Sussex Sports Cars - press stories & films
| Ice Cream Van Advert |
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| A dream come true for Robbie Fan. |
 A battered Sixties caravan might not be top of every young girl's wish list but for Gemma Willmer it was a dream come true. After two months of saving, the 19 year old Robbie Williams fan finally had enough to buy the caravan, which featured in one of her idols pop videos. The supermarket worker from Thakeham, near Storrington, is such a devotee of the former Take That singer she has been to every one of his British concerts this year. Every inch of her bedroom is covered in posters and pictures of Robbie and she was happy to pay hundreds of pounds for the caravan. The Safari caravan featured in the video for Robbie's 2000 hit Love Supreme, in which the star played the part of a racing driver competing against Sr Jackie Stewart. In the video, original footage of the famous racing driver in the Sixties was put together with footage of Robbie to tell the tale of the rise and fall of a would be champ. During the video, the singer is seen sitting in the two berth caravan and on its steps. He even slept in the bed. At the end, the caravan door jams, trapping Robbie inside and making him miss the race which could have resurrected his flagging racing career. Brighton based classic car dealer Gerry Wadman, who owned the caravan, decided to advertise it for sale after the shoot. He put up a notice at the Goodwood Revival Meeting where it was spotted by Gemma's mother, Lynne, who immediately realized how much it would mean to her daughter. Gemma, who paid £695 for the caravan, said: "When she came home and told me I thought she was having me on. We came to have a look to make sure it really was the right one and I decided I had to have it. "I am so excited because I am a big fan. My friend Theresa Collins and I must be the biggest fans in Britain. I just think he's dead good. "I have been to 13 concerts this year and 11 last year. There was one time last year when Theresa and I went to a concert in Exeter where we stood in a field for hours in the freezing cold. We went to bed at about 2am, got up at 7am, got the train back to Brighton where we stood outside the Brighton Center for five hours to get in to see   |
| More Pictures from the making of one of the Robbie Williams Pop Videos |
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| Gerry and the Race Makers |
 Lots of little boys dream of racing cars but few grow up to turn their dreams into reality Businessman Gerry Wadman has managed to turn a lifelong fascination with the world of classic sports cars into a full time occupation. The Brighton based dealer and collector spends his days looking for old cars, restoring them, renting them out or selling them to the rich and famous and buying and selling memorabilia. Gerry has had the chance to drive some of the world's fastest, rarest and most elegant cars and his business has brought him into contact with some glamorous clients. An A35 Countryman belonging to him was driven by the legendary racing driver Stirling Moss at last year's Goodwood Revival Meeting and he once bought a Mercedes from Ringo Starr. A Safari caravan dating back to the Sixties, owned by Gerry, was hired by the record company behind pop star Bobbie Williams and featured in the video for his hit single Supreme, which had a racing theme. Gerry said: "I took it in part exchange for a 1962 Ford Anglia and then I used it during the summer at the Auto Jumble at Beaulieu in Hampshire. It is a well used but totally original Sixties caravan but it just happened to fit in exactly with what they required." "I sent an email to the production company quoting a price per day for a Sixties caravan and they gave me the job. It wasn't until I arrived at the studios that I found out it was for Robbie's Christmas video." "Being on the set was interesting, very slow, very cold and not at all glamorous. It was supposed to be a o~day shoot but it took about three days in the end. On the first day, Robbie turned up late after being out the night before and then proceeded to fall asleep in my caravan for an hour while everyone stood around waiting." "I was asked to supply another car for a 15 minute film Robbie was making in the summer. They wanted a Seventies Jensen Interceptor for a seven day shoot in Marseilles and I had one but it was the wrong colour. They wanted a blue one and I had a black one." "I used to be a partner in a garage called Sporting Cars based at Cheapside, Brighton, where one day in the Eighties, totally unannounced, George Harrison popped in to inspect an Austin Healey Frog Eye Sprite we had. In 1997, we purchased a 1961 Mercedes 190 SL sports car from Ringo Starr, which we later sold to a UK customer who already had an almost new Mercedes but just had to have it, being a Beatles fan and all that." Gerry is also the proud owner of a racing stilt which belonged to his boyhood hero, the legendary British racing driver Graham Hill. He said: "Some of these people are so busy they don't have enough time to look for a car themselves and I am often retained as a consultant. Some of the requests are for racing accessories from the Sixties and memorabilia which I have in stock and can supply at almost a moment's notice. The stopwatches and boards to measure lap times and helmets were supplied by my company for Robbie's video." At his workshop in Kemp Town, Brighton, Gerry is working on the restoration of several classic and vintage vehicles, including a Flying Flea motorbike and a yellow Lotus Europa. He recently restored a 1931 MG which he sold to a Japanese collector. It is thought to be the oldest MG in Japan. Gerry decided to turn his hobby into a fall time business about two years ago after more than 25 years in the motor trade. He set up his company, Sussex Sports Cars, which he runs from a workshop. He said. "I locate and purchase cars for people at home and overseas. I also rent them out for use in films and videos. Now l am up and running have created a lifestyle I could never have dreamed of two years ago. "I am as contented as any man could be in his business." |
| 007 Replica |
 Aston Martin DB5 carrying James Bond 007 accessories before being shipped to Japan as film promotional car for latest James Bond movie. |
| 1930 MG M-type |
In action outside Brighton's Theatre Royal in the film the Red Peppers by Noel Coward, Bafta nominated 2002.   |
| Travis Pop Group Promotion |
Travis Pop Group Promotion using my 1960s Tour Ranger Caravan, driving around Central London promoting their concert that night at the Royal Festival Hall, November 2003.    |
| Daily Mail on Sunday |
Colour supplement promotion Tv 30 second Commercial, Summer 2003. Location Witterings Beach Sussex.    |
| Daily Mail on Sunday |
Colour supplement promotion Tv 30 second Commercial featuring new BMW Mini Cabriolet, Lady Motorcycle rider being chased around Beachy Head, Winter 2003.    |
| 1970 Mercury Cougar “Eliminator” in “Competition Orange” (also known as “Calypso Coral”) |
| Numbers matching throughout. Boss 302 4v Engine, 4 Speed Toploader (wide ratio), 3.91 rear end, 9 inch/31 spline Trak-Loc diff (positraction). Original styled steel wheels with beauty rings. All factory stock, right down to the radio and California smog equipment (although it comes off easily for more hp) Only 469 built with this engine/trans combo.   |