Gabriel de Meurville

Born in February 1969 in Buenos Aires and living in UK since 2003.

“My passion for cars began early—always with a toy car in hand during kindergarten and sketching vehicles instead of focusing in school. Motorsport was a part of our family life—my mum was a fan of Formula 1 in the days when Carlos Reutemann was an Argentine hero, and watching F1 quickly became a joy for me as well. At the age of eight, my father gave me my first camera, and from that moment on, I’ve been photographing cars. My knowledge of automotive history steadily grew through an ever-expanding collection of Superfast Matchbox cars, books, and magazines. Those were truly fascinating years.

In 1988, I began studying Graphic Design at the University of Buenos Aires, drawn by a strong desire to pursue a creative path. Surprisingly, it was through my early work as a designer—while still a student—that I entered the world of classic cars. A friend restoring a 1948 MG TC asked me to redraw the instrument dials for reprinting. I enjoyed the challenge immensely, and that small project marked the beginning of a lifelong adventure. 

After graduating in 1992, I continued restoring and refurbishing classic car instruments. Demand grew steadily, entirely through word of mouth. Within a few years, I was working full time, serving both private collectors and some of Argentina’s top restoration workshops. But in late 2001, the country’s economic crisis brought business to a halt. Faced with uncertainty, I saw two options: change careers or take a chance abroad in the same field. 

In April 2003, I moved to the UK, leaving behind my hometown of San Isidro and everything familiar. Starting a new life was not easy. My first step was to connect with restoration garages around Chichester. My first UK job came from Taylor’s Garage, where I restored the dashboard and instruments of a 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom II.  After the fifth month of my arrival to UK, I’ve got a full working contract at the Rolls Royce Company in Goodwood overseeing the paint shop department to check the quality on the paint work of all the cars that coming at the end of the assembly line and periodically painting the coach lines by hand on the cars when it was required.

In 2009, I setup my own business being Jim Stokes Workshops Ltd. leading by Hilary and Jim Stokes a key support in my beginnings. Today after all these years, I work with many top end Restoration Garages and Companies in UK and Europe as long-lasting customers.

In a more personal matter, living in UK allow me to fill my passion and it gives me many opportunities in life; since attend to the most important motorsport event in the world and cover them in different magazines in Argentina and Spain, filming and photography for different automotive brands, being part of several seminars talking about motorsport history, to get back to my drawing-collection of  Formula 1 drivers full size figures which come to sell a few years back.