You’ll never see it on the road, but this tiny Ford Escort is worth a small fortune.
It’s a one-off, 1:25 scale model made from silver, gold and diamonds.
The project has been a slow-burning labour of love for jeweller and petrol head, Russell Lord.
Russell has owned no less than 55 Ford Escorts over the years, full-size ones that is.
He first began work on this amazing model 25 years ago, pouring thousands of hours into the project.
The body is made of silver, with gold used for the brakes and spoiler, plus gold wheels and bonnet hinges, and 18-carat white gold for the front grille.
The headlights are 72-point diamonds, with orange sapphire indicators and ruby rear brake lights.
“It’s been a hobby that I’ve come back to again and again but three years ago I determined to finish it. I know this car inside out – so there were no plans I just built it from the ground up piece by piece,” said the jeweller from Essex, in the UK.
The model is based on the works rally car driven by Ari Vatanen in the late 1970s.
The Mk2 Escort cost $A143,000 in materials alone.
Details include spinning pulleys on the front of the engine, a moving diamond-encrusted platinum gear stick and the glass windows that involved smashing countless vases to find sections of glass with exactly the right curve.
The model will be auctioned on the car auction website www.themarket.co.uk on May 2, with all profits donated to charity.
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