Meet the Team

Welcome, my name is Paul Bennett and I am the Managing Director here at Pilgrim MotorSports and musclecar.uk. I would like to take this opportunity to discuss our business, experience, and potential future with you.

At a very early age, I was introduced to cars both racing and classic, Formula 1 to be precise. My uncle was the director of a car showroom in Brighton which ran a small owner/driver Formula 1 team.

They raced with the likes of Graham Hill and Jim Clark. In order to fund their dream, they used to buy and sell the older F1 cars which I got the opportunity to sit in! I remember the noise their engine made, so it’s no wonder that at the young age of six I was totally hooked. Even now at the Goodwood Revival meetings, the line-up at the starting line takes me right back in a flash.

Right from my very first classic car (a TR4a) when I was twenty years old, I knew I had a passion for this part of the car industry. Having been involved in car showrooms all my life I gained a great deal of experience in sales and after-sales care, making our customers the n°1 priority.

When the opportunity came to buy Pilgrim Cars, a world-renowned manufacturer of the AC Cobra and Speedster recreations, it’s no surprise that I jumped all in with my business partner Adrian Hewetson, an old friend and a renowned classic car restorer. By combining our vast experience, it became a dream-come-true project to build a Shelby-style Cobra and Mustang business.

At our factory, located in the picturesque surroundings of the South Downs in West Sussex, you will find all types of classics being restored. It is our vision to make our classic car business a ‘one-stop shop’, where nearly every part of the restoration process is on site and shown love from our highly experienced team of full-time mechanics and technicians.

We have all had our own experience owning classics, so delays waiting for work to be completed on our classics motors are always disappointing. Adrian and I addressed this by installing our own paint shop, metal shop, fabrication department, electrics department, suspension and design department, all contained within two large workshops.

We have assembled a fantastic team of “old school” mechanics and craftsmen, who have a deep passion for and understanding of classic cars – or “real cars”, as they refer to them.

Our top mechanics also service and upgrade the new series of Mustang models, fully supported by our suppliers. We are an authorised Steeda Performance parts dealer. So, anything connected to your prized Ford Mustang or classic can be delivered.

We believe in innovation, having won the contract to design and build the Autonomous delivery vehicle for the Academy of Robotics, who are partnered with Aberystwyth University.

We all love what we do, we get to meet some great people and their equally great cars. I hope you will come and visit us; I would be delighted to give you a factory tour and discuss any requirements over a nice cuppa.

All the best,

Paul.