The one that got away.

Like many classic car enthusiasts, I am often asked if there is a car that I wish I had kept.  The answer is yes and recently, I have kept a Subaru Impreza  for a future Resto- Mod project.   But the car I wish I had kept was a Mk2 escort that I owned in 1985.  It was 5 years old but had been re-shelled two years earlier.  It was in excellent condition and would have made a great base for a historic rally car.  Its value today if it were in the same condition?  Up to £20k, may be more.  However, I needed to part exchange it for £500 to get my next car.

There is however a unicorn car that did get away from me.   In 2003 I decided it was time to get on the track and have a go at historic racing.  I completed my ARDs test and started to look for a suitable car.   Being totally naïve I didn’t really know what I wanted but I had decided to race with the Classic Touring Car Racing Club. I spotted an advert for a Toyota Celica with an 18Rg engine.  It was in South Wales and so I hired a trailer and headed across the border.

Pic: One of my runs at Harewood Hillclimb.

The car had been raced in the CTCRC series and so I was confident that it would meet the technical criteria.  It ran ok but was clearly tired from an almost 20-year racing history.   Figuring it would at least get me started I parted with £2300 and took it home.   The owner mentioned that he had been told that it had been raced by Martin Brundle but had no evidence to support that statement.

I only raced it once and the car broke down during my first outing.  This weekend was a salutary lesson in the cost of racing and I realised that a full season would be beyond me so I switched to hill climbing.   I managed a few outings but the car constantly broke down and I knew that I didn’t have the technical skills to repair it or the finances to pay someone else to fix it. 

Despite all the problems it proved to be a good project car for my 14 year old son, myself and his grandad to work on together.  My son is now a qualified automotive design engineer and I like to think that this influenced his career choice.

Pic: My son (then 14) cut his teeth on this car before embarking on a degree in motorsport engineering.

Whilst I owned the car, I researched its past life and found that it was originally sold by Brundle Motors and later taken back in part exchange.  The car was then rebuilt as a race car and raced in various saloon car and touring car series.  Martin Brundles career was already progressing well at this time and he raced it along with his brother Robin and father John.   There is no doubt that Martin raced the car on a number of occasions, including as part of the family team for the Willhire 24 hour race. But it is fair to say that the car was a family car and driven mostly by Robin and John.

Pics: The car in period. Thee blue and white livery is from the Slick 50 series and the black and white/red from the Brundle era.

The car was sold on and went through several owners before landing in my hands in a very sorry state. In the end I gave up on the car and it sat in a lock up waiting for me to come up with a plan.   As it happened a previous owner rang me out of the blue to ask if I would sell the car.   I was unsure but I said that I would.  There was no negotiation on price, he asked how much I had in the car and I said £3200 which covered all that I had spent.  He offered me £3200, I was sure he would have paid more but to be honest I just wanted to get rid of it.   He came that weekend to collect the car and any spares I had.

With the proceeds I bought a historic Mini Clubman rally car which has brought me lots of fun and I have hill climbed it, raced and rallied it.  Ten years later I still own and drive it.

Fast forward 16 years to 2023 and we were watching Classic Touring Cars at Croft and my son Josh decided to see if he could find my old car.   Within a couple of minutes he had found it on line and it was about to head to auction.

The guide price of £70 000 – £80 000 was a bit of a shock seeing as I sold it for £3 200.   However the pictures revealed a beautifully restored car fully prepared and eligible for racing at the highest level.  This was the car I wish I could have built.

So, is this the car that got away?   In truth it isn’t.   I never had the means to bring the car up to this standard and I didn’t get enough drive time between breakdowns to build any affection for it.   The new owner’s restoration would have cost a significant amount and any profit they make they deserve.  I am glad to see the car back on the track and I hope to see it at a future event.

How did it fair at auction?  It failed to sell.   Hopefully it will find a new owner, the restorer will be happy and another genuine historic race car will be returned to the track.  The car that got away is still that Ford Escort.

