MTV ‘pimps’ 1959 Ford Anglia

Lads’ TV show Pimp My Ride is generously backing the radical modification of what it describes as ‘five of the UK’s ugliest automobiles’.

At least one of the cars up for pimp treatment by Essex-based Carisma Automotive Design has classic status – it’s a 1959 Ford Anglia 105E. The MTV series starts at 10pm on Sunday, September 10, and the Anglia is to be featured at the same time the following Sunday, September 17.

The other ‘ugly pimpees’ are a VW Beetle, a VW pick-up, a Bedford Rascal van and a modern Kia hatchback.

Anglia owner Lawrence Blecher, a 21-year-old photography graduate from Bodmin, Cornwall, is a member of the Mid-Cornwall Slammers classic car club.

Before filming took place, Lawrence – who dresses like an old-school rocker and is currently scraping a living as a painter and decorator – said he adored his motor and was passionate about showing people what curvy cars there used to be. But he added that the Anglia was an ‘impractical classic’ that was holding back his media and arts career.

The floor leaks, the doors and bonnet are rusty, it’s got white wings (£80 each), a bus driver’s steering wheel, patched seats, the bumpers are missing and the heater doesn’t work,’ he said. Not much that would put off a Practical Classics reader, then.

As you can see from the MTV images, Lawrence’s Anglia has indeed been pimped.

What do you think?  Should he have passed the car on to an enthusiast for full classic restoration?
Or do you believe Carisma’s workover is a work of art that may have saved a classic from the crusher?