12:36 pm, June 27, 2023
Thieves have stolen a MK1 Ford Fiesta from TV star Mike Brewer that was set to appear on the Wheeler Dealers TV show.
The Used Car Awards host posted on his Instagram channel this morning that the car – which was in a covered trailer – had been stolen from a hotel car park in Pontefract.
Police officers can be seen in the background of the video, which also features his Wheeler Dealers co-star Marc Priestley, investigating the theft.
Brewer has appealed for help finding the car – a MK1 Ford Fiesta, 1300S, 1979 in blue with a brown interior – that had been subjected to a ‘nut and bolt’ restoration.
He told Car Dealer that he was ‘gutted’ and explained the team had spent 100 hours refurbishing the classic car.
The TV presenters appear together in the social media video to appeal for help finding the car, which was due to be the star at the Wheeler Dealers ‘Fiestaval’ set to be held at The Motorist, in Leeds, today.
In the video, Brewer said: ‘It was going to be the star car [at the event], but we’ve left the hotel this morning and our car, which was in a covered trailer, has unfortunately disappeared.
‘It’s been stolen in the middle of the night.’
He has urged fans of the show to share pictures of the car and the trailer in an attempt to help track it down.
Brewer added: ‘We urge you to take those pictures, share them, retweet and get them out there for as many people as possible in the hope that somehow the classic car community can come together and we can find our trailer and find our car.
‘Please, please do help because we are heartbroken.’
Speaking exclusively to Car Dealer, Brewer said that CCTV has since identified a white Mercedes Sprinter van was at the scene.
Its occupants were seen ‘with torches fiddling around with the car’ early this morning.
Brewer told Car Dealer: ‘Police have been alerted. They are on the case and we have got CCTV of a white Mercedes Sprinter van around the area fiddling around in the car park with torches somewhere in the early hours of this morning.
‘And so we’re hoping there’s somebody out there who may see a white Sprinter van with a white covered trailer behind it.’
The stolen trailer
He added: ‘We wanted to celebrate 20 years of Wheeler Dealers and that coincided with the end of the Ford Fiesta. So, on the series, what we’ve done was one special episode with a 1979 1300S Ford Fiesta mark one, a beautiful car.
‘It was a bucket of bolts when I found it – but we put our heart and soul into a full nut-and-bolt restoration. And we arranged the Fiestaval. So we’ve got over 500 Fiestas coming to The Motorist in Leeds today to come and celebrate the Ford Fiesta as a special episode.
‘We were really excited, everyone was so excited to show this car off to the world and to the people that turned up here today.
‘But unfortunately we woke up this morning, left the hotel to find that the car and the trailer – a covered trailer – had been bolt-cropped. The trailer was missing.’
Brewer said he was ‘heartbroken’ at the theft and asked for members of the motor trade and the general public to keep an eye out for the car and the trailer.
He added: ‘You know, me and my heart is absolutely broken. Elvis and I put blood, sweat and tears into the car. We burned the midnight oil to make this car the best we possibly could.’
Brewer said anyone with information can contact him directly via direct message on his social media channels or contact West Yorkshire Police.
https://twitter.com/MrsMBrewer/status/1673624735966547969?s=20
