Britain has never been content just to admire American cars from a distance.

Somebody eventually wants to cut one up.

Valley Gas Speed Shop has been doing that professionally since 2000.

Founder Jimmy Hibberd had already spent years working on cars before the business existed, including roof-chopping a Ford Consul when he was 19, training as a mechanic and learning the welding, fabrication and engine-building skills that eventually became the backbone of the shop.

What began in a four-car unit is now an 8,000 sq ft workshop in Andover.

And the cars have become considerably more ambitious.

One of the best examples is the Viperceptor.

Start with a Jensen Interceptor, one of Britain’s great grand tourers.

Then give it the 8.3-litre V10 from a Dodge Viper.

That tells you quite a lot about Valley Gas.

The American influence is obvious, but this isn’t a workshop trying to recreate California in Hampshire. It uses the language of hot rods, customs and big V8s to build cars that often have a distinctly British starting point.

Their Slamguard began life as a Standard Vanguard before being turned into a low, long custom in the style of an American lead sled, using British running gear and a Rover V8.

They’ve built for serious names too.

Valley Gas has completed cars for the Duke of Richmond, including work connected with the sort of machines that belong naturally around Goodwood. One of Jimmy’s earlier drag builds, the Boston Brawler ’33 Willys Gasser, later came back through the workshop for another life before appearing at Goodwood’s NHRA anniversary celebrations.

So some of the cars Valley Gas built years ago have now been around long enough to become part of British hot-rod history themselves.

The workshop still fabricates rather than simply assembling.

Chassis work, suspension, exhausts, headers, engine conversions and complete bespoke builds are all part of the job. The skills they recruit for still include welding, machining and traditional metalwork — the useful ability to make the part when the part you need doesn’t exist.

And the obsession doesn’t stop with cars.

Valley Gas once turned an old Harrods delivery van into a travelling pub for a brewery, complete with oak bar tops, fridges, ale equipment, water tanks and its own generator.

The van was reportedly once used to move furniture for the Queen Mother.

It ended up serving beer.

That is a decent second career.

They’ve also produced V8-inspired fire pits, custom furniture and other pieces that take the same American-car world out of the workshop and into everyday life.

But the cars remain the reason the place matters.

Valley Gas is proof that American hot-rod culture didn’t simply arrive in Britain as something finished.

We got hold of it.

Then started cutting.

VALLEY GAS SPEED SHOP — USEFUL LINKS & GOOD TO KNOW

Good to know: individual builds, workshop services and project availability change. If you’re interested in commissioning work, contact Valley Gas directly for its current capabilities and lead times.