First registered in September 1970, ‘LFK 290J’ is a Light Blue Ford Cortina MKII that’s still fresh from an £18,000 restoration by the good folk at the Haynes Motor Museum throughout 2020 and 2021.

But that investment is very far from being all that’s been spent on it while it’s been in their care because the owner’s son estimates they’ve paid around £35,000 in all – and that vast sum builds on the previous owner’s restoration of the interior.

Why spend so much on a 1300 Deluxe? Simply because they’re romantics; the seller had one when he was younger, and his son, like so many of us, has fond memories of burning his legs on the vinyl rear seat during the endless summer holidays of his childhood.

The Cortina first went in to have the turret tops replaced but Haynes found so much that needed doing that it cascaded into a full bodywork restoration – and because they intended to keep the car forever, they were determined to spend whatever money was needed to recreate the brand-new car t...