The chink of a bone china cup and saucer is not what you expect to hear at a car repair shop.

But the tinkling sound is almost as common as the clank of metal at Vye's of Hove.

The family business is run by 84-year-old Jack Vye, who has been tinkering with cars since he was 13.

And more than 70 years on, he insists on bringing the same courtesy and skills of that long-gone era to the enterprise today.

Customers are all served tea or coffee in a cup and saucer and for Jack and his team, repairing cars is a skill to be proud of.

Jack learnt his expertise helping his dad, William Vye, mend the cars of the rich and famous at his garage behind The Grand hotel in the Thirties.

They specialised in panel beating but also made petrol tanks and radiators.

In those days only the rich and famous had cars.

Sir Thomas Beecham, the Philharmonic Orchestra director, band leader Ambrose, actor Leslie Henson, virtuoso xylophone player Teddy Brown and music hall star Max Miller all brought their cars in.

Jack, who takes pride in wearing a shirt and tie to work every day, said: "Max Miller brought in his Triumph, which had a dented front wing. It cost 35 shillings but he didn't realise and threw me a half crown thinking it would cover it.

"We would do all the Rolls-Royces of the millionaires who lived in Grand Avenue. Of course in those days they had chauffeurs.

"A millionaire came in with a Minerva. He asked his chauffeur to bring him down to the workshop as he wanted to see it. I wasn't there but he left a £5 tip, which was a lot in those days.

"I heard he lost all his money in the Wall Street crash."

The family's motoring links go back even further.

Jack can trace the roots of Vye's back to the days before the First World War when his grandfather, George Vye, had a business making car radiators in London.

But as a boy Jack had no intention of following their footsteps.

Neon lights had recently been invented and he wanted to be an electrician.

He said: "It was only by an act of God I got involved with cars.

"My father was in hospital for three months. My elder brothers, Bill and Ted, couldn't run the place by themselves so they drafted me in to help. I got a shilling a week."

In 1937, the firm moved to Old Shoreham Road, Hove.

When Jack returned from the war in 1946, where he served with the Royal Corps of Signals, he decided the business needed a shake-up.

He said: "I've always been a bit of a rebel and I gave them an ultimatum: Form a limited company or I'm not coming back. They didn't like it at first but they agreed. They could see the potential."

He moved the business to its current site in Carlton Terrace, Portslade.

Based on customer satisfaction reports, the company was named best repair shop in the South-East by the Co-op Insurance Society last year.

This year they scooped national runner-up.

Things have changed over the years, the main difference being the cars themselves.

He said: "In the old days people repaired cars. Nowadays, people are more willing to write them off and buy a new one rather than repairing them.

"We like a challenge so we'll try to repair even the worst cases."