Ford Escort MkII Rally Car

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Not quite the Ford Escort RS2000 of the ‘The people want you back’ advert, but this 1975 MkII rally car will give you the chance to say ‘I’m gonna make you great again’ (cue Rocky theme tune).

This Escort has been slumbering in a barn for some time but has had quite a heroic life. It was originally registered as a 1300 Sport, but was built up in 1989 as a competition car and has the MSA logbook to prove it. The first name in the logbook is Justin Dale, who went on to works drives with Peugeot, Mitsubishi and Hyundai.

The car is currently fitted with a Pinto engine, believed to be 2,000cc running through a straight-cut four-speed gearbox and ZF LSD with 4.6:1 ratio. The rear end is a strengthened Atlas axle, with four-bar radius arms and Watts linkage. The car also has the World Cup cross-member and alloy bell-housing.

There are a myriad of other modifications – Bilsteins, bias braking, alloy petrol tank, rollcage, arches etc. – and it is obvious the car has had some serious use. However, the shell looks to be remarkably straight and untroubled and doesn’t seem to have encountered too much Welsh pine or Yorkshire granite. Where the paint is peeling it is through age not accident damage.

The car will need a good going over (and new seatbelts and tyres) before it sees an active competition life again but it should not need a major rebuild. It starts and drives and comes with a total of ten mix’n’match alloy wheels, an old MOT from 2004 and a good file of invoices.

It shouldn’t take a competent mechanic long to get this rally car back into action and it could prove a cut-price entry into historic motorsport.