Delving into Ford’s secret stash in Dagenham

A few months after Ford of America opened its doors the big boss man - the eponymous Henry Ford - began pondering foreign markets. Could he punt his wares abroad? He could. Especially in England.

A well-named chap called Percival Lea Dewhurst Perry bought into the franchise after the men became friends. He set up Ford Motor Company (England) Ltd in 1911 from a showroom on Shaftesbury Avenue, selling the Model C and F. By 1914 he was sending off cars to 1000 dealers, and a shade before the First World War, Britain was Ford's second biggest market after the USA.

Best of all, since its inception, the manufacturer's been squirreling away as many examples of its historic cars as possible, and storing them in a massive shed in Dagenham. This is it. Prepare to say: "my dad had one of those!"

This one's only got 31,000 miles from new.

Mexico badges mean it goes very fast. It's also the darling of London's cab and bus drivers, which is handy when you're trying to cut in lane.

This is a replica of the car that raced in the 1953 Monte Carlo Rally, driven by racer and speed camera inventor, Maurice Gatsonides (hence Gatso). The original was written off after an accident with a coal lorry in Germany during the fifties.

There aren't many of these left. This is an early one with a V4 engine.

Hot property, this one - most found their way into ditches. Or telegraph poles. Or had horrendous outcomes with early tuning firms and optimistic turbo settings.

This is glorious - it's the 2001 rally support vehicle which does 130mph thanks to a Duratorq 2.5-litre diesel. Inside, the instrumentation's taken from a Focus WRC car.

Blue oval on the front, goes like a scolded cat - fits in nicely with most of the other stuff, then. It's also one of 500. Literally (it's car No. 1).

We checked the headlining for stiletto puncture holes. There were none. Disappointing.

This rally-winning Escort was driven to victory by Björn Waldegård in the 1977 Safari Challenge. Hence the bull bars.

Quietly waiting till the Cee'd's engine blows up.

This one's waiting in the restoration queue.

Twin-cam Lotus-tweaked loveliness. CND tail lights are fantabulous, too.

This had just returned from Goodwood. Wasn't much tread left on the rears. Strange, that...

Cooking variety Fords are welcome, too. Like this very brown ‘Tina.

Driven by Hannu Mikkola (Finland) and Gunnar Palm (Sweden) to victory in the 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally, its success led to the Escort Mexico.

Another RS200, though this one's in rather better nick. The yellow thing's a GT70, remember?

Inside the 200. Mmmm, Sierrary...

Oh what we'd give to take this for a burn. It's a Transit built on a Ford C100 race car chassis and powered by a mid-mounted Ford-Cosworth Pro Sports 3000 V6.

This is the inside. FACT: it used to be powered by a Ford-Cosworth 650bhp HB F1 engine.

This is what the Germans were driving around in instead of the Brit Thames van. This one belonged to a French retirement home before it found its way to Dagenham.

When was the last time you saw an exartoo? Let alone one in factory-fresh condition?

Seventies colour options were the BEST.

Another waiting patiently for remedial work.

Who knows what the Ford boys get up to after hours...

It's a super-early four-wheel drive more-door Sierra! Look at its funny lights!

Many fanbelts.

Check out the Pilsbury Doughboy styling. This one's got a half-electric rag-top, too.

The car that started it all...

Pre-war pimpification. Nothing blings like brass. Apparently.