I’m a Wheeler Dealers host – thieves took ‘minutes’ to steal my classic Ford… how to protect your vehicle
A WHEELER Dealers host has said thieves took just "minutes" to steal his classic Ford.
Mike Brewer was due to unveil the Ford Fiesta Mk1 on the show's 20th anniversary just hours after it had been fully restored.
The motor had been chained up inside a lorry and even had a wheel lock on.
The TV star claimed the thugs were "quite inventive" when they nicked the motor from outside a hotel in June this year.
Despite lengthy measures to protect the car - which is estimated to be one of only four left in the UK - the thieves spent just 25 minutes trying to get their hands on it.
Mike told the : "We had it in a covered trailer with a transportation company which was not only chained to the vehicle it was on, it had the tow bar obviously but it was chained.
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"It also had wheel locks on it but no they were quite inventive.
"They parked a big lorry in front of the security cameras of the hotel and they spent the next 25 minutes behind the lorry with cutters, angle grinders and all kinds of things to steal it."
The still-missing Fiesta was specially built to mark the end of the iconic Ford hatchback - which came off the production line earlier this year.
Mike had previously offered a £5,000 reward for the stolen car.
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Days later, he decided to sell his classic ultra-rare 1968 Chevrolet for £60,000.
The presenter spent around 1,500 hours during lockdown revamping the custom-build Camaro.
He made changes to the exhaust and stripped the engine to increase the power from 375 to 410 bhp.
Mike also rebuilt the four-speed manual gearbox and made upgrades to the brakes system.
The suspension, springs, anti-roll bars and anti-tramp bars have either been added or upgraded on the 1968 Chevrolet - something Mikes estimated to set him back £40,000.
