Real People, Real Reviews

Alastair C. 13/03/23 

If you are a car enthusiast, handing over your nearest and dearest for any significant work is a daunting prospect. There are so many horror stories and photos of bodges out there that finding a professional and dedicated ‘shop seems like finding a needle in a haystack.

That’s what I thought when I was looking for someone to renovate my 1969 Alfa Romeo GT, and I took the car to several high profile garages to get an idea of what was involved. 

I’d owned the car for 8 years, and it ran great, but the rot was creeping in. Whilst I was at it, I wanted to give the car cherry picked parts from the Alfa’s sporty back catalogue, and see some of my own ideas and designs on the car. 

At several specialists, I had the usual sucking of teeth and reluctance to discuss the vision I had for the car. They just weren’t the right fit, so the search continued until I visited Reem Machine in Ilkeston.

Martin came out to look at the car and his initial reaction was spot on. “Aw, I used to have an Alfa, a Sprint. What have you got planned?” In Martin I found the right mix of talent and enthusiasm; he’s just passionate about cars and they have to look just so. He’s also very personable, and you can tell by the effort he puts in to run his business, that he does things right, and doesn’t cut corners.

The Alfa was carefully stripped and worked on, but being during a pandemic, and due to the amount of welding and shaping of pieces, it did take a lot longer than we anticipated. On the other hand, it couldn’t be rushed, and I was happy that it was being done thoroughly. The shell was braced and the floors cut out, back to the transmission tunnel. A lot of new metal went in, and new panels incorporated my own designs from the sketches I had made. 

Once the detail had been sorted on the shell, Martin and the team began preparing for paint, and I was amazed to see how little filler there was on the car. In prep. Martin said he took several kilos of filler out of the shell. I’ve never seen such sharp belt and bone lines on an Alfa, and this was due to it being done right, and taking the time and effort to get the shell as sharp and true as possible. In the primer it looked perfect, almost too good to paint.

Choosing the right colour took a little musing, as I wanted the car back to green - its original colour. The Alfa ‘Moss Green’ is a bit lack-lustre, so I chose Porsche Irish Green, a more contrasty green from the 1950s. Fast Alfa’s always wear a cloverleaf decal, so Irish Green was more than fitting.

In paint, you can see the time and effort Martin and his team put into the shell, and all my preferences, like satin black engine bay, exposed aluminium bonnet and boot lid were considered and executed perfectly. 

I couldn’t be more happy with the result, and I cannot wait to take the car on to its next stage of renovation, and enjoy it over many more miles. 

Finding the right fit with someone on a project like this is key, and whether its superficial repairs or a deep project like this one, Martin and the team at Reem Machine are highly recommended.

Eddie May

31/10/21

I took my 350Z to the team at ReemMachine for some rust repair work and a full respray. The final result is outstanding! Show car finish! I needed several rust patches cutting out and some fabricating/welding back up in some difficult areas, I had chance to see the car before paint and the quality of the metalwork repairs was amazing. Additional areas of rust were found and all sorted by the guys no fuss and they really went the extra mile to protect and undercoat everything when the repairs were done. We decided on a full respray after some discussion nearly every panel on the car needing a little work so it was the way to go. The guys did a great job smoothing out my car all small dents, chips etc gone. They also did a great job on my leather seats with some light repairs, and also picked up lots of small details like door handles which really finished the job off. My 350 is now looking perfect. The paintwork is absolutely stunning! Mind blowing mirror finish, I would show anywhere! Thanks to ReemMachine!

 Christopher Marshall

Martin did a repair on our show car Mg ZT after a mate hit the side with a pick up truck. Martin did a superb job and will be using him for other work on our mg fleet. 

Neil Brown

 Martin was so helpful and patient to ensure the colour scheme on my Cobra was exactly what I wanted. His skills with the prep, paint and stripes is second to none. I am absolutely delighted with his work and extend my thanks to his team. I wouldn’t think twice in recommending his services to anybody. Cheers Martin.

Stuart Hall 

It’s always hard to find and then trust others to take your pride and joy and treat it as well as you’d do yourself.
However Martin went above and beyond my expectations! He comes across as a guy who really understands cars and takes a real pride in what he does. I shouldn’t have been surprised my car came back looking better than it did before my little “accident”, but even so!
Colour match was a real concern for me, especially as mine is 50 years old. However there was no need to worry- it’s perfect.
I’d definitely recommend and use them again. Service and communication was excellent, price was competitive and results were outstanding Top

Alex Drummond

 Thanks to Martin and the ReemMachine team for a perfect paint repair to the multi stage pearl finish of my Tesla. I was worried after some previous bad experiences with other so called paint experts. However this was not the case with Reem Machine, Martin took the time to discuss the project fully, answered my many questions and put me completely at ease.

His Quality of work,passion and professionalism is second to none and I recommend their services to all, you wont be disappointed. Thanks again You have a customer for life

Craig Elliott

After a young lad reversed into my daughters car I asked a friend that used to work in the trade who he recommended to do the repair ..... The answer was reemmachine, well Martin you and your team certainly didn't let me down, a great price given and a fantastic job done, in fact I can't praise you highly enough and won't hesitate in using you again or recommending you to anyone unlucky enough to need your services. Update 15/10/19........well daughter number two was the unlucky one and required the services of the reemmachine team....... Outstanding job yet again cheers Martin.