After lovingly restoring his beloved Ford Escort 30 years after it was stolen by joyriders – it is now worth ten times what he paid for it.
Simon Hartland 53, bought the Ford Escort RS2000 in 1985 for £3,000 and it was stolen three years later.
It was found by police as a stripped out shell and returned to a devastated Simon, who is an aircraft engineer.
Car nut Simon Hartland has finally got his beloved Ford Escort back on the road – 30 years after it was stolen and stripped out by joyriders
It was found by police as a stripped out shell and returned to a devastated Simon, who is an aircraft engineer. Simon is pictured with some of the remains of his beloved Ford Escort RS2000
But after languishing in his garage for 30 years Simon has painstakingly restored the vintage motor to its former glory after spending more than 100 man hours and hundreds of pounds on the labour of love project.
He sourced most of the parts on the second-hand market, including a chocolate brown interior, specialist breaks and a new front end.
The 1980 black motor, which is now worth £30,000, has also been given a full body respray.
Simon, from Yeovil, Somerset, said: “In the 1980s Fords were not the most secure of cars and and were fairly easy to hot wire.
“For that reason a lot of them were stolen around that time.
“I didn’t expect to have mine back because they usually disappeared never to be seen again, or if you were lucky, you might find a burnt out wreck.
“Fortunately for me the car was recovered about 30 miles away about six weeks after it was stolen.
“It was quite a surprise because I’d convinced myself someone else would have sold it on or destroyed it having stolen all the bits.”
But after languishing in his garage for 30 years Simon has painstakingly restored the vintage motor to its former glory after spending more than 100 man hours and hundreds of pounds on the labour of love project. Left, the car as it was being restored and right after it was returned to Simon.
Simon, pictured sat in the car, sourced most of the parts on the second-hand market, including a chocolate brown interior, specialist breaks and a new front end
Back from the dead: Simon’s Ford Escort before it was stolen
He added: “The irony is that I bought all the parts on the second-hand market after my car had been stripped of all its parts.
“The bits I bought had probably come from some poor guy who’d had the same thing happen to him so it went round in a cycle really.”
The RS2000 was the racing version of Ford’s Mk II Escort which was released in 1974, and had a top speed of 108mph.
It was powered by a 1.8 litre engine, with pristine models now selling for up to £40,000.
Simon, who was 19 when he bought his model, said: “Since I got mine back on the road I have been using it as often as I can.
“Weather permitting, it’s getting out every month and I’ve taken it to different car shows which has been fantastic.
“Going forward, it will need a little bit of TLC but that’s to be expected in an old car and it is in generally very good condition.”