Welcome to this week’s FC Throwback, where we take a look back at some of our favourite previous feature cars. This week it’s a couple of well sorted VAGs built by the Perkins brothers from way back in 2012…
Could you build a full-on feature car with your brother? Now imagine building two!
There’s a bond between brothers that’s unlike any other. It’s one of those things that can’t be explained, you need to have one to understand it.
For me my two younger brothers are my inspiration, my best friends and, of course, the cause of no end of trouble growing up. I love them dearly, I’d take a bullet for either one but make us spend any more than 14 minutes in the same room and some sort of punch-up is almost inevitable. We all have different ideas on motors too, one drives a Scooby and thinks that any sort of “stupid stance” can ruin a car quicker than a grenade launcher, the other drives his A4 under some sort of delusion that a car is for nothing more than getting from A to B. There’s no telling ‘em either, they’re so wrong it drives me mental! Still, the piss-taking, one-upmanship and remorseless honesty is all part of being so close and I guess it’s the same for many brothers the world over… but not for Matt and Alex Perkins.
You see, sibling rivalry has never been an issue for this inseparable pair; they’re more like twins than brothers. They live together, run a business together, conjure up all sorts of wacky ideas together and, most importantly for us, they build cars together – and truly awesome cars at that.
Their family business must be booming too, not many 21 and 23-year-olds can walk into a dealer and drive out in a brand new motor, let alone a high-end German one. In fact, they were both looking at matching Sciroccos until Alex, the younger Perkins, decided against it and buggered off to the nearest Audi dealer instead.
So, there you go, one new Scirocco and one new A3 – but what happened next is the reason they’re right here in FC. An 18-month whirlwind of collective thinking made these two Welsh lads ridiculously hard to nail down for a feature. When it comes to mods, these boys change their minds quicker than the weather down there in the valleys.
From 20-inch Merc rims to super-wide Euro hoops, these two VAG rockets have had ‘em all, which makes perfect sense considering the Perkins boys’ company specialises in wheel refurbishment. In fact, the concept was clear from the start; both cars would be built entirely around what lies beneath the arches and nowadays that’s some of the most desirable wheels to ever roll on the terra firma. These multi-piece offerings from Rotiform are the kind of rims you kiss goodnight before you go to bed, the kind of wheels you make old ladies give up their seat on the bus for – they’re more works of art than something designed to hold your rubber on.
As you’d expect for items that cost more than your average semi in Scunthorpe, the fitment is spot on too, just a gnat’s bollock off the arches with 10s on the rear of the Audi and whopping 11s on the VW. Yes, you read that right, 11 inches of imported goodness on a front wheel drive car and, just in case you were getting all inspired with ideas for your own project, the offsets remain a closely guarded secret.
When it comes to the rest of the mods, the weird thing is these motors are as different as they are similar. Sure, on the face of it, they’re both thoroughly decked and impeccably white works of Germanic luxury rolling on Rotiform splits, but each has a different approach to getting that super-smooth look.
Alex’s A3 has beauty in its simplicity, a hardcore static drop, a subtle custom grille and a spot of mild tuning is all it took to give the kind of restrained elegance that only a proper continental cruiser can pull off. Matt’s Scirocco on the other hand, was a balls-out complicated affair with plenty of heavy body mods, engine mapping and a top-end air ride system – but somehow it still has the same simple charm.
Predictably, neither car is finished either. Right now as I write this both are sitting in the workshop at Plush Automotive, the Scirocco for an epic re-trim while the A3 is getting ready for a fresh set of airbags. See what I mean? They can’t just leave it alone!
But then, I suppose that’s the whole point. According to these boys they live for their motors and, while it’s all very well sharing the same genes, it’s their love of modifying together that makes ‘em so unbelievably close. Blood may be thicker than water but oil is thicker than blood.
TECH SPECS
Audi A3 1.2 TFSI
Styling
Custom front grille and badge; rear wiper delete; tinted windows.
Tuning
Custom cat-back exhaust system; Revo air feed intake.
Chassis
8×17 and 10×17-inch Rotiform SJC alloys;
Falken 195/40×17 and 215/40×17 tyres; FK Highsport coilovers.
Thanks
Rotiform & Plush Automotive
VW Scirocco 2.0L GT TSI
Styling
OEM Votex body kit; custom made front lower grille; bonnet badge, numberplate recess, rubstrips and rear wiper deleted; front and rear arches widened; rain tray colour-coded; full respray in
Candy White.
Tuning
Stage 3 (325bhp) Revo remap; ITG forced air feed; Revo uprated fuel pump; Milltek cat-back
non-resonated exhaust;
Milltek 3-inch downpipe; airbrushed engine cover.
Chassis
9.5×18 and 11×18-inch Rotiform ROC alloys; 225/35×18 Nankang tyres (front) 265/35×18 Achilles tyres (rear); Airlift slam kit bags with Bilstein struts and Autopilot V2 management.
Thanks
Rotiform, Revo, Plush Automotive, NSW Body Shop Cardiff, D Simms Body Shop; Atlas Tyres; Taz, Sammy and Nicole.
Words Midge Photography Laurens Parsons
