In the same year that saw the release of Mad Max, Gary Numan’s seminal hit Cars and The Dukes of Hazzard, Jonny Smith was born in Taunton and driven home from hospital in the same Hillman Avenger estate he would later learn to drive in.
Growing up in a ‘mend and make do’ household (in many ways his parents were way ahead of their time), Jonny and his older brother helped their civil engineer Dad keep the obsolete Hillman family car running way before the convenience of the internet, and weekends were spent sniffing out parts in backwater scrapyards and learning the ropes first-hand.
So much did this inspire both boys that Jonny’s brother is now one of the world’s leading authorities on pre-war Bentleys and hand rebuilds, custom-restores multi-million-pound vintage cars out of his workshop in Rutland.
Jonny has always strived to bridge automotive genres/cults, openly sharing his interest in modern, classic, custom, restoration and more recently, electric automotive.
His interest in the EV field was sparked 12-years ago whilst testing electric prototypes and then in 2013 Jonny masterminded the personal build of an electric dragster that remains ‘the world’s quickest street legal EV’ even today. Jonny has gone on to become one of the leading voices in EV media.
Jonny’s personal garage is a place where his electric daily driver rubs shoulders with ‘60s V8 muscle, Japanese imports, Eastern European imports, tiny off-roaders, motorbikes big and small, and quirky modified classics.
He currently has 3 project cars on the go: a 60s Chevy lowrider, an Allegro ‘sleeper’ and a classic 60s Honda. He rarely has less than 3 on the go, much to his wife’s dismay.