Auction details:

GUIDE PRICE: £70,000 – £80,000

+ buyers premium of 12.5% plus VAT (15% incl VAT) on the first £300,000 of the hammer and 10% plus VAT (12% incl VAT) thereafter

The car presented here is very special with racing celebrity ownership in the form of the Brundle family. VVG 1S was originally registered to John Brundle Motors Ltd in Kings Lynn on 10th May 1978, initially being used as a showroom demonstrator before being sold in April 1979. In August 1980, the car was bought back by Brundle Motors Ltd. and converted for production saloon car racing with the help of Kevin Gutteridge and Arthur Coleman, who remain close friends to the Brundle family to this day. The Celica competed in and won the Commanders Cup at the 24-hour Willhire races in 1980/81, with Martin, John, and Robin Brundle racing it.

Following the Brundle successes, the car changed hands a few times in the racing world, always staying as a competition car, participating in various racing events with notable success in the Slick 50 Road Saloon Championship. In new ownership in the late-1990s the car was used in classic Group 1 Touring cars before being sold back to one of its original period owners in 2007, who still owns the car to this day. Full restoration work began in 2014 with the aim of meeting the stringent FIA Group 1 homologation standards, gaining its Historical Technical Passport (HTP), and ultimately obtaining an invitation to race at the Goodwood Members Meeting.

The restoration was thorough and impressive to say the least. Without exaggeration every single nut and bolt on the car has either been used or replaced in this endeavour, and thankfully the process was extensively documented with photographs, invoices and very detailed chronological summary sheets describing all the works. It is truly extraordinary to read. Whilst restoring the car, close attention was paid to preserving its racing history and patina where possible, made achievable by bare metal respraying the car to its original metallic black colour, keeping period repairs as part of the car, and using its original chrome trim, bumpers, and badges.

Mechanically the engine has been fully rebuilt, forged, uprated and dyno tested by DTW Engines in Essex costing £4,289, now producing 176 BHP with the potential for more power with the supplied tubular exhaust manifold. The engine features a Lumenition electronic setup, high compression pistons, new bearings, F3-type valves, and a modified oil PRV. The fuel system has been refurbished, including the original fuel tank filled with FIA foam inserts, a new high-pressure electronic Facet fuel pump, braided pipe work, and a rebuilt Mikuni twin Solex carburettor setup.

Regarding the running gear, the rear axle was stripped down to its casing, painted, and fitted with a Panard rod setup. The original LSD was inspected and found to be within Toyota service specifications. The gearbox is an original GT specification P51 5-speed gearbox with a hydraulic clutch setup and Willwood competition brake fluid. The brake system has been fully refurbished, and the suspension features modified and uprated front and rear dampers, custom springs, and uprated Whiteline competition bushings. The steering box was refurbished, and the front hubs were stripped, vapour blasted, and painted. The steering components have been replaced with new ball joints, knuckles, and steering joints.

The interior features the original dashboard, GT fascia, OE gauges, and racing Mountney steering wheel. Safety additions include a new Cobra historic FIA racing seat, TRS 6-point harness, and FIA fire extinguisher system. The original interior components like the passenger seat, rear seat, full carpets, plastics, and door cards are included with the car.

Although built to the FIA Group 1 regulations for that era, it has essentially been built to 2 specifications: 1. FIA Group 1 Specification for HTP purposes. 2. Superior ‘Group 1.5’ specification, making it more competitive for the Goodwood Member’s Meeting. This mainly consists of dampers and interior, and it will be sold in the latter spec, with the HTP Group 1 Specification being supplied in the sale as a removable “kit”, of sorts. The trick suspension has been fitted – specifically the internally spherical jointed rear arms – along with additions that adhere to Goodwood’s rules and regulations but will also make it competitive at Member’s Meeting. This is very much the original car, with all the correct provenance.

The history file is remarkable and truly paints a picture of where this car has been, what it has done and in who’s hands, with cuttings and features from race wins, as well as the hugely significant number of invoices and paperwork relating to the restoration.