Whilst attending the first round of the UK Time Attack Series last month, I made a long overdue stop off at the home of Roger Clark Motorsport. Most of you will be familiar with the name Roger Clark and the illustrious history that is associated with it. Founded by Roger himself in 1991, Roger Clark Motorsport is based in Leicestershire in the United Kingdom.
Their competition experience has lead to them becoming one of the most recognised tuning companies in the United Kingdom. To call them just a tuner is probably a little unfair as the scope of what they do stretches far beyond this title.
Catering exclusively for the Subaru and Mitsubishi owners market, they offer the complete package when it comes to getting the most from your performance road car.
I was distracted by the sight of these 1:43 replicas of Roger Clark’s cars from over the years on display in showroom. Thankfully I left my wallet in the van !
Although this Gobstopper replica was a little bit more tempting …
Meet Olly Clark, son of Roger and co-director of RCM along with his brother Matt. Olly was talking me through how they have embraced technology to offer their customers a thorough experience when they come to upgrade their cars. By accessing their database, they can call up any parts they offer for sale. They can then show the customer detailed images of the product along with further images of where the product fits, how it should be fitted and what advantages it brings.
The waiting area offers a window to the workshop. Part of their philosophy is to involve the customer as much as they can, so everyone who comes to RCM with their car leaves knowing exactly what has been done along with the why and the where.
This customer travelled from Norway to have his car serviced, I think that alone speaks volumes for the quality of work on offer here.
Their part sales and shipping department is akin to that of any large main dealer. Everything accounted for and where it needs to be, this is just one small area of this particular part of the business.
A meeting room located upstairs for presentations, interviews etc.
Along with a binder full to the brim with features and stories of their infamous ‘Gobstopper’.
Toilethunters – Seriously though, the entire premises is kept to an amazingly high standard.
Olly explains to me that they’ve only just finished this new workshop and have only been here six weeks. He also tells me that they have been much busier than they anticipated but was also keen to stress that they are more about the quality of work rather than the volume of it.
If you bring your car in for a total overhaul, one member of staff is assigned to the project. This means that this one staff member will know every single nook and cranny of your car and should their be any teething issues, fault finding is made that much easier. It also means that each customer has a go-to-guy who knows exactly what they want from their car. I think it’s a pretty admirable way of doing things and surely secures them customers for life.
I’ve honestly never seen a competition car as clean as their Gobstopper Impreza.
There is not even the slightest hint of dirt, grime or damage anywhere on the car. You can read what John Brooks had to say about the car when he spotlighted the car back in 2009 here.
We also see they have great taste in online car culture websites.
Their dyno room was due to be up and running shortly after this visit. The engine building room is just to the left of this area through the glass. Olly’s brother Matt is the chief engine builder at RCM and is widely reknowned for the quality of his work.
This customer’s car will be running over six hundred horsepower once completed.
Even the RCM forklift has been treated to the company’s colours ! Such is their attention to detail that Olly was complaining the bin company had delivered the wrong colour bins to the premises and would be swapping them for silver ones shortly.
I hope I’ve done some sort of justice to RCM’s commitment to their work, their brand and their customers with this short story. TOTB champions in 2007, TAS champions in 2008 and 2009 with the Gobstopper is a testament that all of their work, preparation and attention to detail more than pays off on the track.
I also hear that the Gobstopper has a younger successor on the way, keep an eye out here in the future where we will be bringing you news on this highly anticipated build.
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Paddy McGrath