Buying a rusty classic at auction is the easy bit. The hard part starts the next morning, when somebody has to actually make it work again. That is the whole idea behind Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics, the spin-off that follows a car from the saleroom into the workshop and back out again. It is slower, greasier and far more honest than the main show, and for a lot of viewers it is the better programme.

Restoring Classics: Quick Facts

Full title	Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics
First aired	Thursday 21 July 2022
Channel	U&Yesterday and UKTV Play
Producer	Air TV, based in York
Episodes per series	6
Series 1	July to August 2022
Series 2	May to June 2023
Series 3	October to November 2023
Series 4	May to June 2024
Main team	Derek, Paul and Dave Mathewson
Workshop mechanic	Dave Dryden
Auction entries (early series)	Sarah Crabtree, who left in May 2021
Series 2 average audience	647,000 per episode

What the Spin-Off Actually Does

The format is beautifully simple. A vehicle is bought at a Mathewsons auction, taken into the workshop, repaired and restored, then put back through the saleroom to find a new owner. That circle is the entire programme. Where the main show is about the moment of sale, this one is about everything in between: the welding, the sourcing, the swearing. It answers the question every viewer of the Bangers and Cash cast eventually asks, which is what actually happens to all those wrecks after somebody buys them.

Where It All Began in 2022

The first series went out on Thursday 21 July 2022, three years after the parent show launched. The opening run set the tone straight away with an unusually honest choice of cars: a 1980s Vauxhall Astra GTE, an MG Montego Turbo that turned up with its engine in the boot, and a genuinely rare Lotus Elan S1 that had not touched a road in forty-seven years. Not a supercar in sight. That is the point. These are cars ordinary people owned, forgot about, and then found under a sheet decades later.

Dave Dryden: The Man With the Spanners

Every restoration show lives or dies on its mechanic, and here that is Dave Dryden. He carries out the intricate work that turns a seized, rotten shell back into something that drives, and he does it without any of the theatrical panic that other programmes manufacture. Restoration is not dramatic. It is a man discovering that the part he needs has not been manufactured since 1978 and working out what to do about it. Watching somebody genuinely competent solve problems slowly is far more satisfying television than watching someone pretend to.

Sarah Crabtree and the Paperwork Nobody Sees

Sarah Crabtree was the office manager at Mathewsons and handled auction entries and customer contact, which is one of those jobs that only becomes visible when it goes wrong. Every car entering a sale needs describing, cataloguing, photographing and matching to an owner who has questions. Multiply that by a hundred lots and you have a serious operation. She left the programme in May 2021 and went on to become a director of Evoke Classics, a classic car auction and community site, alongside Joanne Lawrance. Her presence in the earlier series was a reminder that a business this size is not run by three men and a gavel.

The Mathewsons in the Workshop

Derek, Paul Mathewson and Dave Mathewson all appear across the series, offering advice and opinions on the jobs in progress. This is where Dave in particular comes into his own. On the main show he is often the quiet voice of caution; here that caution has a purpose, because he genuinely knows what a restoration will cost before anyone starts. Derek brings fifty years of pattern recognition. Between them they can look at a project and tell you, fairly bluntly, whether it is going to be worth the money.

Four Series and Counting

The spin-off has run in six-episode blocks: series one across July and August 2022, series two in May and June 2023, series three that October and November, and series four in May and June 2024. That is a brisk schedule, and it reflects how quickly the audience took to it. Broadcasters do not keep recommissioning a show that nobody watches. In 2023 UKTV ordered twelve further episodes across two more series, bringing the planned total to six, alongside the enormous order for the main programme.

How Many People Watch It

The numbers are genuinely impressive for a digital channel. Series two averaged 647,000 viewers an episode, and its finale reached 760,000. For comparison, the main show’s series seven averaged 744,000. In other words, the spin-off is not a poor relation trailing behind the original. It is pulling comparable audiences in its own right. That is unusual, and it is why UKTV treats the two shows as a genuine pair rather than a hit and a side project.

Why Restoration Television Works

There is something quietly satisfying about watching a broken thing be mended properly. No manufactured conflict, no shouting, just a problem being solved by someone who knows how. British factual television has worked this out, which is why the schedules are full of real people doing real work, from Jeremy Clarkson failing at farming to Sarah Beeny renovating houses. Restoring Classics belongs firmly in that tradition, and it has the advantage of a genuine business behind it rather than a format invented in a meeting.

The Cars That Get Chosen

What makes the car choices work is that they are relatable. An Astra GTE is not exotic. Neither is a Montego. These are cars people actually had on the drive, and that is exactly why the restorations land emotionally. The Lotus Elan S1 from series one, off the road for forty-seven years, is the exception that proves the rule: even the rare cars here have been neglected rather than pampered. It is the same nostalgia that drives the market in personalised number plates in the UK.

Where It Is Filmed

Like the main programme, this is a North Yorkshire production through and through. The Mathewsons operation is based at Thornton-le-Dale, near Pickering, with the showroom at Roxby Garage on Pickering Road holding over a hundred vehicles. Air TV, the independent producer, is based in York. Our guide to where Bangers and Cash is filmed covers the location in detail, including whether you can visit. The workshop scenes give you a far better sense of the working side of the business than the auction footage ever does.

Does Restoration Actually Pay?

Here is the uncomfortable truth the show is honest about: restoring an ordinary classic rarely makes financial sense. Labour, parts and paint routinely cost more than the finished car is worth, particularly on cars that were cheap when new. People do it anyway, because they are buying a memory rather than an asset. The programme never pretends otherwise, and that honesty is why enthusiasts trust it. Anyone who has poured money into an old car knows the sums stopped adding up long ago.

How to Watch

The series airs on U&Yesterday, the channel formerly known simply as Yesterday, and episodes are available on UKTV Play, which is free to use. Series are typically shown in six-episode runs, and repeats appear regularly across the schedule. If you are new to the pair of shows, it is worth watching an episode of the main programme first to understand the auction side, then coming to this one for the workshop. The businesses and the people are the same either way.

Final Thoughts

Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics takes the least glamorous part of the classic car world and makes it the main event. A rusty Montego, a mechanic with a plan, and a family who have been doing this since 1970. It should not work as television, and yet 760,000 people watched one finale. Start with series one and the Lotus that had not moved since the seventies. Then have a look at the Mathewsons Classic Cars story behind it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Bangers and Cash: Restoring Classics?

It is the spin-off series where a car bought at a Mathewsons auction is repaired and restored in the workshop, then sold again at auction.

When did Restoring Classics first air?

The first series began on Thursday 21 July 2022 on the Yesterday channel, three years after the main Bangers & Cash series launched.

How many series of Restoring Classics are there?

Four series had aired by mid-2024, each of six episodes. UKTV has ordered a further twelve episodes across two more series.

Who is the mechanic on Restoring Classics?

Dave Dryden carries out the restoration work in the workshop, alongside the Mathewson family who advise on each project.

How many people watch Restoring Classics?

Series two averaged 647,000 viewers per episode, and its finale reached 760,000, comparable to the main Bangers & Cash series.

Where can I watch Restoring Classics?

It airs on U&Yesterday and is available on UKTV Play, the broadcaster’s free streaming service, with regular repeats.

Disclaimer: This article is for general information. Series dates, episode counts and viewing figures come from the Mathewsons website and published broadcaster announcements, and schedules can change. Check UKTV Play for current availability.