CAR DEALER BIDS TO SCRAP 1950s CLASSIC
Ford main agent consigns Standard Ten to an early grave in its scrappage scheme – despite offers to restore the car
AFord main dealer is planning to scrap a Standard Ten under the manufacturer’s scrappage scheme.
Dunnets of Thurso received the 1959 model in exchange for a £7k discount on a new Transit, but there are no plans for it to be restored or used as a source of spare parts, despite pleas from the Standard Motor Club and classic fans.
Ford has refused to step in and save the car, and says that the dealer has a responsibility to scrap it under the terms and conditions of the scheme.
Charlotte Ward, the manufacturer’s corporate news manager, says: ‘It is the customer’s choice to scrap a vehicle and Ford cannot discriminate or set precedents in reversing a customer’s decision.’
Ford is planning to scrap a Standard Ten after it was traded in against a new Transit. As part of its scrappage scheme, Caithness-based Ford dealer, Dunnets of Thurso, took the 1959 model in and gave the owner £7000 off the cost of the van.
Tom Sayles contacted Classic Car Weekly and sister title, Practical Classics, to highlight the Ten’s fate. Despite repeated offers from Practical Classics to recommission the car rather than scrap it, the company has refused to budge from the terms of its scrappage scheme. Tom says: ‘I discovered it because my friends are associated with the scrapyard which it is assigned to. They asked if I wanted to save it, and of course I said yes! ‘If it was a Cortina or an Escort, what would Ford do? We’re all enthusiasts, and I’m just trying to help out. If we can’t save this thing, we’ll have a funeral for it, with hearses and everything.’ The Standard is described as being in sound condition, following a respray and a freshly retrimmed interior and was offered for sale previously but without success. Dunnets of Thurso declined to comment on the case but Ford has defended the dealer’s decision. Corporate news and social media manager for Ford UK, Charlotte Ward, says: ‘The terms and conditions of that sale mean that the Ford dealership has a responsibility to scrap the car, as that’s what the former owner of the car agreed to.
‘The scheme is doing what it was intended to do, which is to remove older, more polluting vehicles from the UK roads. It is the customer’s choice to scrap a vehicle and Ford cannot discriminate, or set precedents, in reversing a customer’s decision.’
The car hasn’t yet been declared scrapped and will not be until the dealer receives the certificate of disposal from the scrapyard.
Standard Motor Club press officer, Darryl Cunningham, says: ‘It’s getting silly now. What people don’t appreciate is how hard parts are to find for these cars. Engines are particularly sought after. It would be an utter shame for it to be scrapped.’