The History of the Company
Company History
Founded in 1904 by Isaac Wilkinson and his family as
repairers and manufacturers of horse-drawn vehicles, the company developed over the years to become coachbuilders to the motor trade as it emerged in the 1920’s.
After two generations, the Wilkinson family was joined by the Gilbert family when Frank Gilbert’s Grandfather became a director in 1931.
Continuing the family tradition, Frank, the third generation of Gilberts in the company, joined his father in 1960 and began to specialise in vintage cars for which he had a personal passion.
From restoring vintage Rolls-Royce, which were made in the same city of Derby decades earlier, Wilkinson’s has expanded over the last 40 years by restoring and building coachwork for a wide variety of quality vintage Marques with clients around the world from America to Australia and from Sweden to Japan.
Present
The company is now owned by the Jones Family. Andrew Jones served his apprenticeship at Wilkinsons and has now built up many years of experience, Andrew now leads the company forward into the 21st century.
Andrew shares the same passion for the beauty of their finished product and continues the company tradition of care in the making of each item as perfect as it was in the early years of the 20th century.
Our Policy
Unlike modern mass-produced cars, each vintage car is individual. Our policy is to respect the special characteristics of every car entrusted to us and to return it to original condition without “over-restoring”.
We work to our client’s specifications and instructions and welcome involvement at every stage of the restoration programme, keeping a detailed up-to-the-minute account of costs involved.
We would be delighted to discuss your car with you without any commitment and invite you to visit our new premises, where you will see work in progress and can study records of past restorations.