Compact & Bijou

Robin Shackleton is quick to point out that he wasn’t responsible for the comprehensive restoration of this 1961 Ford Falcon Deluxe. No, Robin did the sensible thing and let the previous owner deal with the complete nut-and-bolt rebuild, before buying the car for a sensible price that was significantly below what was spent. “I understand it came into the UK in 1984 and was then bought as a virtual wreck around 1997 by a chap called Bart Keaney,” explains Robin. “Bart is a car collector - of cars done to a very high standard - and the Falcon was no exception. He had a restorer called Dave Spurling completely redo the Falcon for him. The figure I heard for the total cost of that work was around £100,000.”

Robin knew of the Falcon, having seen it driven around locally, so when it came up for sale he visited Bart for a closer look. “I already owned a issue CA336, April 2019) with a 390cu in V8 and four-speed, so I thought the Falcon would make a nice companion for that. I was amazed at the quality of the work that had been done on the Falcon and couldn’t resist buying it.” The car came with a number of receipts.