We’re often asked about what it is that happens to the old parts of scrap cars once they’ve been removed and generally declared not fit for purpose. The answer on our part is usually pretty simple – anything that’s still got some life in it gets reused, while those that aren’t really suitable for use in any way get recycled. However, from time to time we hear of the odd person that seems to be hell-bent on showing us and the rest of the world just what kind of potential old car parts really have. And in the case of one IT specialist by the name of Nick Truman, you’ve really got to hand it to the guy’s creativity and commitment.
The idea of a £100 Ford Granada isn’t going to light anyone’s fire these days. However, take the same Ford Granada, add five years of hard work and a bunch of old parts from other cars and what do you think you come out with?
In his case, try a pretty convincing replica of a Pagani Zonda! 
It sounds almost too much to take on-board, but it happened nonetheless. Basically, what started life as little more than an £89 engine from an old Jaguar eventually grew and evolved piece by piece into a fully working supercar replica. The fact that it’s built around the chassis of a Ford Granada somehow manages to score the thing extra cool points. And if that wasn’t enough, the plucky chap that built the thing openly admitted that he had in fact never even seen a real Zonda in the flesh.
In order to make his, he resorted to buying a scale model/toy version of the supercar and went about replicating every last detail. From the trademark exhaust cluster to the ostentatious door-opening mechanism and even the brand logo, it’s hard to believe he built even a single bit of the thing himself – let alone from scrap parts. Speaking of which, he was also proud to admit that in the process of putting the thing together, he didn’t spend more than £95 on any one single part – the headlights turning out to be the most expensive parts.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing and he’s taking away more than a few war-wounds for his efforts. Most notably of all, he managed to lop the tip of his index finger off when he was trying to get the turbo up and running, which in a comedic twist then shot out of the car’s exhaust pipes.
Chances are however, he wasn’t laughing at the time.
You can say what you want about putting literally thousands of hours into a project like this, but as far as we’re concerned this really is what reuse and recycling is all about. He’s not going to change the world with his homemade supercar, but he might just inspire one or two others to think carefully about what they consider to be scrap and what are essentially the building blocks of something amazing.
