The charity that helps war veterans build a career in motorsport

“It’s taken a while for an opportunity like this to land in our laps,” says Tony Compson, a former Marine who served in the Falklands War and is the project’s crew chief. “All our cars are donated, but most are manual. The fact that the BRZ was also damaged makes this project extra worthwhile.”

Compson is responsible for the eight veterans working on the project, including an ex-paratrooper and tank commander, and former members of regiments including the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and the Royal Logistic Corps.

Everyone brings their own skills and experience to their work. Well, almost: bodywork is beyond even them, so while they’ll do what they can, the final shaping, filling and painting will be done by Dragontek, a local company offering its services for free.

The veterans could use the help, because the BRZ, registered in 2016 and with only 25,000 kilometers on the odometer, is in a bit of trouble. It may only be a Cat N, but even at this level a lot of damage can be done – and that’s exactly what you can see.

One thing the guys ran into early on was that at one point the headliner around the passenger side curtain airbag was adjusted to give the impression that it had not deployed. It’s a glitch that set them back, but they’re using the time to get all the remaining airbag sensors connected and working.