Dusty
Bodgers
Est. 1977. Vehicle Body Repairs. The coffee’s strong, the repairs are character-building and the that’ll-do attitude has been going strong for nearly fifty years. Probably.
We know someone
exactly like this.
Dusty Bodgers Vehicle Body Repairs has been going since 1977. It has never, in all that time, turned down a job. It has also never, in all that time, turned down a shortcut. The cable ties are load-bearing. The duct tape is structural. The quote will be reasonable and the repair will be, in Dusty’s own words, “spot on, mate.”
Every family has a Dusty. Every street has a garage that looks exactly like this. The sign has been hanging above the door since Harold Wilson was in Number Ten and it has witnessed more optimistic repairs than any sign has a right to. It looks the way it does because things that have seen things tend to look that way. Forty-seven years of that’ll-do has a certain weathered dignity to it.
Except that this sign is brand new. Made recently by Leigh Kelsey — who has spent forty years mastering the art of making things look as though they have spent considerably longer in a garage than they actually have. The vintage patina is entirely deliberate. Every scuff, every fade, every suggestion of a hard life well lived — all of it applied by hand with forty years of craft behind it. That is not an accident. That is the whole point.
The perfect gift for anyone who has ever fixed something with cable ties and called it sorted. Which is most of us, if we’re honest about it.
All angles
Brand new. Looks otherwise. These photographs show the exact item for sale.
The Details
- ConstructionSolid wood board, deeply varnished
- Size112 × 36 cm / 44″ × 14″
- Thickness20 mm / 1″
- Weight5 kg / 11 lbs
- LetteringTraditional hand sign-writing throughout
- FinishVintage patina — brand new, looks otherwise
- ConditionNew — despite all appearances to the contrary
- DeliveryCourier available — please ask
On the Craftsmanship
This sign looks as though it has been hanging above a garage door since the 1970s. It has not. It was made recently by Leigh Kelsey, who has spent forty years mastering the art of the convincingly aged finish. The patina, the weathering, the suggestion that this establishment has been cheerfully botching vehicles since before the invention of the MOT — all of it is deliberate, all of it is skilled and none of it happened by accident. That is, somewhat ironically, the opposite of how Dusty would have done it.
On Gifting
This is the perfect gift for the person in your life who owns too many cable ties, refers to every repair as “a five-minute job,” and has a garage that smells of optimism and WD-40. They will immediately recognise Dusty. They may not immediately recognise themselves. Give them a moment.
On Delivery
Courier delivery available — approximately £25 UK-wide, which Dusty would consider fair but would probably still try to negotiate. Local collection from the studio in Normanby by Spital is always welcome, and there may even be a cup of tea in it for you.
More Funny Signs
Into fairground & racing art? See Crazy Bones, Wall of Death and Speedway.
One piece.
Genuinely brand new.
Courier delivery available at approximately £25 UK-wide. Collection from the studio in Normanby by Spital always welcome — tea included. One of a kind. Dusty retired in 2023 and the sign is the only thing left. Don’t leave it too late.