A GRANDAD spent thousands of pounds restoring a pink Marcos sports car ahead of re-uniting it with its previous owner - pop artist Andy Fairweather Low.

Richard Partridge, who lives in Parsons Heath, Colchester, spent more than a year working on the car ahead of the Classic Motor Show at the Birmingham NEC last weekend, where the 68-year-old Welsh guitarist was reunited with his former wheels.

Petrolhead Mr Partridge, 72, has three other Marcos cars, including one supercar, which goes from zero to 60mph in 3.8 seconds, and one which he initially bought in 1973.

He said: “It’s been a long year and it needed a lot of work.

“I’ve had to farm out my three other ones from the garage to make room for the Fairweather Low one but it was completely worth it.”

Retired Mr Partridge, who is tight-lipped on both how much he bought the car for and how much he has spent on the project, was helped by a mechanic friend who he said “did all the important work while I sat and watched”.

He added: “He did all that mechanical work and really I just did the rest and took the glory.”

The Welsh guitarist arrived at the show on Saturday and was astonished to see the car looking as good as new.

Mr Partridge, a married grandad of four, added: “He absolutely loved it. He really seemed to be taken aback by it.

“He said: ‘That’s a nicer pink than when I had it,’ which was pretty nice.

“Apparently he chose the colour because it was like the colour of a hat he was wearing at the time.”

He added: “I’ve always loved Marcos, ever since I was boy.

“They are beautiful cars.”

During their meeting, the enthusiast asked the guitarist to recreate a photograph which was used on the front of a music magazine in the mid-1960s, soon after the Welshman had bought the car.

Fairweather-Low, who shot to fame in that decade as part of pop group Amen Corner, which has a number of successive UK Top Ten hits.

In more recent years he had toured with Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, on The Dark Side of the Moon tour.

He has also been part of superstar Eric Clapton’s touring band.

He is one of a number of well-known stars who own or have previously owned Marcos cars, including F1 champion Jackie Stewart, Wales football manager Chris Coleman and the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson.

Mr Partridge, dubbed by friends as a Rod Stewart lookalike, added: “He was really good with us and he couldn’t get enough of the car.

“It was completely worth it and we had a great time.”