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Peter body svilans
Born in England to a German mother, Peter spent his early years in the
rural village of Yardley Hastings, before moving to the old German town
of Wolfenbüttel, where he attended school. Here, in the cobblestone town
square, was where he was deeply impressed by an astonishing little threewheeled
bubble car, and he was determined to have one someday. The
family immigrated to Canada, and at age ten, Peter began his lifelong
affair with automotive books. His library grew quickly and would eventually
number several thousand volumes.
The ontario College of art, and the purchase of a 1958 austin Healey
100-Six, began a passion for British sports cars, the art and aesthetics
of restoration, and the study of automotive history and originality.
Ultimately, the hobby restoration of austin Healeys became a business,
and to this end, an apprenticeship with a British Master Coachtrimmer
was in order, where he learned the art of crafting leather interiors from
bare hides using the old-world techniques. Having built several awardwinning
cars, he found he was a more obsessive artist than businessman,
and he joined Precision Sports Cars as a restorer, where he spent a
number of enjoyable years becoming intimately familiar with the full
gamut of vintage automobiles. He traveled extensively in the United
States, attending meets often in the capacity of an officially sanctioned
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