Our Reputation

Concours Quality

John Skinner was one of the first founders of the classic car restoration industry, establishing John Skinner (Manufacturing) Ltd in 1980 after spotting the potential for growth within a ‘cottage industry.’ Initially starting out in spare parts, John gradually acquired the tooling, machines and materials to build his trim workshop. Today John Skinner is a ‘household name’ within the British classic car market, with interiors featured in classic car events and Concours d’Elegance competitions worldwide. A John Skinner interior has also been the choice for many classic car Club Presidents.

Kits that Fit

With a background in pattern making from a previous career, John Skinner applied this skill to create the catalogue of patterns that have helped shape our reputation for fit. By reverse-engineering patterns from original trim, our parts are made to original specification manufacture, and not after-market replica. Over the years, John has also had the pleasure of owning and restoring many of the cars we supply kits for – and has applied intelligent updates and improvements to his original designs to enable us to confidently supply what is regarded as the best fitting kits in the industry.

Expert Knowledge

John Skinner (Manufacturing) Ltd has always offered dependable advice that is respected by professional trimmers and independent enthusiasts worldwide. With our dedicated workshop, we have become experts in our field with a remarkable level of knowledge in interior trim restoration for Jaguar, Austin Healey, MGA, and Triumph TR.

Over the years, we have acquired an archive of original parts and an extensive library of over 40,000 (and counting) reference photographs from individual parts to fully trimmed cars, making us a leading resource in British classic car trim.

Our knowledge and records are so well respected that in recent years we have assisted Jaguar Landrover and their associated “Classic Works” division with various restorations and information for their own archives and presentations…truly a case of “the student becomes the master” – and one that we are very proud of.

We share our knowledge through our Handbook which is an online database of useful information on colour, trim fitting and originality.

In the Press

Our reputation has led us to regular appearances in industry magazines, including The E-Type Club, XK Gazette and TR Action amongst others. We have been featured as a recommended supplier, and have been the chosen trim supplier for a number of restorers who have written contributing articles.

In 2017, we were visited by motoring journalist, James Page, for a feature article for the March 2017 editions of the E-Type Club Magazine and XK Gazette. You can read this article in full in the Handbook here.