30 New Ford cars since 1969 - all from the same salesman

Philip Lewis of Midleton in Cork is a very loyal Ford customer of a type that is becoming very rare in today's world.

Over his 45 year driving career to date, he has only ever bought Ford cars - 30 in total. What's even more rare is that in that time he has stayed with the same Ford Dealership for all his 30 new purchases, and with the same salesman, Martin Condon, of main Ford Dealer, Cavanagh's of Charleville.

Philip was recently at Cavanagh's to collect his 30th Ford car, a new 141 Ford Focus from Martin, Dealer Principal at the Dealership. Martin is pictured with Philip at the wheel of his new car, in front of the Christy Ring memorial and Cloyne GAA Club in County Cork.

Martin has known Philip since 1969 when he was a young salesman and in that time has sold him a broad range of their top-selling models down through each of the decades. "It's great to see such devotion to one brand but we pride ourselves on knowing our customers and building a relation of trust and Philip has been happy with both the cars and how we looked after him down through the years."

Ford Orion

Ford cars Philip has owned include an Escort, Cortina, Capri, Orion, Sierra, Fiesta and more recently, a Focus.

Ford Orion

His first car was a red Ford Escort registration number GZT 307. But he says the Capri, in its day was a real head turner. Philip had one of the very first Capris that were on the road in Cork, registration UZT 857. His later Capris were lilac and canary yellow. It was the first real 'sports car' that ordinary motorists could aspire to owning and was made famous by series such as ITV's Minder and The Professions, with Bodie or Doyle behind the wheel.

Ford Sierra

As to why he always chose Ford, Philip says "I never had any real trouble with any of the cars I have owned and liked the look of each model so didn't see any point in changing to another brand." His favourite car, though, is the Focus.

On the difference between some of the classic models like Capri and Cortina compared to cars of today, Philip says "It has to be how technology has transformed motoring since when I started driving - just look at how clean, efficient and safe cars are compared to back in the 70s or even the 80s."

The additional images are of Philip's previously owned Fords; two Orions and a Sierra.