A rare car with a link to football history that sat in a garage in Salford for years is to go under the hammer this month.
As one such deal, Ford lent out the special cars to 30 footballers - including the likes of 1966 stars Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst. The white vehicles all featured ‘Chosen for England’ on their bodywork, alongside the England World Cup emblem and crossed flags of Mexico and the Union Jack.
His grandson, Joseph, told the Manchester Evening News: “He went to a car auction at a warehouse and he just spotted the vehicle tucked away in the back looking just a mess. He decided he’d have it as it wasn’t too expensive to buy. After that, he spent a lot of time restoring it so that it could be in a drivable condition once again.”
Bobby Moore was handed the number one vehicle, with Francis Lee, who played for Bolton Wanderers for eight years before moving to Manchester City in 1967 for a further eight years, getting the number two car. Sir Bobby Charlton got number nine, and Geoff Hurst got number ten - based on their shirt numbers, whilst the unlucky-for-some number 13 vehicle went to Arsenal player Bob McNab.