About Dave Brooks

Dave left school in 1975 and was given an apprenticeship as a panel beater at local Ford main dealers Morants Motors. During his time there he worked on all of the Ford range including the ‘NEW’ MkII Escort! From there he moved to Wolfe Garage, a VW Audi main dealer in Westerham. In 1984 a move to Essex brought about a new job at Allen of Romford, (now Allen Ford). He was employed as a panel beater and became very familiar with every model and variant including RS models. During his 17 years at Allen Ford he became a highly skilled bodywork man and progressed to forman and finally workshop controller.

Dave’s first car was a White, 1972, 2 door Escort 1300GT which he bought when he passed his driving test in 1979. He wishes he still had it! Next came a Stardust Silver 1974 Escort RS 2000 in 1982. In 1984 he bought a Sebring Red Escort RS2000 from Mike Young. Dave says: “The RS2000 spent a happy three weeks with me until it was unfortunately stolen!”

After that life got in the way and wasn’t until 1988 when Dave bought a Sebring red RS2000 that needed ‘some work’. That got him back into cars. This RS2000 became his first full restoration. Dave says “I enjoyed restoring that car as much as I did owning it.” Life got in the way again and regretfully the car had to go after a couple of years to help fund a house purchase.

Now, with a little more time on his hands, his huge experience and depth of knowledge Dave has set up DBRS Restoration Services. Having fully restored an Escort MKI RS2000, Dave intends to continue with his passion for bringing these iconic cars back to life.