There was a D-reg Cortina in Leeds in the same Beige as the Estate, but this was a 4-door.
Here`s one way it can happen - an S-reg oval-grille Escort ended up in a scrapyard near me, I made an offhand comment about it to the guy and he turned out to know it`s history, it was stolen while unregistered, from a dealer compound in 1994, run on false plates and turned up 5 years later, intact. It had to be registered to be sold on, so it got the current prefix.
I also saw a T-reg mid `80s Corolla at a petrol station in Batley a few years ago, but I think they were just nicking petrol, there was a spate of ridiculously innapropriate false plates being attached to cars being used for forecourt drive-offs at the time, CCTV photos of 52-reg Mk1 Mondeos sellotaped to the counter with "Do you know who these people are?" Stuff like that.