Coventry Motors Limited

While the name rings with Englishness, the charming worskhops of Coventry Motor Ltd can be found in the heart of Buenos Aires, Argentina, across the road from the Hipódromo San Isidro, where polo ponies and race horses more commonly ply their trade.  In fact the Coventry workshops used to be stables serving the racetrack, which is obvious once you clock the series of identical large doors surrounding its central courtyard.  “We kept the doors, but knocked down the walls between the stables,” notes proprietor Fede Lozado, pointing out the numerous sub-businesses installed in the venue.  A Zooz e-bike shop, a graphic design studio, storage for motorcycles, and most importantly, the combined workshop / display area that is the heart of the business.

It’s the kind of shop you see on Instagram but rarely in person: a clothing shop in a casual moto-centric lounge, its walls covered in vintage posters, paintings, and old lighted signs, the floors covered in Persian carpets, and comfortable leather couches and chairs fronted by a glass coffee table supported by a V8 crankcase.  “That used to be the engine in my Mustang, but I put in a new engine with more power,” smiles Fede.  Re-purposing at it’s best.  The clothing racks are filled exclusively with gear from El Solitario MC, as Fede is the global sales director for the brand, a long way from Galicia in Spain where El Sol is based. “I have a history of developing brands, and a lot of success, and I met David through my early years customizing bikes, like 2010/11.  Those first BikeExif years.  I went to the 2013 Wheels&Waves, and met the whole crew there, including you! That was only the second W&W, when it was still at the lighthouse.”

Fede was clearly an early adopter of the Custom Revolution, but at the he time had a different business, supporting brands with their identities, at which he was notably successful. But he found a new niche working with El Solitario MC on their ever-expanding line of motorcycle gear; now Coventry Motors Ltd is an appointment-only shop.  While I’d met Fede at both Wheels&Waves and in Milan during Design Week two years ago, David Borras connected us when he realized I was in Buenos Aires.  Fede’s weekly parilla (grill) in the courtyard of his shop was the perfect time to soak in the ambience, and meet his crew of porteño miscreants.

These included Patricio Castelli, whose remarkable retro-futuristic custom ‘Abandon All Hope’ was featured in The Vintagent back in 2021: it’s absolutely the apex example of the genre, uncompromising in its form and remarkably pure in conception.  And I love the photo shoot for the bike, taken on a freeway overpass in the middle of Buenos Aires – I asked, but still don’t understand how they pulled off that stunt.  It’s a great article by Greg Williams – give it a read!

A thousand thanks to Fede and his merry pranksters for their hospitality, hilarious company, and superb food.