Izzy Whizzy lets get busy

UKE 950H - A 1969 built 1.6 XL automatic.

An MOT failure ready for scrap – until we found her and dragged her home in 1990. She cost us all of £150.

What started as a few odd jobs rapidly turned into a full restoration and at the end of four years a lovely car. (But the work never stops).

The car was completely gutted and shot blasted, then dipped in an etching compound. With hindsight maybe this treatment was a bit harsh, but at least we were confident that the remaining metal was strong. It was a long slow process to get her back on the road. Parts were becoming hard to find. So many variants of the MK1 meant you had to be extra careful to find the right spec for UKE.

June 18 1994. What a birthday present as UKE goes on the road for the first time to get an MOT. Nerves were stretched as we drove the three miles listening for every and any sound from the car. Workers gathered round to look at UKE while we waited our turn. Then it was a nail biter until the thumbs up was given, Yes she had passed her MOT – this was the station that four years earlier had told us to take it to the scrapyard.

UKE next went back into a Ford showroom to stand beside the then newly launched Probe. There was no question about which was the favourite. The car has won many Concourse prizes as well as appearing in newspapers and television. It is a well-known car in Capri circles and at Classic car events.