I’d always dreamed of a pre-war sportscar but never thought I’d have one, firstly because I’d no mechanical or restoration skills and secondly because, living in a terraced house in London, I’d nowhere to keep one.

When I first came across Suffolk Sportscars (SSC) at the Goodwood Revival, I was captivated by their visually exact replica of the SS100 Jaguar and realised that, because no welding was needed – it’s essentially a big boy’s Meccano set – I might be able to build one. But first I’d need a garage.

There is an alley to the back of my house so I and my neighbour, who also wanted a garage, clubbed together and applied for planning permission. This was granted after a few months but, because of a nearby willow tree, the buildings inspector insisted upon a massive, reinforced raft foundation. So, we hired a mini digger to excavate, then filled it with two tons of steel rods and caging. Then, one hot summer day, five large cement lorries queued up in the street while we pumped 95 tons of concrete 60 meters down the alleyway to fill the base.

For speed we hired a bricklayer, but my neighbour and I did everything else ourselves: carpentry, roof rafters and tiling, windows, doors, electrical wiring and plumbing. I’d never done anything like that before and learned a lot but, twelve years later, the garages are still standing with no cracks or leaks and looking good.

Finally, I could order – in four deliveries – the chassis, engine, body and other parts from SSC. Building the car was fun; I learned that traditional British engineering does require a bit of brute force sometimes.

The electrics were a great puzzle. SSC had a wiring diagram, but it did not match my loom; for example, a red & white wire in the diagram turned out to be purple. However, I worked everything out eventually.

It took me about two years of Sundays but, finally, I trailered the car to SSC for trimming and final testing; I was finally able to drive it in September 2010.

It is great fun to drive and, apart from some initial teething troubles while everything bedded in, I’m glad to say it has been very reliable; I’ve now driven 28,000 miles, including six Classic On The Road tours, without a single incident. I hope to do many more.

Now, whenever someone asks me how long it took to restore my ‘Morgan’, I tell them “actually, it’s a replica SS100 Jaguar that I built from new in five years from the planning application”.

Richard Gibby