Mystery over 1974 car purchased in Ilkeston but still with low mileage

A car purchased in Ilkeston almost 50 years ago is the focus for a Derbyshire visitor attraction as part of a bid to find out more about it.

The pristine and as-new 1974 Vauxhall Victor FE, which is reported to have been saved by someone else who removed it from the rotting garage the original owner stored it in, has recently arrived at The Great British Car Journey in Ambergate with less than 100 miles on the clock, and the low mileage is attracting the most interest, so officials at the attraction have gone out to the public using social media to try and get more information.

The car was discovered following the death of the owner - a Mr. Milner who bought the car in the Summer of 1974 from Mercury Garage in Ilkeston. Six years later, it was taken to Derby to undergo rustproofing treatment after which it is thought that the car was never driven again and merely stored away.

After arriving in Ambergate, a raft of spare parts, a Haynes manual and seven empty fuel containers were found in the boot of the vehicle, but have been left exactly as they were found.

The social media post about the car attracted a variety of responses, one suggesting that the fuel crisis of the 70s peaked around the time the car was purchased, and the owner may have considered that he could not afford to run it due to prices having remained high and to await them coming back down again, whilst another wondered whether the owner had been on extended military service so didn't use the vehicle for that reason.

Explaining its continuing pristine condition, Richard Felkin, who discovered the Vauxhall in storage, said that all chrome and light fittings had been removed and stored in the car whilst what couldn't be removed was covered in order to protect it.

Anyone who can help provide information about the vehicle is being asked to get in touch with the officials at The Great British Car Journey.