Classic Car Bodywork Manual

Lindsay Porter has written more than 50 books and well over 1,000 magazine articles on motoring, caravanning and other technical subjects. Lindsay was born in 1949 in the industrial, English, West Midlands, the main home of the British motor industry of the time. He well remembers meeting a bloke on the shop floor at John Thompson Motor Pressings in early 1958, who had spent his life building traditional ladder-frame chassis, shaking a newly pressed floorpan for the yet-to-be-launched 'Frogeye' Sprite and saying, "Look 'ow it wobbles -this **** thing cor work!" What on earth would he have said if he'd known that plastic body panels were only a few years away?

Lindsay became a school teacher in 1972 and found his time in the profession deeply rewarding but left in the early '80s, as his writing work began to take off. His first piece of professional writing was carried out in 1979 for DIY Magazine, explaining how he and wife Shan built and extended their own country cottage - the one they still live in today. It was quickly followed by regular articles for Practical Classics Magazine and classic car books and manuals for Haynes, with Shan always on hand with the camera.

His MGB Restoration Manual (Haynes Publishing) - first published in 1982 and still in print, as are most of his books - was the first heavily illustrated, step-by-step manual of its type, guiding the reader through every stage of technical processes in pictures as well as with friendly, helpful text.

In 1985, Lindsay launched Porter Publishing Ltd and produced the first commercial range of classic car videos, in association with Castrol, with over 70 titles available. The printed word soon followed and Porter Publishing was commissioned by Fiat, Perkins Engines and Halfords, among others, to produce workshop manuals, including the first all-colour manuals.

At the same time, Lindsay continued to write, including books and magazine articles on caravanning and motor caravanning he and was for many years the Technical Editor at Land Rover Monthly magazine.

Now well into his sixties, Lindsay is still writing books and is heavily involved in developing future publications that will deal with the practicalities of eco-energy for the home and car owner. Watch this space!