Lunaz electric restoration: inside the workshop

Lunaz, the British electric vehicle restoration company, has opened its restoration bays to show how classic cars are stripped, assessed and prepared for conversion to electric powertrains. Skeletal frames sit in various stages of disassembly, their original structures exposed to the scrutiny of craftspeople whose work precedes the installation of battery systems and electric motors. The workshop process begins with forensic deconstruction: understanding what lies beneath the surface before any new engineering is introduced.

David Lorenz founded Lunaz to pursue a specific technical and philosophical goal: preserve the proportions, materials and presence of a classic car while replacing its combustion engine with an electric drivetrain engineered to suit the car’s original era and weight. A 1960s Jaguar, for instance, receives electric motors and battery systems calibrated to deliver performance characteristics consistent with what a driver of that period would have expected, not contemporary acceleration figures. The conversion requires absolute structural integrity, which is why the restoration bay work matters as much as the engineering that follows.

The workshop layout signals a scaled operation. Multiple cars move through the bays simultaneously, their bodywork at different stages of preparation. Each receives the structural inspection and metalwork that restoration demands before conversion work can proceed. The decision to handle both disciplines in house means the team controls the interaction between preservation and engineering change: how weight distribution shifts, how the chassis responds, how interior systems integrate with the new powertrain.

The workshop itself, with its industrial scale and methodical layout, reflects how far the company has moved beyond one-off projects. Lunaz has developed repeatable processes and the infrastructure to handle restorations to a standard that justifies the technical work happening alongside it. For anyone considering ownership, the restoration bay is where the commitment becomes visible: every decision about preservation and change is made through the hands that will complete it. Lunaz operates from London.

What emerges from conversations with specialists in this field is that the technical challenge of conversion is only half the story. The other half belongs entirely to restoration: getting the bodywork, the interior, the systems and the finish to a standard that justifies the engineering work happening alongside it. A Lunaz restoration bay is where those two disciplines collide and eventually resolve into something coherent.

The workshop itself, with its industrial scale and methodical layout, signals an operation that has moved beyond one off projects into something more systematic. The Lunaz team has developed processes, repeat solutions and the infrastructure to handle multiple restorations simultaneously. The neon sign reading part of the company name catches light against the grey walls, a small touch of identity in a space dedicated entirely to the mechanics of transformation.

For anyone drawn to the idea of owning a classic with modern capability, the restoration bay is where the promise is made real. It is where the car stops being an idea and becomes a project, where every decision about preservation and change is made visible through the work of the hands that will complete it.

Imagery courtesy of Lunaz (@lunazdesign).