Ant Anstead: Host–Wheeler Dealer, Restorer
Ant Anstead has had a passion for cars for most of his life. However, his first job was “on the beat” as a police officer. During his mid-20s he changed direction and made his hobby his job—a man in a sweet shop you may say. From there he has found a life on the small screen, first in the UK and now replacing Edd China in the Discovery Channel’s Wheeler Dealer TV program, which has a huge global audience. Mike Jiggle, VR’s UK European Editor, questioned Anstead about how his career has developed over the past few years.
Replacing Edd China, you’ve recently joined the Wheeler Dealers team, a TV program that pulls in some 200 million viewers worldwide. So, where did this passion for cars begin?
AA: I’ve been afflicted with a passion for cars since I was a child. I can remember going on road trips with my parents and playing car games with my brothers. I always used to win the car guessing game, as I had the capacity to remember car brands. It came naturally to me.
At a younger age, I played with LEGO and Meccano and I like to build things. I remember being 12 or 13 and walking to a local flea market and I bought a lawnmower with my pocket money. I walked the lawnmower back home, took the engine off it and bolted it to a wooden go-kart that I made. I never did get it working but I knew at that point that I loved building cars.
I used to turn up at a local garage run by a guy called Chris Wheeler, who looked just like Father Christmas, and I used to annoy the pants off him on a daily basis, messing around with his racecars.
When I was 16-years old I bought my first project, which car was a Tiger kit car. The donor car was a Ford Sierra, which I paid £50 for, and I picked it up with my dad and it broke down when we got home. I finished that car in the small garage at the back of my dad’s house, and as soon as it was ready I sold it to buy more projects. There were three garages at the back of my dad’s house and I remember filling all three garages and the spaces in front by the time I was 18.
I’ve had a car project in my life ever since. When I was 17 and got my driving license, all my friends were driving cool cars like the Golf GTi, Renault 5 and Peugeot 205. I was different and I bought a Vermillion orange MG Midget called Bridget. I loved that car and learned so much about how classic cars were made. She was riddled with rust, leaked water on my leg when it rained, and the roof was held together by gaffer’s tape, but she was my car. I look back at my youth and I never really owned a sensible car.
What were your dreams and aspirations of working in the motoring industry as a youngster?
AA: When I was younger, I never considered cars as a career, it was always a hobby and a passion for me…what I would do in my spare time. At 18 and a half, I joined the police and doing shift work is perfect for working on classic cars and I spent my spare time playing sport and working on cars. It was only in 2005, when I was 25 years old and had left the police force, that I made my hobby my career. I just took a risk and opened up a garage. It’s the best move I ever made.
What were your favorite models of car at that time?
AA: I got my driving license in the ’90s, the era of the hot hatch. And, of course, I lusted after these obvious cars. There were cars that were out of the reach of most teenagers like the Escort and Sierra Cosworth, Audi Quattro, Lancia Integrale. My friends drove more modest cars like MG Metros and Minis, which of course I had too. I bought a black one, off my auntie for £50 and got it stuck off-roading in a bridle way in Essex when I landed on a tree stump and the local farmer had to tow me off with his tractor, furious that we were on his land. Despite all of this obvious boy stuff, I was drawn toward classics, and I lusted after the older cars.
My favorite car has always been the Austin Seven. Not the later Ruby model with the curved radiator, but I loved the earlier square front cars from the 1920s. I was never into speed or noise, I was more into the engineering. The ways things worked and the simplicity of the Austin grabbed me. I have since worked on dozens of Austins and I cut my teeth building single-seater specials.
Did you have any formal training or education as a mechanic, or was it all self taught?
AA: I never had any formal training, and I learned by making a load of mistakes. When I started my company, I invested heavily in young people, and I am now an ambassador for the UK apprentice team. I believe this is the best way to nurture new talent. Cars are not about classrooms. There is something tangible about cars. It’s a sector driven by passion, and I only ever work with people who truly love what they do. Give me a passionate car fan, over an educated scholar any day.
Despite being drawn to cars, I understand you spent a number of years in the Police service—a very character building occupation.
AA: I look back on my police career with huge pride, and it certainly shaped who I am today. I was a police officer for six years. When I was 23, I was one of the UK’s youngest armed officers ever. While in the police, I saw the best and worst of humanity, and when I look back some of the incidences that I attended, I do so with disbelief. I was awarded two CC accommodations for bravery although now I’m a little older and a father, I think it was probably more stupidity instead of bravery. I have a huge respect for the police service and still consider myself a member of that family. Although it feels like a lifetime ago, it had such a positive impact on me. I’m currently writing a book about the history of police vehicles, and in it I tell some stories that I was involved in.
