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"Lauren" - The Beginning |
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One summer in the mid-80s, the need to own another yank emerged. A rumour had circulated about a car, under a tarpaulin, behind a hedge, near a village in Essex. Not a lot to go on, but after a week of aimless evening outings (who said I never took the other half anywhere!) we struck lucky. A gent appeared, wondering why someone was wandering around his garden. A quick chat and the cover came off a sadly neglected 1958 Fairlane 500 Club Victoria with right-and-drive, definitely the worse for having braved the English weather for some 30 s years, with half the Essex wildlife living inside and sporting the obligatory bullet hole in the screen (who does that?). Exported to the Gold Coast in 1959, the original owner returned to the UK in the early sixties, bringing the Fairlane with him. Parked up and left to the elements until 1983, it was then sold to the present owner who moved it just 500 yards across the road - not a high mileage for 23 years! After 3 months' negotiations the car was mine. A friend's Allegro estate and trailer were seconded for the journey home. Eventually loaded, we disappeared through the Essex countryside, leaving a trail of wildlife, dust and buckets of rust in our wake. When we finally arrived home it was with a much lighter Ford and a very exhausted Allegro. Time was now spent determining what I had actually ended up with. Armed with a VIN, engine, axle... any numbers I could read, I started. With many thanks to Ford-Canada, history showed she was built July 21-25, 1959: a 2-door Club Victoria right-hand-drive with manual transmission, fitted with a Windsor Ontario-built 332 ci (EDC) engine (built the same week) and 15-inch T-Bird wheels. I also learned that the engine block colour was "Argent", unlike those from the US which are blue. What I had was just as it had teen built, with less than 15,000 miles on the clock, but not looking as good as Ford intended. Enthusiasm now took over, so armed with spanners, sockets, hammer (most important!) and enough WD-40 to sink a ship, bits and pieces here, there and everywhere , finally a rolling chassis emerged this was stripped, shot-blasted, coated and painted. Unbelievably, no straightening or welding was needed and all measurements worked out. Rear springs were retempered, rebushed and refitted, Bedford/Vauxhall commercial U-bolts fitted rear axle beautifully, new one way action shock absorbers (courtesy of Old Car World), back axle checked, cleaned and fitted. Things were looking good. Front suspension was rebuilt, although not much was needed here: new spring isolators as the rubber had perished, was about it. Faced now with a restored chassis a body shell balanced on bricks and an ever-increasing mountain of parts, a garage was definitely needed. Work stopped with the hurricane of 1987 - a flooded car and everything on the ground floor lost - a house rebuild, only to be flooded yet again the following year. A move, and building of a purpose-built garage heralded the coming of summer 1992 (doesn't time fly when you're not having fun!). Time to sort out the body and source all the parts I was going to need. A deal was struck with a (reasonably) local sand blaster. It's always worth checking who to use: it would be nice to have the body shell clean - not so good if every panel came back buckled. I proceeded to check out jobs he had done before.  |
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