Is CarSpanner free to use?

Yes. CarSpanner is completely free. No account required, no subscription, no charge of any kind. The service is funded by affiliate commission earned when you purchase through supplier links on the site — paid by the supplier, not by you.

Geoff Layne is CarSpanner's editorial voice — the character behind the guides, the opinions, and the tone of the site. The knowledge and judgements in CarSpanner's content are real, drawn from the classic car community and decades of collective restorer experience. Geoff is the name on that knowledge. He doesn't have a LinkedIn profile. He does have strong opinions about pattern brake parts.

How does CarSpanner know which suppliers to recommend?

CarSpanner combines Geoff's editorial judgement with a knowledge base built from the classic car community — supplier reputations, marque club recommendations, and the accumulated experience of restorers who've used these suppliers over decades. That collective knowledge is what the recommendations run on. The suppliers who don't make the cut don't appear on the site, regardless of what they might offer to pay.

Does CarSpanner cover modern cars?

No. CarSpanner covers classic and vintage vehicles — broadly, cars old enough to have developed a specialist parts community outside the mainstream automotive supply chain. The Triumph TR6 qualifies. The 2019 Honda Civic does not. Some modern classics sit at the edge of this definition — the NA Mazda Miata, for instance — and are included where the parts sourcing situation genuinely warrants it.

What if CarSpanner can't find my part?

It will tell you. There's no interest here in sending restorers on false trails. If a part is genuinely beyond the reach of the current supplier network, CarSpanner will say so and suggest the most realistic alternative — forum appeals, specialist marque registries, or salvage routes. Honesty about difficulty is more useful than optimism about availability.

About CarSpanner | Why This Site Exists and Who's Behind It

Why This Exists

I got tired of watching good restorers waste good weekends.

The part was out there. It was always out there — in a warehouse in Coventry, or a lock-up in California, or a specialist's backroom catalogue that never made it onto any website Google has ever heard of. The problem was never availability. The problem was knowing where to look, what to ask for, and who could actually be trusted to send the right thing.

Classic car forums are invaluable. I mean that. The collective knowledge in those threads has saved more restorations than any supplier catalogue. But waiting two days for a response that may or may not come — and then spending another afternoon chasing the part number through three dead links — is not a dignified way to spend the years you've set aside for the car you've always wanted to restore.

Someone should have built this thirty years ago. They didn't. So here we are.

Who I Am

My name is Geoff Layne. I'm the editorial voice behind CarSpanner — the opinions in the guides, the supplier recommendations, the positions on pattern parts and NOS and when quality reproduction is the honest answer. The knowledge that CarSpanner runs on comes from the classic car community — decades of collective restorer experience, marque club wisdom, and the accumulated judgement of people who've spent serious time finding parts for cars that shouldn't exist anymore.

I am not a technology person. I didn't know what a large language model was eighteen months ago and I'm still not entirely sure I do. But my son-in-law does. He works in AI. When I described the problem to him — the forums, the dead links, the two-day wait for an answer that may or may not come — he said he thought he could build something. I told him what it needed to know. He built the part that knows it.

That's CarSpanner. My knowledge, his technology. It turns out that combination was the thing that was missing.

How CarSpanner Works

You describe what you need. In plain language, by photo, or by part number — whichever is easiest. CarSpanner identifies the correct part, explains your options, and points you to the specialist suppliers most likely to have it.

It knows the difference between OEM, NOS, and quality reproduction. It knows which suppliers specialise in which marques. It knows that the right master cylinder for a 1967 TR4A is not at Advance Auto Parts, and it won't pretend otherwise.

It is free to use. No account required. No subscription.

How CarSpanner Makes Money

CarSpanner earns a small affiliate commission when you purchase through a supplier link on the site. The supplier pays it — not you. It adds nothing to the price you pay.

I mention this because I think you should know. The classic car community has a long memory for sites that recommend suppliers for reasons other than merit, and I have no intention of becoming one of them. The affiliate relationships I have are with suppliers I would recommend anyway. The ones I wouldn't recommend don't appear on this site regardless of what they might offer to pay.

The full disclosure, as required by the FTC and as a matter of basic honesty, is on the Affiliate Disclosure page.

One Thing I Will Not Do

I will not recommend pattern parts for safety-critical components. Not for brakes. Not for steering. Not for suspension. Not for fuel systems.

This is not a legal disclaimer. It is a position. Cheap pattern parts in these categories have caused accidents. The price difference between a quality reproduction brake master cylinder and a pattern copy is usually less than the cost of a single hour of bodywork after the alternative goes wrong. I am aware this is a blunt way to put it. I find it accurate.

For everything else — trim, chrome, interior, non-structural body panels — pattern parts are your call. For anything that stops the car, steers it, or keeps fuel away from heat, they are not an option I will suggest.