls.

“Dad was always encouraging me, and while I was there he bought me The New Encyclopaedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present.

“I fell in love with the excesses of ’50s American styling in particular, and studied such cars as the Gaylord Gladiator designed by Brooks Stevens and the Aurora experimental safety car, which years later I bought and restored.

“That book was a lot of money back then, and I treasure it still.”

The Metropolis pick-up retains the Peugeot 202’s inboard headlamps

“About four or five years later, Dad gave me Cars of the Stars by George Barris and Jack Scagnetti, and I read about all these wild machines used in TV and films,” he adds. “That took my inspiration to another level.”

As did the chance encounter with a certain promotional vehicle as a 10-year-old: “It was the summer of 1973. I was walking home one Saturday morning, having washed cars on the forecourt.

“Then, coming towards me was one of the Outspan Orange cars! Six were made, each based on the Mini.

“I didn’t know that, of course, but when I saw it I somehow knew that I would build this sort of thing when I grew up.”

Andy Saunders’ 1989 creation Run-A-Ground also made the cover of Street Machine

“What prompted me to actually start making a car came about because of a twist of fate when I was 15,” explains Andy.

“I collapsed at school with a heart palpitation that lasted the best part of 30 hours. That led to me having open-heart surgery.

“Mum was beside herself, as was Dad. To keep my mind off things, he decided that we were going to build a car together.

“He had taken in a Mk1 Ford Escort with a flip-forward front end and big arches, and it acted as the basis for that first project. It sort of snowballed from there.”

‘To describe Andy as a car-builder seems reductive somehow. He is much more than that’

And how. That first creation appeared on the BBC’s Seaside Special and the floodgates opened for hundreds of future media appearances: “I was learning by doing.

“I still had health issues, as it were, and on being discharged from hospital I built another Escort, a pick-up this time, and it was featured in Street Machine.

“It was the first time one of my cars appeared in a magazine article. That was in October 1981. I was 18.

“It’s hard to understand just how big the custom-car scene was back then.”

Andy Saunders’ cars were regular stars of the 1980s and ’90s custom-car craze

“I built car after car, and the media interest became huge,” remembers Andy.

“I then did my Volvo leadsled, Rainbow Chaser, which appeared everywhere [including promo work with New Wave beat group The Rezillos].

“I made various Minis. Claustrophobia was the lowest car in the world and appeared on the front cover of The Guinness Book of Extraordinary Records.

“Then the show thing went massive.

“I had always attended custom-car shows, but then I was asked to take a car to the London Motorfair at Earls Court. Suddenly, I was taking them all over Europe and Scandinavia, the Essen Motor Show, all sorts.”

Andy Saunders’ custom-car creations have earned him many trophies

Andy’s youth was invariably mentioned regardless of media outlet: “What I don’t think anyone appreciated at the time was that I didn’t have a huge workshop and lots of equipment.

“For a long time I didn’t even have a welder! [Hot rod legend] Ray Christopher loaned me his at weekends, before Dad bought me one.

“I didn’t have much money. I created Indecision in 1983, which was my interpretation of the great show cars of the 1950s.

“It was based on a 1976 Citroën CX 2000. I think it cost all of £400.

“I was only 21, that’s the point. I drove it everywhere and the French mag Nitro did a 15-page feature on it.”

Indecision was inspired by ’50s show cars and based on a 1973 Citroën CX

This prompted contact from Citroën: “I was sounded out about becoming a designer, but I wasn’t interested.

“I couldn’t have worked in an environment where I was told what to do or had to water down my ideas to be acceptable to everyone.

“I just enjoyed working with my dad and building cars in my spare time.”

Which isn’t to say that he doesn’t appreciate the work of designers.

Andy is hugely knowledgeable about legendary stylists and concept cars, hence his later recreations of the Alex Tremulis-penned Ford X-2000 (the 1958 original having been only a model) and the Lancia Stratos Zero.

This Lancia Stratos Zero replica was a prop from the film Moonwalker, with Fiat X1/9 mechanicals

While a career with Magic Markers didn’t appeal, Andy did dabble in conceptual art, mention of which prompts a low moan: “During another really serious hospitalisation in my early 30s, I read an article about the Turner Prize.

