Our process
Standards you can hold in your hands
Every car we offer has crossed our own ramp and earned a written grade. Here is exactly what we check, how we grade, and what ends up in the dossier you take home.
Before we buy, before we sell
The 187-point inspection
Every motor car, bought outright or consigned, spends two days in our workshop before it is offered. The inspection is the same regardless of price, and the findings are disclosed in full, even the unflattering ones. Especially the unflattering ones.
Marcus Bell, our workshop director, signs every report personally. His rule: “Paint hides sins. Fasteners confess them.”
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42 points
Structure & corrosion
Chassis rails, sills, floors, shock towers and every known rot point for the model, probed, photographed and paint-depth-mapped panel by panel.
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38 points
Driveline
Compression and leak-down, cold start behaviour, gearbox and axle condition, fluid analysis where history is thin.
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31 points
Brakes, steering & suspension
Hydraulics, bushings, geometry and period-correct parts, checked against factory specification, not just function.
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30 points
Identity & documents
Chassis and engine numbers read from the metal and reconciled with build records, registries and the ownership chain.
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24 points
Electrics & instruments
Charging, lighting, gauges and loom condition, with originality noted alongside function.
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22 points
Interior, trim & weather equipment
Upholstery originality, fit of hoods and side screens, brightwork condition, completeness of tools and books.
The Ferrobello grading standard
Four grades, plainly defined. A grade is printed on every listing and defended in every dossier, and a Grade IV preserved original can be worth more than a Grade I restoration. Condition is a fact; value is a story.
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Grade I: Concours restoration
A recent, documented nut-and-bolt restoration finished to show standard. Finishes, fasteners and date codes are checked against factory records.
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Grade II: Older restoration, maturing
A good restoration that has settled in. Paint and leather have mellowed a little, and the mechanicals have been kept up properly. Often the most rewarding grade to own and drive.
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Grade III: Sympathetic recommissioning
An honest car returned to full running order with as little change as possible. Sound original finishes are kept; brakes, fuel system and safety items are renewed.
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Grade IV: Preserved original
Close to how it left the factory: original paint or one documented repaint, original interior, unrestored driveline. Cars in this grade are conserved, never restored.
The workshop
Conserve first, restore when honest
In-house we recommission, service and inspect: fuel systems, brakes, electrics, seals and settings. That is the work that returns an honest car to the road without erasing its history. Original finishes are conserved wherever they are sound; a survivor only gets to be original once.
Full restorations are a different discipline, and we commission them the way our clients do: to recognised marque specialists, with our registrar photographing and cataloguing every stage. The result joins the dossier as a permanent record.
What travels with every car
- Ownership chain, reconstructed and referenced document by document
- Factory build record or archive extract, where the marque's records survive
- The 187-point inspection report with photographs of every finding
- Paint-depth survey mapped across every panel
- Restoration invoices, period photographs and event history
- Our written condition grading and the reasoning behind it
Dossiers are kept by Saoirse Quinn, our registrar. She is the person to ask when a document seems too good to be true.