Bangers & Cash
Series 14, episode 9: a restored Escort, a 1927 Empire Oxford, an MG Metro Turbo and an SOS motorcycle
By Jon Cosson · Last checked
An independent guide from the village. Not connected to Mathewsons or the programme. For entries, bidding and the catalogue, go to mathewsons.co.uk. Checked 10 October 2026.
Episode 9 aired on U&Yesterday on Thursday 17 September 2026. The broadcaster's listing has Dave heading to the south coast for a carefully restored Ford Escort, and Derek seeking what it calls a forerunner of the Range Rover. The episode title adds a Morris Empire Oxford, an MG Metro Turbo and an SOS motorcycle.
The cars
- Ford Escort
- the listing gives no mark or year. Ford launched the Escort at the Brussels show in January 1968 and built six generations at Halewood until 2000; about 4.1 million were sold in Britain.
- Morris Empire Oxford
- Morris's attempt at a car for the colonies, shown at Olympia in October 1926 with a 2.5 litre engine designed by Morris Commercial. It sold poorly and was dropped in 1929.
- MG Metro Turbo
- the quickest Metro, launched about six months after the MG Metro of June 1982, developed with help from Lotus Engineering, 112 mph and 0 to 60 in under ten seconds. Only a couple of dozen first-series cars are believed to remain on the road.
- SOS motorcycle
- the Super Onslow Special, built by Len Vale-Onslow from 1927 near Worcester and from 1932 in Birmingham, with JAP and then Villiers two-stroke engines of 172cc to 346cc, water-cooled from 1933. Production ended in 1939.
What they made
Mathewsons sold a 1927 Morris Empire Oxford for £9,200 on 1 August 2025 and a 1929 Empire Oxford in June 2025; until the year is confirmed from the episode we do not say which was the car shown. Dozens of Escorts were sold in the period and we cannot pick one. No published result has been found for the MG Metro Turbo or the SOS.
Visit
The cars on Bangers & Cash are sold at Mathewsons' Pickering saleroom, and the Mathewsons museum and shop are in Thornton-le-Dale.
U&Yesterday episode pages and the Sky, TVmaze and TheTVDB listings for series 14; Mathewsons lot pages, read 10 October 2026; Air TV and UKTV announcements of 12 April 2019 and 31 July 2025. Car histories from manufacturer press material, owners' clubs, Grace's Guide, Motor Sport, Autocar, PistonHeads and Classic and Sports Car.