Workshop Wizard

In 1983 Steve Roberts was named UDC Finance inventor of the year. He's also helped restore the Rolls-Royce that was once owned by the man who killed Russian self-styled holy man Rasputin.

And he's done it all from a neat but cluttered workshop in rural Wanganui.

That there's a well-worn track to Roberts' workshop in Brunswick, a few kilometres outside the city comes as no surprise.

He's the man who has hand-crafted the bodywork on countless rare and precious motor cars, designed very special motorcycles and racing cars. But he doesn't like talking about his achievements. He wants conversation to focus on those he worked with. However, there's no escaping the fact that this Englishman is a craftsman of the highest calibre.

His apprenticeship was done working in fibreglass and sheet metal, working for a couple of years in the Aston Martin factory. Then flagging sales meant redundancy so he and his wife Pam decided to emigrate.

"We had money for a house and decided to to blow it, got tickets on a boat and came to New Zealand," he said.

He was 23 when he arrived in the capital and almost straight away got a job at the Wellington Polytech, tutoring in panelbeating and welding, a job he held for about 15 years.

Roberts remembers all the apprentices as "great kids". But importantly he remembered nearly all the Wanganui boys who went through his classes as part of their training.

"They had something going for them and I gave them a deal of freedom to express themselves. Willie Peltzers, Terry Price, Lin Larsen, they were all exceptional talents."

It was during this period that his bent for invention shone. He needed a motorcycle to get to work but because they cost too much he simply built his own. He built a couple of motocross bikes and was also doing up cars as well, working all hours.

But then came a sea change. He was working on a beach racing motorcycle when Wanganui motorcycle importers Rod and Bob Coleman asked him to do bikes for them to race. That association with the Colemans created some very special machines including two standouts: one a monocoque frame and the other an extension of that, the gloriously named "Plastic Fantastic".

That expanded into an association with motor racing legend Graham McRae, a relationship that gave Roberts a chance to show more of his talents.

He demurs when asked about his role in the construction of McRae's Can Am race cars, stressing it was McRae's baby.

"He (McRae) was a very clever guy. He built everything and all I did was add the bodywork," Roberts said.

They worked on a number of cars together including the stunning GM9 Can Am car that McRae raced in the USA. "Graham wanted to get the air under the car using an aerofoil underneath, so we started work on it."

In those days they usually glued and pop riveted panels together but in GM9 they just used rivets. "The down-force was so strong that it pulled that panel away from the rivets underneath the car. It was unbelievable," Roberts recalled.

"Graham was an amazing, amazing character. So focussed. Every race something would be different with the car. He was a huge talent."

The Roberts family had settled in Brunswick in 1977 and it's been their home ever since.

Eleven years later he and his wife Pam made a trip back to the UK and again it was work-related. The owner of a 1977 Aston Martin wanted Roberts to upgrade the car to 1988 specifications which meant, among other things, reshaping the body panels. It was the sort of work the factory did as well.

Armed with cardboard, pencils and scissors Roberts went to the factory to copy the bodypanels of an existing model.

He ran into a couple of old mates still working in the plant and one of them was now chief inspector.

"He got one of the staff to get the original templates, laid them out on the floor and I copied everything I needed. I couldn't believe it."

Cars in need of restoration and bodywork come to his rural workshop from far and wide and the makes and models he has lovingly worked on runs on and on. One wall of the workshop is covered with pictures of some of the priceless gems.

Some remain in New Zealand, others are with collectors and owners around the world. But the cars are a roll call of a past and present motoring including Stutz, Bugatti, Alvis, Hispano Suiza, Daimler and a clutch of Aston Martins.

One of the more interesting cars he helped restore was once owned by Prince Felix Youssoupoff, the man who shot Rasputin, the self-proclaimed holy man who held sway over the last Russian royal family. And he's worked with the Southward family and much of what he helped restore is on display at their museum north of Wellington.

Roberts said none of his work with bikes would have happened without the influence of Rod Coleman and that's where the aluminium monocoque Suzuki developed. The next step was simple enough: "We'd built an aluminium one so we decided to do a plastic one."

The "Plastic Fantastic" debuted at the Wanganui Cemetery Circuit races in 1983 with Dave Hiscox aboard. The bike earned Roberts the UDC Inventors Award in 1983.

Now in his 70s he still busy in his workshop and says he "loves it".

Some of his handiwork will be on show at tomorrow's Wanganui Speed Show at the Springvale Stadium.

As for the event he says "it's about bloody time" something like it was held.

"There is so much going on around here and so much talent in Wanganui," he said.

His genius working in sheet metal is something he says he will always regard as a hobby. But even at the end of our chat he was still trying to deflect the story away from him and onto the others he's worked with.

He has special memories of all the blokes who've worked with him and who he has done work for: "They're all very special people."

You can give a gifted artists some oils and a blank canvass and watch them create. Give Steve Roberts a sheet of metal and watch him create.

He's an artist too. It's just that he works with a different medium.