Paul Matty Sportscars
• 12 Old Birmingham Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 1DE • Tel: 01527 835656 • www.paulmattysportscars.co.uk
Factory Visit 22nd July 2006

The Lotus Esprit World visited Paul Matty SportsCars ("PMSC") as part of their Esprit Day in July of 2006. PMSC's is located Bromsgrove just outside Birmingham and is very easy to get to. Just off the M40 it's easy to find and for most would be mostly motorways. Turning up at 10.30am on a Saturday morning, it was a very easy journey from LEW's base in Bedford. Shame on us for not paying a visit sooner :-(

  

Right from the start, PMSC's smells of old Lotus, you can tell there's experience in every Lotus car here. Not sure what it is. The line up of Elan's outside might have helped. We were greeted by Paul Matty and his beautiful wife, who also works at the business and given the grand tour.

  

The workshop is as you'd expect from a very well respected Lotus specialist. We'd never visited PMSC's before, but we'd heard about his reputation long ago. We've never heard a bad word against this Lotus establishment, which is a good sign. Paul's customers seem to be a very happy bunch. Paul showed us some of the equipment used regularly by the Esprit. The alignment equipment at PMSC's is laser guided, so adjustments can be made real time to get the Esprit set-up just right. With alignment being a critical factor in the Esprits handling, this sort of thing helps. Especially with the Lotus Springs & Dampers due to launch soon.

  

We also got a look at the brake skimming kit, which can skim brake discs while still on the car. If the suspension is too tight the disc can be removed and skimmed off the car. This is a service a lot of Esprit owners might make use of. Especially the Sport 350 owners, where new disc can break the bank.

  

There was also an S2 customer car in for some restoration. The engine was already looking amazing, especially as the car had been standing for 10 years.

  

A very well equipped workshop, with some very knowledgeable people is a place we like to visit and somewhere where we'd happily leave our Esprit. The experience and know how available at Paul Matty's is great for the future of the Esprit. Parts can be source, remanufactured or made as one off's to keep your Esprit on the road.

Restoration

  

An example of what PMSC's can do is in this restoration project. The pictures don't do it justice. This ground up project is one of many Paul Matty has undertaken. The attention to detail is just outstanding and the fact that they are pushing to improve every part just gives you confidence in anything they do.

   

This sort of work isn't cheap, with something like this when finished costing around £28,000. But what a car it would be. Paul tells us they used to be valued at about £18,000 when finished, so not really a money maker for the owner, but as Paul reputation for this has grown, some are now changing hands at £30,000-35,000. We're not surprised.

Show Room

  

Paul shows off his history with Lotus in his showroom. Not only are the cars in there special, but you can see the man is Lotus mad. The collection of models, pictures, racing memorabilia is priceless.

  

Plenty of old Loti to drool over. Paul Matty's run the yearly Hill Climb Championship, which is well known in the Lotus community.

  

The overall impression of Paul Matty's is that of a man with as much passion for each Lotus as we have for our cars. You get the feeling they treat each customer car like it's there very own. We like that.

Parts Department

  

Of course it's still a business and the parts department is a very big part of that. Paul's reputation for parts is well known and his displays at Donington each year back this up. PMSC's are probably the largest stockists of Lotus parts in the UK and sent parts all over the world. So if you're after something, Paul Matty's should be near the top of your list.

LEW's Verdict

We had quite a day at Paul Matty Sportscars. Added in with a pretty successful first 'Esprit Day' the factory visit was fun. We sort of knew what to expect from Paul Matty's. A very good reputation and a good customer base, coupled with quite a few LEW members buying Esprits from him over the years. No complaints, no real issues and some buying more than one Esprit, gave us a good clue. The prices of Esprits at PMSC's is always at the high-end of the market, but you really do get what you pay for.

PMSC's are another of the independent specialist doing a wonderful job. The experience with Esprits can't be valued enough. Imagine if we only had the dealer network to fall back on. We guarantee they'd be 50% less Esprits on the road today. Half due to the lack of back-up, support and knowledge and half due to costs.

LEW fully recommends PMSC for used Esprits, Parts, Servicing and any work needed on your Esprit. Give them a call, pay them a visit, you won't be disappointed.

Paul Matty Sportscars • 12 Old Birmingham Road, Bromsgrove, Worchestershire B60 1DE • Tel: 01527 835656 • www.paulmattysportscars.co.uk