KEITH Wilson has been surrounded by cars ever since his very early days.

As a kid his father owned the Wilson Ribgy panel shop in Allora and his love of old cars and their restoration grew into a hobby, and now in retirement, a passion.

Littered around his workshop, a veritable car builder paradise, are parts and chassis for 30 vintage or veteran cars, or as Keith calls them 'gleaming beauties in waiting'.

This hobby of restoring old cars afforded Mr Wilson the opportunity to learn a mountain of new skills, including the art of wooden spoke making.

"I used to buy my wooden wheels from a bloke called Dudley Duffield in Nambour," he said.

"I asked him to teach me how to make them, and he told me he had taught himself and I would be able to as well.

"That was at least 30 years ago now."

Mr Wilson said there were only two other wooden wheel makers that he knew of in the country.

"These wheels go to people who own or are restoring cars that date from pre-1930," he said.

"Some of those guys make their own wheels, but I make them for the people that can't.

"It takes a long time to make these things, and most of the time, these blokes aren't in a huge hurry for them, the car they are fixing up has probably been in their backyard for 40 years."

To accommodate his hobby, Mr Wilson has had to develop his own set of tools, which he has managed quite brilliantly.

An array of home engineered machines lay around the workshop, each designed for a specific task to assist in the manufacture of product of long bygone days.

"I don't do any of this for the money, you could never charge for the hours that go into this job," Mr Wilson said.

"I do it purely for the enjoyment."

From cutting and shaping the wood, to the steaming, bending and then drying, Keith's wooden wheels can take a minimum of three months to complete.