“With it was a picture of Concorde coming in to land, which was taken through a hedge.

“That was a contender, which amazed me. It was bloody awful.

“A while later, I was chatting with a friend who is well connected in the art world, and it moved on a bit.”

The Longbridge Puzzle sculpture was a Turner Prize entry

By which Andy means he ended up with a large exhibition space in Poole arts centre, which he filled with cars, artwork and sculpture: “It lasted for six weeks in 2001 and was incredibly successful, far more than anyone expected.

“It was on Top Gear, ITV made a documentary about it and the art critic Brian Sewell even interviewed me for the London Evening Standard [where the X-2000 appeared on the front page].

“In order to be eligible for the Turner Prize, the organisers needed to receive at least six nominations from members of the public. I had 76, but the board of judges didn’t visit the exhibition or communicate with me. 

“A newspaper journalist who loved my stuff chased them, but the only statement he received said: ‘This is not art.’

“I thought they needed to broaden their horizons!”

Alex Tremulis’ 1958 Ford X-2000 scale model was brought to life

At his most prolific, Andy built five cars in a year, and he has barely slackened his pace since.

He isn’t above restoring cars, too.

Aside from the extraordinary Aurora, he has revived everything from a Cord 810 Sportsman to a Lancia Flavia Sport Zagato, via a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III and a one-off pre-war Pontiac camper.

On his to-do list is a unique ‘sharknose’ 1940 Graham four-door convertible, but the lure of creating from scratch appeals more.

The full-size Ford X-2000 concept was displayed at Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2004

“I get a buzz from making something that’s in my head,” he ponders.

“It’s not like restoring a car, where you just have to recreate how it looked originally.

“Don’t get me wrong, that is a skill, but it doesn’t hold the excitement of creation.”

It’s telling that Andy’s output appeals beyond normal boundaries, his vehicles having been displayed everywhere from the Copenhagen Custom Car Show to the Cartier Style et Luxe concours at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed.

This 1936 Cord 810 Sportsman is another of Andy’s cars restored, not created

He also came full circle from his milestone moment visiting Beaulieu as a pre-teen by having an array of cars exhibited at the National Motor Museum in 2018.

His spectacular Déjà was much garlanded after it was unveiled at last year’s Classic Motor Show in Birmingham, too, even eliciting praise from those predisposed to disliking anything hot rod-ish.

And, while he has taken on corporate clients – witness his roadgoing replica of the DeltaWing Le Mans racer for Nissan – Andy has largely eschewed building cars for others.

“I didn’t have a huge workshop, lots of equipment or much money. For a long time, I didn’t even have a welder!”

“You see all these TV shows where there’s a massive shop and a team of people and they build a car in a week,” he muses.

“It’s TV world. What you don’t see is what goes on behind the scenes and how many more guys there are working through the night. I’ve done it and it’s an illusion.

“I put 6500 hours into Déjà. I couldn’t have done it without passion, and I rarely have passion for other people’s ideas.

“It has to come from within. I can’t be doing with the hassle of someone describing what they want and me having to work out what that might look like.”

Admirers are welcome to take a seat in Andy’s wild creations

On reaching a milestone birthday, Andy retired from running the family garage business at the end of 2023.

Having hitherto fashioned his cars after work, he will now be able to build them during the hours of daylight.

He has seamlessly transitioned from being a teenage prodigy to an elder statesman, and hopes to inspire the next Andy Saunders: “When I display my cars at shows, I am more than happy to let people sit in them.

“Who knows, that experience might inspire another young designer or builder.”

Andy Saunders recalls his projects in his book, The Automotive Alchemist

“Kids can’t believe they’re allowed to sit in cars such as Déjà for a family photo,” Andy continues.

“It’s great. I don’t mind because they are only cars at the end of the day. The more youngsters are enthused, the more you’re motivating the next generation.

“When I started, I really didn’t know what I was doing. I just pushed towards my desired goal, and I know that you can achieve anything you want if you have the desire, passion and belief in yourself.

“Henry Ford once said: ‘Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you are most probably correct.’

“That is such a powerful statement, even now.”

Images: Jack Harrison

Andy Saunders’ book, The Automotive Alchemist, is available for €115 from publisher Dalton Watson

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