THE spirit of Steve McQueen has been channelled into a range of clothes and accessories which a Dorset company has devised to compliment classic Porsches.

Motoratus was born out of another Dorset business, Canford Classics, which restores classic Porsche 911s.

Its product range includes jackets, polo shirts, T-shirts, cardigans and driving gloves.

The business was started by Adrian Cross and Gary Burnand, who had experience working for Levi’s, Barbour and Indian Motorcycles.

“It’s a lot of things I think that classic gentleman racers such as Steve McQueen would have worn,” said Mr Burnand.

“Adrian and I originally met in the mid-1990s when we were both working for Levi’s. He and I shared a love of Porsches and particularly the 911.

“Over many years we developed that passion and desire to bring our expertise in clothing design and development and marketing together on a project.”

The business got going after Mr Burnand moved with his family to Poole. He and Mr Cross forged a link with Canford Classics, the Winterborne Kingston-based business of Alan Drayson, who restores Porsche 911s for car lovers and investors.

“We decided there was an opportunity for a business creating premium clothing that was inspired by Porsche,” said Mr Burnand.

“Historically, car companies have done a bad job at providing lifestyle products. They’re very good at making excellent cars but they don’t have a real understanding of how you take those brands into fashion and other lifestyle categories.

“Equally, clothing brands have not been great at understanding how to leverage the interest that consumers have in cars and motorcycles and so on.”

He said the Motoratus range would use classic British materials. “It’s all British made, all high quality products so we’re using the best cotton, the best merino wool, the best leather in our driving gloves as well,” he said.

Motoratus was launched with an autumn range last year. It plans to expand its range of 10 pieces to 30-40 within a year. The range is sold online, at selected retailers and at Canford Classics.