In our latest addition to our meet the welder series, we talk to Gary Mavers. You may well recognize the welder from TV shows such as Emmerdale, Casualty and Doctors.

As well as being a TV celeb Gary Mavers has a popular YouTube channel (Classic Obsession). Here you can see him restoring luxury vintage vehicles including Porches, Rolls Royce’s and Mercedes.
We caught up with Gary to get an insight into everything Classic Obsession!


Tell Us A Bit About Yourself

I’ve been obsessed with cars from a very young age and been working on classics from my garage at my home in Liverpool for the past thirty years now. I tend to do all the work myself so don't have to rely on anyone and am completely independent. I like it that way!!

How Did You Get Into The Industry That You Are In?

I’ve been an actor now for forty years. I’ve been very fortunate to earn a decent living from it having some success in roles on stage and TV. The downtime in-between jobs just enabled me to indulge in my hobby of classic cars. Over the years I have completed many restorations and after much encouragement from my daughters, this led to me forming a successful YouTube channel ‘Classic Obsession’ just over a year ago now. 


What R-Tech Machines Do You Use?

The machines I use are the R-Tech Mig 181 MIG Welder and R-Tech TIG170EXT TIG Welder


What Made You Choose R-Tech Over Other Brands?

I had a bog-standard Clarke 151 Mig which I’d used for many years so thought it was time for an upgrade. I’d heard R-Tech being bandied about for some time - of how they made the best equipment on the planet, so it made sense to book an appointment and see what they were about. I’m glad I did; it was a complete game changer! I suppose we just get used to our own tools and are happy for a while, but when the restos start coming thick and fast, the quality of your work and expectations become much higher, so something must change.  

When did you first restore a car and what was it?

My first restoration was a 1965 Mercedes 230SL Pagoda at the age of 25. It was a real baptism of fire, but I just dived in at the deep end! It had belonged to a local celebrity hairdresser. There were lots of missing parts and - being a Mercedes Benz - I found everything was expensive, rare and complicated for a novice. At the time it also coincided with the biggest crash in automotive history. Prices for classics plummeted along with the housing crash of 1989. So, it wasn’t the best start, but I was in it for the ‘long hall’! I ended up keeping the car for 28 further years, so it had a happy ending I suppose.

Do You Have A Favourite car that You Have Worked On?

I don’t have a favourite one I've worked on. However, I'm really enjoying working on a couple of Rolls-Royce Corniche Dropheads I have at the moment. They’re incredible cars, beautifully put together and just exude pure class.


Any Advice To Someone Who Is wanting to get into car restoration?

My advice would be to choose a car you like, maybe one evocative of your childhood. Simple to work on for starters, not too complicated. Make sure parts are inexpensive and readily available and that you have the time, patience and space needed. It’s no fun working on your driveway in all weathers - believe me I’m still doing it!!


Gary visited R-Tech for a TIG Welding demonstration

Gary visited us at our R-Tech premises in Tewkesbury for a TIG welding demonstration and took away our TIG170EXT TIG Welder our Spiritus Air-Fed Welding Mask. It was lovely to meet him and we hope he can get TIG welding on his lovely range of classic cars with the knowledge from having training demonstration with us. We hope to meet up with Gary at the next NEC classic car show.

Do you have a story to tell?

If you would like to be featured in our 'Meet the Welder' blog then please feel free to get in touch