Raymond Macdonald tells Cheryl Livingstone about his latest Ford find.
It all started in 1993 when Raymond Macdonald was on the lookout for a Ford Escort MK1 and eventually discovered and bought one from a man in Forres.
It was his first restoration project and, although he was no stranger to mechanical repair work – being a welder to trade – he admits it was quite an interesting challenge.
That was more than 20 years ago and many more cars – mostly Ford Escorts and Anglias – have been given the Raymond restoration treatment.
His latest is a 1982 Ford Escort MK 3 Ghia, a project he admits is going well thanks to sites such as eBay supplying him with lots of spare parts.
But once completed he admits it could be passed on to make way and fund towards another project, another a Ford Escort Mk1.
Raymond, 55, who lives in Wick, said he had thoroughly enjoyed his hobby of restoration over the years and there had always been something in the back of his mind that he really wanted to do.
He had a desire to get hold of a really good Ford Anglia 105e.
“Well, I was restoring cars and selling them but I always had in the back of my mind this desire to buy a really original Ford,” he said.
“In the current climate and location, it is really rare to come across something like that here in the far north. So I started looking farther afield. I looked online and found one in Dorset. It took me a few years to find it. Others came up but I knew I was looking for the one.”
He later discovered what he was looking for through the Classic Ford UK site.
The “one” in question is a 1963 Ford Anglia 105e, which he bought from a guy in Dorset last November.
“It was the condition that attracted me,” Raymond said. “To get a car that is pretty much original is very rare. Being 51 years old, the condition that it is in is not bad.”
The car has had three previous owners, the last one running it for 26 years.
Raymond said he had owned Anglias in the past that he had done up and passed on, but this one was by far the best he had bought.
The Anglia had been re-sprayed in the past to a high standard and now Raymond plans to keep it and take it to shows during the summer months.
The car had its first outings to a few local shows this season, including ones at Tain and John O’Groats, and received a very good reaction.
It was also the first time Raymond had shown a car after deciding that his previous vehicles were not up to the required standard.
The Anglia is the 55-year-old’s most recent addition from a marque that he has grown to admire over the years.
He said: “I started with Ford Escort Mk 1 and, after that, I started looking at Ford Anglias, mainly 105e. I like the older Fords but not as far back as the Model Ts, more from the sixties and seventies.
“I like Ford for their driving style and their unique designs. The marque is just something I like. It’s the shape of them and the way they drive. I like everything about them.
“What I like the most though is that you can work on them and do so much with them, unlike the modern day car nowadays where everything under the bonnet is so compact and you are restricted to what maintenance you can carry out to them.”
My first car…
1969 Austin 1300
My dream car…
Ferrari, Lamborghini, Ford Escort twin cam, Lotus Elan there are so so many.