History

The name Roger Collingwood is world renowned for Ferrari servicing.  Based in Maidstone in Kent Roger Collingwood and his wife Claire have over 40 years of knowledge and experience that they can draw on to maintain your Ferrari to the highest of standards.  Roger's specialist knowledge starts with Ferraris built in the 1970's especially 246 Dino's right through to today's current models.  Not only do we have the knowledge to maintain and service your vehicle which we back up by having the latest Ferrari diagnostic equipment in our workshops but we also have the skilled technicians to go with it.

If however you are not yet a Ferrari owner then our showrooms are the place to visit.  We believe we probably have the largest indoor display under one roof of Ferraris in the UK.  With the capacity to display 40 vehicles our friendly salespeople will be able to talk you through the right model choice so that your Ferrari ownership is an enjoyable experience.

Every vehicle that is presented for sale in the showroom has been through our comprehensive workshop preparation program and we truly believe that when you drive off into the sunset that we will only see the car again at the next annual service interval.  However we hope you will drop in for coffee before that.  We hope that you will feel confident in buying your Ferrari from us knowing that the company has been established for over 35 years and is planning for the next 35.  If you need to be reassured of our company's dedication and commitment to servicing bodywork repairs and resale of your Ferrari then read on to find out where it all started  Roger Collingwood's back ground has always been in mechanics.  His father ran a small British Leyland franchise and petrol forecourt in the seventies which only fuelled Roger's love of anything to do with motor cars.  After his college automotive training Roger became mechanic to the Formula 1 driver Eddie Cheever's younger brother Ross based at the famous Brands Hatch motor racing circuit. ( Ross Cheever competed in Formula 3000 and then the Japanese Formula Three series but never achieved his potential )

​It just so happened that Rogers next door neighbour in the 1980's was a complete petrol head who had a passion for motor vehicles which included Jaguars, E-Types and Porsches.  This man went by the name of Dr Keith Warren who eventually became one of the founding partners.  One day Keith set out to buy a Porsche but in fact came home with a Ferrari 308 GTB instead. This turned out to be a true Ferrari and needed constant maintenance with the only Official servicing centre at Egham in Surrey called Maranello.  It was a bit of an affair to get there as they hadn't completed the M25 in those days, so when the alternator gave up the ghost Keith decided to tackle the job himself.  Discussing the issues with Roger, over a pint in the local pub, of getting high performance cars serviced locally they decided there was a gap in the market and as you do, decided to set up a garage specializing in the sales and servicing of these vehicles.  The idea for the company name was derived from the garage location and the type of vehicles that Keith and Roger had had experience of, namely Jaguar Porsche and Ferrari hence Kent High Performance Cars.

Rogers ambition to set up and run a prestigious sports car garage became a reality in 1983 with the assistance of Dr Warren, whose never ending enthusiasm for anything mechanical culminated in the opening of Kent High Performance Cars, by Dr Warrens friend Richard Noble the world land speed record holder (at that time) with Thrust 2. Thrust 2 was kindly rolled out for the official opening of the showroom and workshops in April 1984 when the company was based at Sutton Valence in Kent. Not long after opening the doors it was apparent that the market place for Ferrari was not being catered for in the South East and the workshops were full of Ferraris and the odd Maserati Having experienced the recession of the late 1980's an opportunity arose to move the garage to a bigger and better location at Parkwood, Maidstone now the current home of the showroom. Originally we just had the one unit to house the workshop and sales area but it was soon apparent that due to the success of the company more space was needed and unit 2 was acquired in 1993. The next stages of the company's expansion due to lack of space was the building of mezzanine floors to accommodate the ‘in-house' coaching trimming services headed up by Rogers wife Claire, truly a hands on husband and wife team, and additional sales area with the introduction of the showroom windows in 1998. The company had grown slowly but surely over that period and had become recognised and accepted as a reputable specialist throughout the Ferrari ownership world.

Always looking to take the company forwards and with the retirement of Dr Warren in 2001 Roger Collingwood and Claire Collingwood decided on another expansion and moved the workshops to their current 7000sq ft building just behind the existing site, thus allowing the showroom to become the dedicated 8800sq ft display area it is today.  We must be the leading centre to visit if you were looking to buy a Ferrari because we could accommodate 40 vehicles inside.

Looking to the future we would like to take Kent High Performance Cars forwards, why not come and join our Ferrari family today and buy your dream car.

Update December 2010

Having spent 4 years looking for a site to build on without any success we were fortunate enough to buy the building next door to the showroom, known as Cavallino Building. (See under section 'About Us') It's 11,000sq ft, with space for 11 vehicle lifts, dedicated trim room, customer waiting area and WIFI connection for customer use for those that wish to work while they wait. Upstairs there are 2 large function rooms so if anyone needs a meeting place just let us know.

That's why making Kent High Performance Cars your first port of call, need be your only port of call.