Car restoration became paramount as a defined career for you. Can you give some examples of major projects that have given you great pleasure?
AA: I’ve been really lucky while working on classics that I have never specialized in a specific marque. I covered a vast range of classic cars and made a name for myself building recreations. I have built some well-known cars that look like they’re from the 1960s but are in fact brand-new cars with modern engines and running gear. Each one of these vehicles was unique and individual, and I’ve sold cars to clients all over the world. When looking at vehicles for the TV show For The Love Of Cars, I am hugely proud of each of them, but the one car that stands out for me from this series was the Series one Land Rover.
How did you get into the world of TV and what was your “on screen” debut?
AA: Simply, I was asked. UK’s Channel 4 had been working on a new car show for over two years and the show was to be hosted by a well-known celebrity face and supported by an on-screen mechanic. The production company (Love Productions) went to the car market seeking a candidate for the mechanic’s role. When talking to people in the industry, my name came up several times. I then met with the production team at my workshop and they filmed me doing my normal day job and then I never heard from them. A month later, I sat in a London boardroom with ten people and it all felt very serious. They played me a DVD of myself and handed me a contract and said, “We think you’re really good on telly, and that you should get yourself an agent.” I agreed there and then to do the project. Since then I have worked on numerous TV programs and it’s now what I do full-time.
You’ve worked with a number of TV celebrities including Philip Glennister and former Top Gear personality James May. How did this come about?
AA: Really it’s out of my control. It’s often the channel or production company that books the presenters, but I’ve been lucky to have great relationships that live on past the program. For example, Phil and I are now great friends, I spent last Boxing Day at his house.
Are there any standout, or particularly amusing moments you can share?
AA: Working in television, I am very lucky to have seen and done some amazing things. Last year, I did 22 flights and saw parts of the world I would never of seen if it wasn’t for TV. A standout location for me was fishing at -40 in Mongolia with a local tribe. During this trip I turned on the lights at the Harben Ice festival and I rode the New Year’s Day float through the city of Hong Kong—only the second time, it’s been allowed during the history of the festival. The first time was in the year 2000 and it was a fella called Jackie Chan. Working in television has brought so many smiles and memories and I’m incredibly lucky to be doing what I do. One moment my friend, and of course the tabloids, gave me stick for was when I smashed a Mercedes on the Top Gear audition, no wonder I didn’t get the gig! I often pinch myself knowing that I go to work everyday doing something that I love to do. I’m incredibly grateful.
Particularly with For the Love of Cars, you got to drive some remarkable vehicles, what was a highlight?
AA: The way that For the Love of Cars told the story of each car was charming with a combined “mob scene” of loads of cars. We filmed each of these scenes by contacting the Owners Clubs and getting enthusiastic volunteers to turn up with their own vehicles. Imagine for a moment driving around Milbrook in a DeLorean being chased by 20 DeLoreans. Those days were amazing because you see first-hand how different cars have a different impact on different people. That’s why the title of the show is so good.
So you were screen-tested for the BBC Top Gear program after the Clarkson, May and Hammond era?
AA: I had just finished a BBC live show with James May called Building Cars Live and I was definitely on the BBC’s radar. I met with producers at my workshop and auditioned at Dunsfold, where the show is filmed. Unfortunately, while test-driving a brand-new Mercedes C63 estate, with three cameras in the car and three cameras on tripods around the track, I lost control and slid the car sideways into the only tire wall within half a mile. Whoops! I don’t think it was a factor in me not getting the role, and I have watched the new series with interest and I feel it’s developing into a nice well-rounded car show.
Has working on TV and being exposed to many high-value and exotic vehicles changed your view on models you’d like to own?
AA: Working on my recent Channel 4 show The World’s Most Expensive Cars, it put me in the driving seat of bonkers-crazy expensive machines. Being behind the wheel of a Le Mans-winning D-Type minutes before it sells for around £25 million, I had to pinch myself. I sat in the very first AC Cobra, Carroll Shelby’s very own car, with his grandson. And despite all these crazy high-end cars my heart still lies with more modest vehicles. My favorite car is still the Austin Seven.
