sean davis 67

is that don't phone dvla then? as i'll be wasting my time

this is happening in the states with 60's classic like early mustang fast back and 1 generation Camaros, companies are basically selling a new shell in primer. I think from what I've read is that in the states they are doing all of the fab work and replace all of the rotton panels with new sheet metal. thing is in the states they are car mad and there are countless companies that sell literally everything re rebuild a car, not just n.o.s, parts but reproduction stuff that is as good or better than original. over here its only really ford stuff that's catered for, and that's mainly escorts if I get chance tomorrow i'll ring dvla to enquire about these shells re q plate or how things stand re identity

its probably to increase its second hand value, jags are well known to depreciate in value like a stone

mate im guessing from what I've read that they failed to stop? or you would have simply exchanged details. if they have failed to stop and you have not got any witnesses who managed to get the reg number then as you say the only way forward is to try via the cctv route. you will find however that no organisation will allow "joe public" to view their cctv. in order to do this you will need to report the collision to the police. being a carpark it will be deamed an "0ther place" accident. it will be the police and them only that can view/seize and get a copy of the cctv. if they manage to get the other vehicles reg number, providing it is still within 14 days of the incident a notice of intended prosecution (noip) can be sent to the registered keeper. if you do report it to police, you still have the choice of either pursuing the other party through the criminal justice system (courts) or to simply have the police provide you with the other parties insurance details assuming they have insurance. hope this helps

as already mentioned it will be a couple of years before i'm in a position to buy, but with prices as they are and will probably continue to be I don't think I'd snub an import. personally I would not import myself unless I knew of a reliable contact/agent that is trust worthy to help with things that end. having had left hand drive yanks, I would not want a left hand drive escort. they are just a pain, particularly if trying to use a ticket machine at the carpark barrier, or maccy's drive through, you either need a friend or have to reverse! the main bonus I think from a good sourced import would be the bodywork, a rust ravaged car will soon run up thousands in welding which is money that can be spent elsewhere

I suppose it comes down to the individual at the end of the day, if you are happy with it, then you are not bothered about other peoples thoughts about it. I just wondered if there was a kind of "stigma" to having an import? a bit like the jap car scene was/might still be with grey imports and the small differences between them and uk spec cars. I know when I used to have American cars, every now and then you'd see someone with a "right hooker" and they were always valued less and not seen as a "true yank" as they weren't left hand drive.

hi, I'm new to this forum having joined only a few days ago, so I apologise if this topic has already been covered. as I stated in my "newby" introduction I don't currently own a classic ford and it will be a few more years yet before i'm in a position to purchase one as values keep going up and up. in the meantime I'm trying to gain as much knowledge as possible. in the short time I have been on here I have got the impression that owners are now more content to own an old ford, be it a 4 door variant as opposed to "its got to be a 2 door", particularly with the escorts as decent 2 door escorts are fetching silly money. this brings me onto the question of imports? 1. what are the general thoughts on these? there seem to be 2 main sources of imports, south African (right hand drive) and the maltese (left hand drive) from what I have seen on internet sites both seem to be very sturdy and rust free requiring minimal resto, clearly a good base to start with? 2. they are considerably cheaper, why? are there any unexpected pitfalls when it comes to insuring them (subtle differences for example) 3. would anyone consider a left hand drive car and still consider it a classic ford? or would it be viable to convert it to right hand drive? 4. how about importing a car yourself, without the use of an agent? I have looked at this briefly last night. there's a guy on ebay down south who imports escorts from south Africa, mainly 1600 sports and from the photos these look very good for the money, £8500 or there abouts. I then looked on classic fords for sale in south Africa on the net. loads of mk3 escorts and quite a few mk2's and a lot of them were 2 door. average asking price 35000R which having looked at currency conversion equates to approx. £1450.00- £1500.00 for a tidy mk2 2 door escort. I then looked at shipping costs, randomly picked a firm, and for the sake of getting a quote opted to have a car shipped from cape town to felixtowe. container freight, fully insured, total shipping came in at just shy of £2400.00, then an additional £900 ish for the various taxes/duties etc once on uk soil. so that's basically a tidy 2 door escort mk2 for 5k, saving a good £3.5k by doing it yourself. has anyone done it? or considering it? takes buying blind on ebay to a whole new level, or would you sooner have peace of mind and buy off some guy who imports them and takes the hassle/worry out , someone to take the risk out of it? just wondered on peoples views on this as the £3.5k saving by doing it yourself would pay for a nice quality respray and be well on the way to a real nice car.

thanks for the replies. my lad is on here somewhere, he's called ash. hes got a mk1 fez that has an rst lump in it. should be on the road soon. it will be nice to one day have 2 classic fords..........but sadly there is only one garage.......so he best start looking for an outdoor cover

hi, I'm sean and have just joined. currently 48 yrs young. I started out with a mk2 escort having passed my test back in 1986, it was a 2 door 1.1l. if only I had kept it? I've not had a ford since the early 90's with the exception to an rs1600i project car that never got finished, I parted with that a few years back. sadly at the moment I'm not in a position to buy a classic ford, but will be in a few years time. I'm planning on another 2 door escort and we all know the prices they fetch. my plan is to widen my knowledge so when the time comes I buy the right car and know the best way forward. i'll no doubt bore others with what might seem stupid/obvious questions so please bare with me