It’s not often we vigorously support the idea of not scrapping a car that’s in a bit of a state. Though from time to time, we come across an instance where to scrap and recycle a vehicle really would be a crime. A recent example of which having taking place in Scotland – one that garnered quite a lot of media attention too!

 A Ford dealership in Thursco, Scotland, was approached by a customer with a 1959 Standard Ten Gold Star, handed over as part of a scrappage scheme. That being, the same scheme adopted by many brands and dealerships as of late, where old cars can be traded in against the price of new cars with heavy incentives.

The proviso being that the cars being traded in are to be scrapped…for the environment and what not.

In this instance however, the car in question was and is a real classic of classics. The Standard Ten Gold Star was only produced for a limited run from 1954 to 1960, eventually being replaced by the Triumph Herald. Meaning that along with being quite gorgeous, it’s also seriously rare.

So as to meet its obligations, the Ford dealership had every intention of scrapping the car and having it recycled as normal. But when a campaign was launched online to save it, the public in huge numbers took notice. So many in fact that the dealership eventually saw sense and decided that this was one car that would not be making its way to the shredder!

Speaking on behalf of Ford UK, Director of Communications & Public Affairs Tim Homes said “we have been in discussion with Danny Hopkins, the editor of Practical Classics magazine, and we have found a solution that satisfies both the terms of our scrappage scheme and all the parties concerned”.

Unfortunately, the terms and conditions under which the scrappage scheme operates states that the classic Ford will not be able to return to the roads. However, it seems the Standard has already found a new home and will become something of a museum artefact, once it has been given a bit of a polish.

The only problem being that as far as Hopkins is concerned, it’s inevitable that far more classics like these are going to turn up as part of scrapping schemes across the UK. Hence why Ford is pleading with the DVLA to relax its policies, so as to allow classics that have been marked as scrapped will not necessarily have to be scrapped.

“What now needs to happen is that this argument is taken to the DVLA to get them to adopt a policy that any car with ‘Historic’ on its V5 is automatically exempt [from being scrapped],” he said in an interview with the Telegraph.

“The historic vehicle industry is worth £5.5 billion per annum to UK PLC – a fact that makes an act of heritage vandalism such as this all the more extraordinary, especially from a car company,”

“We are so lucky to have such a vibrant, passionate and active classic car movement in the UK, I am not surprised by the outrage that Ford’s intransigence inspired.”

So the answer – a scrap car should not be scrapped if doing so represents an act of ‘heritage vandalism’…quite the nice term, that is!