Wood and Pickett of London was founded in 1947 by Bill Wood and Less Pickett, two men who had worked for Hooper Coachbuilders in the 1930s and so learned their skills from one of the finest coachbuild-companies in the world. Wood and Pickett became famous in the 60s and 70s for their Margrave Mini conversions, which were bespoke conversions of the Austin Mini. By the mid 1970s the Range Rover was Wood and Pickett's next subject of choice and soon became their most important asset and particularly popular in the Arab countries, but a certain London-crowd also like the cars very much and various cars ended up near where they were built.
When the Range Rover came out in the 1970s it was only available in a 2-door version and even the most luxurious version was still very sober. Wood and Pickett offered it all, body conversions to convertible (both two and four door), stretched with extra rows of seats, six-wheelers, specialized hunting cars and in the years when Land Rover didn't offer the Range Rover as a four door, a four door conversion for the original two-door. The lack of luxury was compensated for by adding sumptuous interiors with Recaro seats, leather upholstery, bars and all kinds of other luxury items. The complete cars made by Wood and Pickett were called "Sheer Rover", which basically was the Range Rover equivalent to the "1000SEL", way before a 1000SEL was ever built. Wood and Pickett continued to produce Range Rover conversions untill the late 1980s. Wood and Pickett also made a special luxury version of the Rover SD1 and under the name "G-Series International" they offered a special range of custom parts for the Range Rover's biggest competitor, the Mercedes G-Wagon.
Besides being a customizer Wood and Pickett was also a dealer of various tuning brands, such as Lorinser for Mercedes-Benz and Recaro seats for every brand imaginable.
A Wood and Pickett Range Rover in front of the premises in the late 1970s.
Inside the Wood and Pickett workshop with various customized Range Rovers under construction.
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