The vast majority of banger cars are dogs, and not worth saving. Been there, done that, got the whiplash!!
I raced several A60's, a morris 1300, 1800, Wolsley 1500 etc, and never paid more than £20 for a car. My Brother (anyone know Buster who raced at Arlington?) has been into it big time, and he has never raced a car that is worth saving.
In all probability that Escort van was rotten. Just coz it's an OSF, don't mean it's necessarily worth saving, especially back then, when a rotten Mk2 Escort was just that, a rotten Mk2 Escort...