A grateful mum has given heartfelt thanks to rally car owners who pulled out all the stops to give her son a super birthday surprise.

More than a dozen rally cars turned up at her home in Palmerston Avenue on Saturday afternoon to surprise ‘petrol head’ Harvey Carter during his sixth birthday party.

Family, friends and residents were humbled to see the look on Harvey’s face when he saw a Lambourghini, souped up Fords and Subarus pulling up, especially for him.

Mum Jess Ellis said it was in response to her appeal on social media in January asking for the former Top Gear presenters to meet Harvey or send him an autograph.

Jeremy Clarkson, James May or Richard Hamilton didn’t get in touch, but the appeal reached Croydon car enthusiast Terry Fisher who contacted Jess to see if he could help.

He said: “I felt disappointed by the lack of response from the presenters from the show, but to be honest, it wasn’t unexpected. I didn’t want Jess or Harvey to be disappointed because that’s not representative of ‘the scene’”.

He got in touch with Jess and offered to get his friends to drive down for Harvey’s birthday. And after giving it some thought she called him back a few weeks back and said ‘yes please’.

Jess’s reasons for wanting to give Harvey the best birthday ever captured the hearts of many on social media.

On December 29, 2014, Harvey’s dad Peter Carter died suddenly at his home in Dover. Harvey, who attends St Richard’s Catholic Primary School in Dover, was with him at the time.

Then this January, exactly a year after Peter was laid to rest, Jess nearly died too, during an operation on a burst appendix.

“He has gone through so much,” said Jess, who is now on the mend. “When I came round at hospital, they told me how lucky I was. I thought ‘He could’ve been orphaned’. Nobody realises what he has been through.”

Thinking ahead for his birthday, it prompted her to try to give him the biggest treat she could think of.

“He has 50 Top Gear magazines in his bedroom. Since he could talk, all he talked of was cars.

“I was only expecting a Lambourghini and a couple of Subarus were coming round. Terry asked where his birthday party was. I said at home, and he said he would wind it down a bit. I said don’t worry about that.”

It wasn’t just Harvey that was delighted when they turned up. There were 25 other children at the party whose eyes lit up too.

Terry, a father of six, said: “My life is all about kids. We’ve got the belief: ‘get them into it early’ and it was great to see his face! Generally people from the scene will do anything to help out.”

He phoned friend Kelvin Walker, who was paralysed from the neck down in an car accident two years, and asked if he could do anything.

“He has an exotic fleet of cars. He said: ‘Listen, I’ll be there’.”

To be able to make Harvey’s birthday, another driver had to get his car back from the garage where modifications were being made.

“They have all bought him cards and presents,” he said.

Among those involved in the visit on Saturday were Kent Imprezas, which bought four Subarus, and Kelvin Walker and Jay Glasse, who bought a white 500 bhp Ford Focus Cosworth.

Jess added: “I’d like to thank all the drivers especially Terry, my family and friends who made this possible and those who shared my posts on social media.”

Many of the cars exhibited at Harvey’s birthday party on Saturday take part in track days.
Terry’s modified Ford Escort Mk IV, which can beat a Lambourghini, will be raced at Lydden Hill on Bank Holiday Monday.