A FORD Capri has gone up for sale after being stored in a garage for 19 years and having “never been in the rain”.
Owner Albert Clarkson says that his prized possession “still smells new”, with just 582 miles on the clock since he bought it three decades ago.
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Albert keeps the car pampered and safely tucked away at his home on Canvey Island, Essex, along with a 117,000-mile Cortina which he uses as a daily driver.
The only time he takes it out is to visit classic car shows, transporting it to and from locations one a trailer.
He told Forever Cars: “[People] can’t believe it – they say ‘didn’t you want to drive it all those years?’
“I just say no.
“It’s never been in the rain and it still smells inside of leather as if it were new.
“It’s like a nice piece of antique furniture – you can have it restored, but it’s not as good as an untouched original.”
The retired gas engineer explained that the Capri was the first new car he ever bought.
He even recalled, with a chuckle, that he was disappointed that it came pre-loaded with 60 miles on it thanks to the distance it covered to make it to the dealership.
After driving it about for ten years for short journeys, he decided to try and preserve it – and ended up not starting it again for almost 20 years.
Unfortunately, this did leave him with the job of cleaning out the tank after the petrol inside “went to dust”.
Now, he starts it every month and maintains it meticulously despite not planning to make use of it.
It remains entirely in its original condition except for one small detail, as Albert explained: “The car was fitted with a white battery when it was new, but Ford don’t make white batteries anymore.”
The Capri, dubbed “Albert’s Miracle” is now up for sale for a whopping £71,195.
That’s quite an upgrade on the £7,800 he paid for it in 1993 (equivalent to about £16,000 today), reduced from over £11,000 because his dad worked for Ford at the time.
It comes after a car dealer unveiled the “near-perfect” 2000s modern classic in his showroom that is the “best-kept example in the UK”.
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