Vintage car fanatic Ross Hutchinson from Hempstead recalls the day he saw his beloved '58 Chrysler drive off into the horizon 20 years ago.

Ross and his late brother Ryde had done as much as they could to restore it on a limited budget using duct tape and filler for makeshift repairs.

But needs must as the lads had another dream project in mind - to do up a replica of the Cadillac hearse which featured in the original film version of Ghostbusters.

Every penny of the £1,500 he got for the Chrysler, along with a hefty loan, went towards getting the Caddy shipped over from America.

But Ross, convinced the car must have been destined to the scrap yard years ago, was amazed to discover this week, it was still on the road.

He was sifting through some old pictures of himself and his brother with the car outside their parents' home in Twydall, when curiosity got the better of him.

Ross, a dad-of- two, said: "I thought I'd run a check on the number plate on the DVLA's website and, to my disbelief, it showed she was still out there. But more than that, still in the UK and taxed."

Ross, a special needs teacher, is now on a mission to track down the owner and see the vehicle again..

He said: "To be able to find the current owner would be incredible,partly to thank them for still having her on the road and partly to apologise for the botched-up repairs that they have had to put up over with over the years."

He believes he sold it to a man called Jim, in his 40s who was into the rockabilly scene.

He said:"At some point in its life, prior to my owning it, it had its engine replaced with a much more powerful 400 cubic inch V8 from a Dodge. This might be another means by which to identify it or jog someone's memory, as the resultant effect was that she drove like clappers.

"Perhaps somebody has seen it in a car show or parked on a driveway.

"I know it sounds like unbridled sentimentality, but I can't say how much it means to know she still exists and to see her again would mean so much..."

"For a good to two to three years, my brother and I went everywhere in it. To think it's still out there 20 years later is amazing.

"I know it sounds like unbridled sentimentality, but I can't say how much it means to know she still exists and to see her again would mean so much."

Meanwhile, work on his Ghostbuster 1959 Cadillac which he rekindled last summer, has been put on hold during lockdown.

For more than a decade, the vehicle has sat under tarpaulin in Goudhurst Road, Twydall.

But after a catalogue of heartbreak, Ross decided to revive the project he started with Ryde, spurred on by his five-year-old son Felix who is a big fan of the smash hit movie.

Ross, 42, and his younger brother Ryde grew up together sharing a love of old cars and films and their father John was a dab hand at mechanics.

In 2001 Ryde was trawling the internet when he came across a 1959 Miller Meteor duplex as featured in the first Ghostbusters film in 1984 which was for sale at £20,000,

Ross said:"While everybody in my sixth form was saving up to buy Ford Fiestas or tubbed-out Astras, we had our eyes on owning a gigantic American yacht and we got it in the shape of a '58

Chrysler."

In 2002, tragedy struck the family when Ryde was in a car crash as he travelled back from London with his girlfriend. Ryde, who was 18, died at the scene.

Ross and his dad worked flat out get the car roadworthy so that it could carry Ryde's coffin, along with a red flashing light, to his funeral.

Then in 2006 John Hutchinson was diagnosed with lung cancer and he died three years later.

Apart from tracking down the Chysler Ross has another ambition. He wants to get the "caddy" finished and surprise Felix and his mates at the school gates.

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