5:01pm Friday 11th December 2009
By Ian Boydon
A CARNFORTH businessman has rescued the former car of comic legend Eric Morecambe from the scrapheap.
Just days away from being dismantled, the 1971 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow was discovered at a Shrewsbury scrapyard by Peter Yates - who runs a wedding car business. He now plans to restore it to its former glory.
“It was an absolute chance find, a miracle,” he said. “It was in the scrapyard within weeks of being broken up for parts.
“This was built to special order for Eric Morecambe - he had it between 1971 and 1974 and it had the number plate EM100 before he changed it to a new car. It is a piece of social history.”
Mr Yates has got all the documentation to prove it was Eric’s old car, including the order form and the delivery note.
The car includes some special features that the comic asked to be included, such as an ashtray in the dashboard for his cigars, and leather inserts into the carpets to prevent him getting the car muddy after a day’s birdwatching - a favorite pastime of his.
Mr Yates has stripped the car down and is painstakingly restoring it, with a view of using it for wedding hire, as well as promoting causes like the Carnforth Railway Station, and RSPB Leighton Moss. He said he can feel Eric’s presence as he works on the car.
“I get this uncontrolable urge to hum 'bring me sunshine' when I’m working on it,” he said. “I can still smell tobacco and I would swear that Eric was sat on the back seat watching me. It is really weird.”
It is hoped the car will be ready by early May, when it will join Mr Yate’s 1928 Rolls Royce Phantom 1, which was John Steed’s car in the Avengers television series.
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