Quest Vintage Voltage
Drone filming for Quest Vintage Voltage Series 1 and Series 2 on Quest
Play filmSeries 1 and 2
Attaboy TV produce this popular car program which is broadcast on Quest and the Discovery channel.
Our drone filming included tracking several electric cars and GV’s of the local landscape.
One of the most challenging part of the shoot was to fly indoors in a fairly small area , close to the mechanics and some priceless vehicles.
The cars involved were all high end cars that needed updating to a more green friendly engine.
Drone filming was captured using the DJI Inspire 2 with X7 Camera shooting Pro Res and the DJI Mavic 3 Cine, again shooting Pro Res, as well as the smaller DJI Mini 3 for filming indoors.
Classic cars, converted to electric power
Vintage Voltage follows Richard “Moggy” Morgan and his team at Electric Classic Cars, a workshop in Newtown, Powys, in the heart of Mid Wales. Their job is to take a much-loved classic car, lift out the tired petrol engine and give it a new life as an electric vehicle.
Moggy has owned, restored and rallied classic cars since he was a teenager, and spent around twenty years working in energy efficiency before he converted his own classic so he could drive it every day. That one car in a home garage has grown into a 12,000 sq ft workshop with a team of fifteen and customers all over the world.
Every episode follows one car from the day it arrives to the day its owner drives it away. The engine, gearbox, fuel tank and exhaust come out. In go an electric motor, often from a Tesla, and a set of battery packs that have to be designed and built to fit a body shell that was never meant to hold them. The team then has to make it all work with the original brakes, suspension and steering, and still feel like the car it always was.
The results are classics that are quieter, cleaner and far more reliable, and often much quicker than they ever were on petrol. The series covers everything from a Fiat 500 and a Mini to a Ferrari 308, a DeLorean and a BMW “Batmobile”.
Chasing and tracking the cars for the reveal
Every episode of Vintage Voltage builds to one moment: the reveal. After weeks in the workshop the finished car rolls out of the door, the owner sees it for the first time, and then it is driven on the open road under electric power.
That drive is where we came in. We filmed the drone footage for the series, chasing and tracking each car as it wound its way along the lanes, valleys and hill roads of Mid Wales. Low passes alongside the car, rising reveals over a crest, and long tracking shots that hold the car in frame as the road unwinds in front of it.
Electric classics make almost no noise, so the pictures have to tell the story of the speed and the smile on the driver’s face. A drone that can sit just off the front wing and then pull away to show the whole valley does that better than anything else.
Alongside the car-to-air work we filmed the location shots and GVs of Wales that set the scene for each programme: the hills and open moorland of Powys, the Severn valley around Newtown, and the empty roads that make this part of Wales such a good place to test a car.
Flying inside the Electric Classic Cars workshop
The other half of our work was in and around the garage itself. Outside, the drone gave the series its establishing shots of the workshop and of Newtown in the valley below.
Inside was a different job altogether. The workshop is a busy, working space, full of mechanics, lifts, tools and customers’ cars, some of them close to priceless. Flying there meant a small aircraft, a carefully planned route and very gentle hands on the sticks.
For those shots we used the tiny DJI Mini 3, drifting slowly over bonnets and battery packs and past the team at work, to give the edit a moving view of the workshop that a camera on a tripod cannot.
Between the three aircraft we could cover everything the series needed: the DJI Inspire 2 and the DJI Mavic 3 Cine, both shooting ProRes, for the cars on the road and the Welsh landscape, and the DJI Mini 3 for the tight spaces indoors.
It is the kind of flying that looks simple on screen and takes real care to do safely, and it is some of the work on the series we are most proud of.
Attaboy TV and Richard Heeley
Vintage Voltage was made by Attaboy TV, the company behind Wheeler Dealers, with Richard Heeley as series producer and director.
Attaboy TV is one of the best-known names in British car television. Its founding directors, Daniel Allum and Michael Wood, created Wheeler Dealers, and Attaboy produced the first twelve series of the show for Discovery between 2003 and 2015. Vintage Voltage brought that same love of cars to a very modern subject, for Quest and Discovery in the UK and for audiences around the world.
The Producer Director was Richard Heeley, who developed the format, ran the production and directed the key scenes. Richard’s background is in some of the biggest motoring programmes on television, including seven series of Top Gear from its 2002 relaunch, Fifth Gear and Wheeler Dealers.
Working for a director who knows exactly how a car should look on screen makes our job a pleasure. Richard knew the shots he wanted from the air, and gave us the time and the roads to get them.
“Professional, talented and reliable, Phil is that rare thing, both a highly skilled operator and a thoroughly nice guy to boot. It’s always a pleasure to work with Phil, and his drone work is beautiful.”
Richard HeeleyTV Series Producer / Director“Phil Fearnley is a consummate professional and an absolute asset to any production team. His work on Vintage Voltage brought a whole new dimension to the series, capturing stunning aerial footage that perfectly complemented the storytelling and visual style of the show.
From the moment Phil joined the project, he demonstrated not only incredible technical skill with the drone, but also a clear creative vision that aligned seamlessly with our production goals. He worked efficiently, safely, and with great adaptability – no matter the conditions or challenges we faced on location.
Phil’s passion for his craft is evident in every shot he delivers. The cinematic quality of his drone work added real value to the series and elevated the overall look and feel of the show. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with him again or recommend him to any production seeking top-tier aerial cinematography.”
Andrew ShawCEO, Attaboy TVVintage Voltage on Quest
Official Quest promos for six of the episodes, from the Vintage Voltage channel. Look out for the aerial tracking shots of the cars on the roads of Mid Wales.
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