About Gentry Restorations
Gentry Restorations Ltd is a family-owned British business that specialises in the authentic restoration of vintage Bugattis. Integrity and passion are the words that best describe the attitude of managing director - Stephen Gentry.
Stephen has over 25 years of experience working with vintage Bugattis. His knowledge of the history, philosophy and engineering behind Ettore Bugatti’s products is unsurpassed. In addition, the company has access to original drawings and notes from the original Molsheim Bugatti factory. There is absolutely nothing the Gentry team hasn't been able to do when it comes to servicing, repairing, restoring and rebuilding these most cherished vehicles.
It all started on 1st January 2000 when Stephen and his father Malcolm formed the company. Gentry Restorations Ltd is now firmly established and recognised as one of the leading vintage Bugatti restoration companies in the world.
Their first workshop was a rather modest barn in the picturesque hamlet of Adwell, Oxfordshire. However, it wasn’t long before the company relocated to more spacious, modern units near Worminghall, Buckinghamshire. The extra space allowed for greater investment in the company's tool room machinery and improved conditions within the welding room and heat processing facility. In addition, the increase in space has given the company a greater parts storage facility and more room for dismantled components as well as completed cars. Furthermore, the increase in the workshop area means the team of engineers can work on up to twenty cars at the same time.
During its expansion, Gentry Restorations acquired a reputation for being a friendly and cooperative business that helps customers achieve exactly what they want. The main reason clients like to work with Gentry Restorations is that the team has extensive knowledge of Bugattis along with the willingness and ability to carry out extensive research into the history of any car. Once the research is complete and after consulting and obtaining agreement from the client, that's when the team starts the process of restoring a car to its former glory - in both specification and appearance. Repeatedly, there are clients who use Gentry Restorations to increase their collection of cars simply because of the team's knowledge, ethics, capabilities and exacting standards of craftsmanship and quality.
The Gentry team is often asked to support owners who frequently use their cars on rallies around the world. This has helped the engineers gain invaluable knowledge and experience for solving problems associated with driving a diverse range of Bugattis, over both short and long distances. This experience is continuously employed to improve the driveability and reliability of every customer's vehicle.
In addition to entire or major car restorations, there are many owners who simply require individual parts to be restored or repaired. This can range from fuel system air pumps to complete engine overhauls and chassis repairs. No job is too small for the Gentry team. There are also many owners who actively service and repair their own cars. Should such a person ever need it, the team is more than happy to provide free help and advice to anybody who asks.
In 2003, Gentry Restorations acquired many patterns and drawings from Raven Engineering. It was at this time that the company started to produce Brescia components. This was necessary in order to restore a number of particular clients' cars. Since then, the company has been asked to produce increasingly more complex and interesting components for its customers. As a consequence, the company now produces over 1000 individual Bugatti parts and components. Gentry Restorations is internationally regarded as Brescia experts because over the years the engineers have undertaken all types of serious Brescia repairs and restoration projects.
The range of parts that the company produces expands constantly. This is because it is becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain or restore missing or failed original components. As and when new parts are required, every effort is made to reproduce them to the exact specification of the original Bugatti component. This is done by using original factory drawings or by copying the unusable part.
The company employs a dedicated team of 15 personnel - 3 administration, 4 fully-qualified restoration engineers, 3 fully-qualified machine-shop engineers, 3 apprentices, 1 parts specialist and 1 cleaner. Between them the engineers collectively have over 200 years of experience working on vintage Bugattis; the company provides a personal, knowledgeable and highly skilled service that is appreciated by a truly international client base.