Article by Robert Coucher, reproduced with kind permission of Octane magazine.
Standing outside the doors of Moto-Technique`s innocent looking workshop in a quiet corner of an anonymous Industrial Estate near Esher,you could barely imagine what lies inside. For here is one of the UK`s bestknown and highly respected specialists in the repair and restoration of sports cars, withan international customer base - some current projects emanate from the USA, Mexico, Japan France and 
Holland.The doors open to reveal a virtual treasure trove for any motoring enthusiast.
The first few clues come in the reception area, home to photo montage depicting the conservation of a Ferrari 250 GTO, with this project O'Rourke grasped the potential of the World wide Web and broadcasted an on going series of photos whereby enthusiasts around the world followed the conservation process. Picture frames adorn the walls showing cars that have passed through its hands. A quick scan reveals the extent of Moto-Technique`s skills and handiwork over the years. Pictures of classic Ferraris make up the bulk of the work, but there`s some incredibly rare machinery featured on these walls - most notably a 1950 Porsche pre-A 356 (the oldest 356 in the country) and also three rare right-hand drive Lamborghini Miura SV ( only seven in the UK).
Another step into the workshop and it`s a manna from heaven for a car fan. This is a `normal` day for Mo
to-Technique (if this type of business can ever have what is termed as a normal day) and as owner Kevin O`Rourke shows us around the workshop, the machinery here is nothing short of staggering.
"We`ll work on pretty much anything here, but the only criteria is that it must have two doors," laughs O`Rourke. "Basically, we have to enjoy our work, 70-80% of our work is Ferraris of all ages, although we also do work on other marques and numerous old racing cars,
Indeed, the fact that the workshop today is full to capacity with cars and that the work-in-progress board features even more, speaks volumes about Moto-Technique and Kevin O`Rourke. A family run business for the past twenty years, with Kevin`s wife and daughter running the administration side of the business and son Robert working meticulously in the trim shop, Moto-Technique has built itself an enviable reputation. That`s hardly surprising when you take a look at Kevin`s CV. Although first trained as a coachbuilder, Kevin`s background is littered with names well known to those in the industry such as Mathwell Engineering, Panther Cars and also AC Autokraft (which later became AC Cars), before setting up Moto-Technique in 1980. A huge fan of Ducati motorbikes, it seemed a logical progression for Kevin to continue that passion through into Italian cars with Ferrari.
That passion hasn`t died with age and familiarity either. He`s currently restoring 246 Dino and has installed a later 328 engine and transmission which combine modern performance and manners with classic beauty. Kevin's previous Dino incidentally won the Ferrari Owner`s Club concours Champion of Champions competition. Taken together, all this puts O`Rourke in a fairly unique position as far as the classic car business is concerned. After all, here is a man who not only has been through all the pain and pleasure of owning one of these cars but, more importantly, knows how to do every job on the workshop floor himself. Combined with his staff, the knowledge that the Moto-Technique team possess is of the type that is only learnt from years of experience. Even Robert, Kevin`s son, can claim an enviable 16 years of trimming experience since working as a Saturday boy at the age of 12. In fact, chrome plating and specialist engine machining are the only pieces of of work that Moto-Technique has to out-source, everything else is done in-house.
It`s no wonder walking around the workshop, that the UK importers of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche all use O`Rourke and his staff to carry out specialist work on their behalf. Whether it`s trimming, panel-beating, spray-painting or electrics, Moto-Technique has virtually some one for the job, so it`s little surprise that several household celebrity names trust them with their four-wheeled pride and joys.
Don`t think that we`re talking just classic cars either. Opening one of the side doors to his workshop reveals a Ferrari F40, king of the 1980`s supercars, undergoing repairs to some fairly majorchassis and bodywork damage, following an altercation with an armco barrier. Nothing special you might think, until you find out that the F40`s body panels were largely made out of carbon-fibre (the high-tech material used by Formula One teams) and that it requires extremely specialist knowledge to repair - and repair well.
It`s a refreshing sight in this commercial day and age to see a family business that takes a lot of pride and joy (as well as time and effort) in the work that is does - working to the old ethic that if a job is worth doing it is worth doing properly. Perhaps more amusingly though, is that after working with all kinds of exotic supercars from day to day, Kevin O`Rourke drives home in a classic vehicle of a rather different sort - a white Transit van!
