WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BONKERS COLLECTION?

Fast Ford readers will surely remember Mark Bailey’s Bonkers Collection, which housed some of the best RS Fords in the world. But although many assume the Blue Ovals are still sitting side-by-side in air-conditioned extravagance, that’s far from the truth.

In fact, Princess Di’s Escort is Mark’s sole remaining Blue Oval.

He admits, “I sold most of the Bonkers collection about seven years ago. At one point I had 26 Ford RSs. Six RS500s. All very lowmileage with great provenance. Never did I buy an RS that had been restored.”

Mark is well-known for owning Trade Centre Wales, although folk don’t realise it is one of many – he has five sites in England and two in Wales, employing 900 people. He started his business 39 years ago with one car when aged just 15. And, although he clearly knows the motor trade inside out, his passion for cars overrides their investibility.

“I don’t collect classics to make money,” he says, “I buy them because I like to own them. My business is car supermarkets, but I only collect cars that I like. If they go up in value, great. If they go down, I don’t care. I grew up in the 1980s and love the nostalgia.”

Surely, then, it was crazy to flog all of the Bonkers Fords?

“I got bored. I sold them and bought a Lamborghini Countach, and changed into supercars. At one time I had 150 cars, including 46 Porsches. I had three full-time staff to manage them. It was too much.”

Instead, Mark whittled down his collection to ten hypercars – including a one-off Bugatti Veyron, a Chiron, a P1, a 918, a 575 Maranello and Jay Kay’s green La Ferrari. He wouldn’t buy any old ordinary hypercar, either; only something extraordinary or an unusual colour.

Mark lives in Monaco, where his daily driver is an Aston Martin DBX. He’s surrounded by wall-to-wall automotive extravagance.

“But I still love Ford RSs,” Mark says. “I still look at them, and often think about buying another three-door or RS500. If I was offered a delivery-mileage RS500 I’d be very tempted.”

See, he’s not so bonkers, after all.