Have you ever been drawn to motor racing, or competition driving, or has it always been hands-on mechanics that has been the attraction?
AA: Last season I competed in four series. I raced an Austin A35 (HDRC series), a VW Golf VR6 in the VW Cup, a Lotus Elite in a For the Love of Cars special racing in the prestigious Tourist Trophy and a Ginetta G40 in the Ginetta series. At Christmas, I bought myself my own G40, which I call “Summer.” I recently raced an A35 in a celebrity race at the Silverstone Classic, but unfortunately I rolled the car. It hasn’t put me off at all, and I intend to go racing more next year.
Have any of your car restorations gone on to make “big money,” for sale or auction?
AA: I achieved nine world records in the For the Love of Cars series, and I hold a number more outside of TV. I make cars that often achieve six figure sums.
What are your views on the car auction business as we see hammer prices inflate beyond belief over recent years?
AA: We are riding the crest of a wave at the moment and the car market has never been so buoyant. I can’t see it slowing up in the short term either. People are willing to spend big money on their passion, and let’s remember these cars won’t come around again. I am not surprised someone spends millions on a rare car as wealth is subjective. Millions to them is pennies to us. These cars may only be available once in a person’s lifetime, and these people seize that chance. This has made a lucrative business for auction houses to facilitate the meeting of buyer and seller. It’s an age-old sector.
Have we come to a point where hammer prices hold, or even deflate?
AA: No, I don’t think so, not yet. I think money in cars right now is better than money in the bank. And, if you can afford it and it’s your passion, then why not?
What and why are your top three cars you’d like to own?
AA: If we are talking silly end, price and availability no option… I’m a huge fan of the early days of racing. The single-seater GP days where drivers were bonkers. I would love a pre-war Alfa, or type 35B Bugatti! A Silver Arrow Mercedes or Talbot-Lago.
Basically, a single-seater, fire-breathing monster! I would use it at events and hill-climbs. Then a proper GT car—Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato. The best-looking GT of all time. Lastly, a Gullwing. I’ve driven several and they are sublime. Real world…easy! A Series One Land Rover, a car if you had to drive one last car forever that I would own and keep. It would have to be an early car from 1948.
The Holy Grail would be an Austin Seven, and yes, I am still chasing one. It’s a car I can teach my son to work on and nurture his love of cars. Porsche 912…just a cool car and not as common as the 911.
We started by mentioning your role with Mike Brewer on the new Wheeler Dealers program, and the new series is now airing in the USA. What’s it been like to work on? Is it how you thought?
AA: Taking on a huge global show like Wheeler Dealers is daunting. But I’m a car builder, I just want to build cars. I’ve been friends with Mike for around five years now and it feels like a good fit. A lot has been said online regarding the show and the change of hosts and I don’t let that effect me. All I am focused on is building the car, whatever it is, that is put in front of me.
I hope that the show evolves but retains the Wheeler Dealer DNA that makes it such a global hit. Accepting the role was an easy decision for me as it kept the show alive. It also kept the show British. I would not want to see an American mechanic at the helm, and felt I was the right fit for the role.
I hope the true car fans see the hard work and dedication that has gone into making this series. It’s been monumentally tough. If, after the show is aired, it’s not for you… switch over. Mike and I wish to restore cars and tell interesting stories and teach people new things. It’s truly that simple.
Both you and Vintage Racecar/Vintage Roadcar will be at the 2017 NEC Classic Motor Show. How do you think the exhibition has grown over the years? What are your highlights?
AA: I love this show and have been lucky enough to be involved the past few years. It’s massive and keeps on growing. It’s become a must-see in the automotive calendar. Plus, its full of proper car folk. People who literally stop me to say hi and talk cars. It’s what this sector is about—people, passion, friendships. This year it’s all about the Classic Rumble build-off! Mike Brewer versus me for our chosen charities, and we get to unveil our cars we’ve been building and restoring before we auction them with the winner being the car which makes the most! The gloves are off and it’s Mike’s Escort XR3i against my bespoke built, one-off single-seater racer.
Finally, I understand that home is now in California rather than Hertfordshire—isn’t that a culture shock?
AA: It is, yes, but I am a positive person who says yes to things. It is an adventure that is a privilege to participate in. It’s a beautiful part of the world and I live near the beach. I am realistic and I know media careers are short-lived, so I am grabbing this while it’s here, and I am enjoying every moment. No regrets. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?
