Since it was set up by Alan Wesson in 2004, Westernlancia has been gaining a reputation for friendly, high-quality service at very competitive prices. In the beginning we concentrated mainly on mechanical repairs to Lancias, restoration and re commissioning, but over the last couple of years we have moved more and more towards body repairs, and in particular fighting rust, which was always Alan's interest, and we are now moving into a new premises which will allow us to expand this part of the business.

Alan has over 30 years of experience of fighting rust and repairing bodywork, having had to start treating rust on his father’s 1972 Fiat 125 Special, the family’s first Italian car, when it was 1 year old and he was 15, in 1973!

A lot of our bodywork and welding is done by Dave, also known as Trigger, who when he isn’t making beautiful, high quality panels, doing fantastic butt welding, or painting cars to close to factory standard, is the lead singer in the well-known West Country band ‘Trigger Happy’.

Our engines are usually 'breathed on' and serviced by Mick, a former F2 racing mechanic and was working for an Italian and supercar specialist in the 70s when the Beta and Gamma were current.

Please see the photo gallery for examples of some of our work over the years. As you can see from some of the detail shots, we are VERY thorough, and we do our work with the aim that it shouldn’t need doing again for some considerable time.

This attitude comes from owning classic cars long-term. If you own a car for 10 or 20 years you certainly don’t want to keep redoing the rust, so it is vital to get it right first time. We extend this attitude towards our customers’ cars.

If you feel bold enough to have a go at fighting the rust and doing bodywork yourself, we sell a small booklet called GOT RUST? to act as a handbook for fighting rust. There is also a companion work called STOP RUST! in the process of preparation, which aims to help you avoid the car going rusty to begin with (at least 90% of the rust we treat could have been avoided if the cars had been looked after differently). GOT RUST? is available for £3.99 + P&P, and can be a valuable help if (for instance) you want us to do the hardest work and then maybe carry on with some of the less serious rust yourself. STOP RUST should be available by the end of the year for the same price, and we aim to offer a special deal if both booklets are bought together (watch this space!).