Original?

You might say that original means “as the factory would have done it”.

A proper restoration starts by establishing what is original which means studying. This happens at Bart Holland in his vast library with thousands of books and technical papers. Original factory documentation is vital.

Bart Holland restores to the original; but when a client wants to change the original it is always possible but it will be documented in the restoration files and the original parts will always be stored with the car.

During the study for originality we are keen about the original materials that were used. Cars are made to be used and wear is normal. In former days when cars were rare they were precious to the owner and they should last long. In the years of driving often (accident-)repairs were necessary on technics, upholstery, paint or wooden structures. Cars should be back on the road as quickly and cheaply as possible and no-one cared much about originality. In many cases parts or materials were used that were available at the time and sometimes even better than the original. A professional restorer needs to know which materials were used in which area.

Just an example how important study is in the restoration process.

The total restoration on a rare Rolls-Royce 20/25 ” Doctor Coupé” from the thirties, the complete ash frame was rebuild in our wood dept. The floors were covered with triplex and as this material was not commonly known in these years, we assumed that this was done as a cheap repair solution in the past.

Until study proves otherwise.
It came out that Rolls who was a dedicated air-plane owner used triplex to cover the structure of his air-plane: light and strong.