- James Catling, 31, transformed an extremely rare Airstream campervan
- READ MORE: Couple make awkward blunder while converting their TINY car
George Clarke was left speechless by the 'best' campervan renovation he'd ever seen on Tuesday night's Amazing Spaces.
Back in 2019, James Catling had left his job as a property developer to follow his lifelong dream of restoring old Airstream silver bullet campervans in Oxfordshire.
When he appeared on the Channel 4 show, he'd flown to Boston in the hope of claiming one of the most priceless models of them all - a 1947 Airstream, currently the seventh oldest in the world.
His find was incredibly rare - with original Airstream signs on the back and front, only used in the first few years of their production.
But battered and lacking in its famous shine, the prized find needed hours of work and 'deep pockets' to restore to its original state.
The episode witnessed James polishing the metal to make it look brand new, adding 800 new rivets and new panels, all while staying within his £40,000 budget.
And when George returned to see the final result at the end of the episode, he was simply blown away.
'This looks absolutely amazing,' he said, adding it was 'the best' he'd ever seen 'without a shadow of a doubt'.
George Clarke was left speechless by the 'best' campervan renovation he'd ever seen on Tuesday night's Amazing Spaces. Pictured: The campervan after renovation
James's Airstream camper is pictured before he began renovations
The flawless renovation, in George's eyes, made it look 'brand new' once more, and he even said the interior looked like 'the inside of a luxury private jet'.
James had managed to 'breathe new life' into an 'abandoned piece of trailer history', with the aluminium coating glistening once more with its classic mirrored finish.
Every dent and scratch had gone, and the camper looked incredible sat upon new wheels, with no detail spared.
Inside, the 'magnificent' interior had a polished ceiling, bouncing rays of light all over the furniture.
At one end, there was a glamorous and cosy bedroom, while the other featured a high spec kitchen.
'It's the best Airstream restoration project I've seen,' concluded George, as he reluctantly left the trailer.
George Clarke gasped that the interior even resembled a 'luxury private jet'
At one end of the vehicle was a cosy bedroom, again with a reflective ceiling
James had also installed a high spec kitchen to make the best use of his space
Airstream is an American brand of travel trailer, known for their polished aluminium surfaces.
They have been staples of the camper van industry since they were founded by Wally Byam in the late 1920s.
Last week, Amazing Spaces viewers were left baffled by a couple's 'bonkers' 1970s-themed apocalyptic glamping pods.
Nicky and Dom Ackland-Snow, who previously helped design the sets for Hollywood blockbusters including Alice Through The Looking Glass and Fast & Furious, had turned their attention towards holiday lets.
The couple invested all their savings to build a Mad Max dystopian-themed glamping site in a remote woodland in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.
For £75,000, they hoped to create two mid-century inspired timber pods, coated in aluminum and made to look rusty for an apocalyptic feel, as well as a camper van 'chillout' zone and amenities such as shuffleboard and a hot tub.
The start of the project saw a battered van in need of much attention (pictured before)
James Catling (pictured) had left his job as a property develop to pursue his passion
When George Clarke visited at the start of the programme, there was a lot of work to be done
But he was left speechless when he visited at the end, even calling it the 'best ever' camper renovation he'd seen
The risks were high, as Nicky and Dom had not only put their house on the market to fund it, but their son's house too.
Despite going over budget and spending £100,000, by the end of the show, Nicky and Dom had completed the build - and have since named their business Lights Camera Glamping - renting out the site for £350 a night.
Though host George Clarke described the finished result as 'bonkers', he maintained that it was an 'unbelievable' achievement and noted that it really felt like 'walking onto a film set'.
But viewers were unconvinced by one stand-out feature, and didn't understand why the couple had purposefully made the exterior look 'rusty'.
