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These updated classics play with the whole idea of restomodding 

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These updated classics play with the whole idea of restomodding | Top Gear

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Restoration and modification, sure, but what about modernisation?

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These updated classics play with the whole idea of restomodding

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Restoration and modification, sure, but what about modernisation?

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Restoration and modification, sure, but what about modernisation?

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These updated classics play with the whole idea of restomodding

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These updated classics play with the whole idea of restomodding

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These updated classics play with the whole idea of restomodding

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Restoration and modification, sure, but what about modernisation?

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The line between restoring and restomodding is both fine and ill-defined. If you have an S1 Fulvia and fit the better brakes from the S2, have you restomodded? If you can’t find the exact part for your Mitsubishi GTO but can find one from a Dodge Stealth, does that count? What about if you fit aftermarket wheels and tyres?

Our definitions are ill-defined, but still resolute – we’ll know instinctively when we’re looking at a restomod versus a straight restoration or customisation. And how? Because it’s a matter of purpose.

Take Kindred Motorworks, which doesn’t dance around things at all – as it says on its homepage, it modernises vintage cars. That’s the purpose, and that’s also the underlying premise of restomodding that sets it apart from regular modding.

But if anything, Kindred’s Camaro, Bronco and Kombi play with the restomod definition, folding in the idea of resto-modernisation more than modification.

As well as playing with definitions, Kindred’s also come at restomodding from a different angle – rather than treating each new car as a new project (which then naturally leads to special parts and specialist talent), the team has figured out the best way to keep the looks you fell in love with and kibosh the realities you’d fail to live with.

Take the Kombi as an example – it was never beloved for its handling, humming engine or ability to go up hills. So if the drivetrain is unloved? Lose it entirely. A strong, silent electric setup with 290bhp will make you wonder how you ever settled for 40-ish flatulent horses. Four-wheel disc brakes and independent suspension keep the power in check, while rack and pinion steering delivers a new sensation at the wheel: that it’s more than a suggestion box.

It’s a similar story inside. The vaunted vintage aesthetic remains, but it’s bolstered with the kind of things we now take for granted – sound deadening, intermittent wipers and retractable seatbelts – as well as cleverly concealed modern conveniences like CarPlay, heated front seats and reversing camera.

Of course, if the engine is part of the experience – and you’ll meet more than a few Bronco drivers who’d agree – then why try to keep the old, comparatively underpowered and temperamental Windsor V8 running when something as lovely as the 5.0-litre Coyote exists? And we’re going to say this bit again: comparatively weak and temperamental. Carbs are finicky, using lead additive is probably fatal and 200-odd horsepower is rather feeble compared to the 460 on offer from the modern V8.

Similarly, a muscle car’s short list of must-haves always includes a monster engine, so you’ll be unsurprised to find more than six litres’ worth of Chevy crate-engine goodness in Kindred’s Camaro. Depending on your whim and wallet, that can be a 6.2-litre, naturally aspirated LS with 495bhp, or the full nutbar supercharged 6.2 with a nice round 700bhp.

But should you disagree with internal combustion of any sort, regardless of the context, it’s worth pointing out that Kindred’s currently working on an EV powertrain for the Bronco and Camaro. Which does put us in mind of another resto-moderniser from the land of Harvey Milk and Honey Boo-Boo...

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The line between restoring and restomodding is both fine and ill-defined. If you have an S1 Fulvia and fit the better brakes from the S2, have you restomodded? If you can’t find the exact part for your Mitsubishi GTO but can find one from a Dodge Stealth, does that count? What about if you fit aftermarket wheels and tyres?

Our definitions are ill-defined, but still resolute – we’ll know instinctively when we’re looking at a restomod versus a straight restoration or customisation. And how? Because it’s a matter of purpose.

Take Kindred Motorworks, which doesn’t dance around things at all – as it says on its homepage, it modernises vintage cars. That’s the purpose, and that’s also the underlying premise of restomodding that sets it apart from regular modding.

But if anything, Kindred’s Camaro, Bronco and Kombi play with the restomod definition, folding in the idea of resto-modernisation more than modification.

As well as playing with definitions, Kindred’s also come at restomodding from a different angle – rather than treating each new car as a new project (which then naturally leads to special parts and specialist talent), the team has figured out the best way to keep the looks you fell in love with and kibosh the realities you’d fail to live with.

Take the Kombi as an example – it was never beloved for its handling, humming engine or ability to go up hills. So if the drivetrain is unloved? Lose it entirely. A strong, silent electric setup with 290bhp will make you wonder how you ever settled for 40-ish flatulent horses. Four-wheel disc brakes and independent suspension keep the power in check, while rack and pinion steering delivers a new sensation at the wheel: that it’s more than a suggestion box.

It’s a similar story inside. The vaunted vintage aesthetic remains, but it’s bolstered with the kind of things we now take for granted – sound deadening, intermittent wipers and retractable seatbelts – as well as cleverly concealed modern conveniences like CarPlay, heated front seats and reversing camera.

Of course, if the engine is part of the experience – and you’ll meet more than a few Bronco drivers who’d agree – then why try to keep the old, comparatively underpowered and temperamental Windsor V8 running when something as lovely as the 5.0-litre Coyote exists? And we’re going to say this bit again: comparatively weak and temperamental. Carbs are finicky, using lead additive is probably fatal and 200-odd horsepower is rather feeble compared to the 460 on offer from the modern V8.

Similarly, a muscle car’s short list of must-haves always includes a monster engine, so you’ll be unsurprised to find more than six litres’ worth of Chevy crate-engine goodness in Kindred’s Camaro. Depending on your whim and wallet, that can be a 6.2-litre, naturally aspirated LS with 495bhp, or the full nutbar supercharged 6.2 with a nice round 700bhp.

But should you disagree with internal combustion of any sort, regardless of the context, it’s worth pointing out that Kindred’s currently working on an EV powertrain for the Bronco and Camaro. Which does put us in mind of another resto-moderniser from the land of Harvey Milk and Honey Boo-Boo...

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Restoration and modification, sure, but what about modernisation?