If you’re a car enthusiast with even an ounce of gas in your veins, you’ve probably read, heard of, or watched Harry Metcalfe in action at some point. The British ex-auto journalist has been the brains behind some of the motoring world’s most memorable stories. And having started an amateur YouTube channel, with his wife doing all the filming, he’s continued sharing his unparalleled knowledge for anything on wheels!
Harry’s Garage chronicles the rare cars and motorcycles in his UK garage, but also gives us a very realistic glimpse of what they’re like to be driven/ridden daily. Often cross-country and more often, like they were stolen! Metcalfe certainly throws no punches when it comes to using his automobiles the way they were meant to be driven, and covers what goes wrong (when they do) quite transparently. His channel also regularly covers the latest and greatest supercars, hypercars and electric cars.
It was only natural that another ex-auto journalist turned YouTuber, Johnny Smith, covered Metcalfe on his own channel, The Late Brake Show. The video gives us a closer look at the Harry’s Garage cars, including some previously unseen cars!
Every Car Currently In Harry’s Garage
You get an idea of the kind of collector Harry Metcalfe is with a tour of his garage. He definitely has an affinity for landmark cars and motorcycles, especially ones with interesting history behind them. Metcalfe has even gone and collected examples of the epitome of 80s supercars — Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche are all represented!
Metcalfe’s latest buy is a very rare 1989 Porsche 911 930 Turbo S. While 930-gen 911s aren’t hard to come by, Turbos are a little harder to find, while only ten Turbo S models were ever produced. Understandably, it’s the pride and joy of his collection. Another standout car is his Ferrari Testarossa, in which he famously crossed the Sahara desert, which makes for another must-watch video.
Some cars like his Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV, which he drove across France in a beautifully detailed Euro-trip video, aren’t in this video as it’s currently undergoing an engine/gearbox refresh. His car is actually the very launch car that Lamborghini displayed at its debut at the London Motor Show in 1987! He’s even got legendary Lamborghini engineer, Valentino Balboni, to sign the interiors, making it a one-of-one. He’s also got a V12 Lamborghini Espada not featured in the video.
Metcalfe’s quite obviously a fan of British cars, with two special Jags from the Special Vehicle Operations unit, the Jaguar Project 7 and Jaguar Project 8, again which he’s taken on long road trips worth checking out, just to see what these bespoke, track-biased road cars are like as grand tourers. That’s not his only Jaguar though, he’s also just restored a stunning (and rare) Jaguar XJ-12C with a 5.3-liter V12.
Coming to his more “ordinary” cars, here’s the list — a Renault Clio 182 Trophy, a Fiat 500, a Lotus Elan Sprint, a bunch of Range Rovers, a Rolls-Royce Shadow, his son’s Toyota GR Yaris, his wife’s Fiat Panda 4x4, and a few more cars (a Lancia Fulvia Zagato 1600 for one) currently in the process of being restored. Metcalfe’s also got a collection of Dakar bikes, and he’s recently just come back from Morocco where he rode one in the Sandraiders 2022. Metcalfe’s also got the new 2022 Lotus Emira on order so expect to see some fun videos coming your way soon in the newest Lotus.
Harry Metcalfe Was (And Is) A Farmer
The ex-founder/editor of evo UK, one of the highest regarded car publications around, Metcalfe’s seen, and been part of, the evolution of the automobile industry from the late 90s. He was even featured by Jeremy Clarkson in a magazine before Top Gear was even a thing! Nearly two decades later, Metcalfe retired to a life of farming in the quiet English countryside and started a YouTube channel on farming called Harry’s Farm.
Life has come full circle for Metcalfe, seeing as how he started working with a career in farming with a passion for cars being the reason he founded evo magazine in the first place. Though he’s retired from auto journalism, manufacturers still loan him their most prized and expensive cars for a feature on his channel. Because quite no one goes into the details of cars in the way that Metcalfe does. Even the most ‘enthusiastic’ of enthusiasts could still probably pick up a fact or two about a car from his videos, and that makes Metcalfe a true legend.