The scrappage failure
My very first car, in 1983, was a Ford Cortina and I’m still a fan of Fords. Today I read of the stupidity of Ford UK insisting on scrapping a 1959 Standard Ten traded in as part of its ’scrappage’ scheme.
Why is Ford alienating so many classic car lovers? The company is quoted as saying: ‘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.’
What a pathetic response. It abdicates responsibility.
If it is so concerned about the pollution it will emit in the handful of miles it is likely to be driven each year, that vehicle could have been donated to a museum.
Ideally it should be sold back to someone who will treasure it and keep it in regular use. I strongly urge Ford to re-consider how it deals with any historic vehicles that are submitted for scrappage.
Perhaps the company should work with Practical Classics, and
owners’ clubs so that all such vehicles are saved and recycled into the sector wherever possible.
Tim Raymond, Kent
Ed: Your letter, and letters like it, are part of the reason that Ford has changed its mind. Thanks. Have no doubt, it would have been crushed without you.