A 2000-year-old painted statue is being restored to her original glory by scientists from WMG at the University of Warwick, the University of Southampton, and the Herculaneum Conservation Project.

Work to find new ways to breathe life into priceless motors has caught the interest of one of the industry’s stalwarts. Researchers at WMG, the innovative solutions provider at the University of Warwick, have been looking at how lasers might be used to help restore classic cars. They’re working with Coventry Transport Museum who loaned the university department a priceless Lea Francis Hyper racing car as a test model. After reading about the ground-breaking work, the Managing Director of Lea Francis Cars Ltd – still very much a going concern - contacted WMG to share his own experience of building the thoroughbred cars.

STATE-OF-THE ART SCANNER GIVES NEW LIFE TO CLASSIC CARS**TUESDAY 13 NOVEMBER ** Britain has a unique motoring heritage – most of it preserved in museums – but researchers at WMG are to use high-technology to breathe new life into our classic autos. WMG’s Craftsmanship team, based at the University of Warwick, have recently installed a £350,000 laser measurement machine, supplied by Metris UK, that can accurately measure – to the nearest micron – anything from the smallest component up to full size cars. And on Tuesday 13 November they will demonstrate this technology by laser scanning a priceless Lea Francis Hyper – winner of the 1928 Ulster TT race – to develop a unique computer model of the car.