UK gets its own Living Legend to commemorate Ford's Centenary
Hannu Mikkola helped in the development of the new car
Ford enjoyed early success with the Escort. Roger Clark (left) and co-driver Jim Porter (right) won the 1968 Tulip Rally in Holland in their Ford Escort
Centenary Escort has undergone vigourous testing
Ford is celebrating its centenary this year and having relaunched the GT40 as its headline retrospective 'Living Legends' model, it has now announced that it will build a special edition of the Mark I Escort RS2000 to celebrate the success of the brand in the UK.
The commemorative edition will be based on the model that stormed to victory on the 16,000 mile London to Mexico 'World Cup Rally' in 1970. Just one hundred of the steel bodied cars will be made at Ford's Special Vehicle Operations unit now based in Munich. All will be painted in Bianca white.
SVO Director, Helge Schneider - who reportedly keeps a scale model of the Escort by his bed - commented, "We wanted to celebrate centenary with a car that every man wanted. For me it had to be Escort. Escort gave Ford credibility at the high road and in the motorsport. I have dreamed of the day for all my life and now it is true. Tears are now on my eyes. Today is the special day."
The car won't be entirely true to its roots however with the 98bhp two litre single cam engine replaced with an 1800cc Zetec unit being dropped in to meet current emissions requirements. Power has been reduced from 118bhp to 104bhp to enhance the realism of the project.
Chief engineer Pierre Palmade commented, "We considered using the higher powered engine but that would have required larger brakes and a revised suspension set up. Customers won't be disappointed however. They will be very impressed with the level of authenticity that has been achieved. We even loosened up the steering rack and used pre-stressed bushes to give a loose feel like the original cars."
Interior equipment is similar to the original, with a simple MW radio, wind up windows and cloth seats. Cibie driving lights will be one of the few options available, the others being limited to a choice of alloys.
It's expected that the cars will sell out within the hour when they go on sale a few minutes after 1pm this January 1st 2005 from Ford dealers. On the road price is expected to be around £25,000. Each car will be individually numbered with a wooden plaque on the dashboard, a brass plate under the bonnet and individually numbered kick plates, gear knob, rear view mirror and petrol cap. The first car off the production line will be displayed in Dagenham town center for the rest of this year or until it rusts away (mid January).
We are strongly considering a return to the WRC circuit with a driver line up with either J McRae or somebody else that would like a bloody good challenge.
Not sure if it's true or not
Hannu Mikkola helped in the development of the new car
Ford enjoyed early success with the Escort. Roger Clark (left) and co-driver Jim Porter (right) won the 1968 Tulip Rally in Holland in their Ford Escort
Centenary Escort has undergone vigourous testing
Ford is celebrating its centenary this year and having relaunched the GT40 as its headline retrospective 'Living Legends' model, it has now announced that it will build a special edition of the Mark I Escort RS2000 to celebrate the success of the brand in the UK.
The commemorative edition will be based on the model that stormed to victory on the 16,000 mile London to Mexico 'World Cup Rally' in 1970. Just one hundred of the steel bodied cars will be made at Ford's Special Vehicle Operations unit now based in Munich. All will be painted in Bianca white.
SVO Director, Helge Schneider - who reportedly keeps a scale model of the Escort by his bed - commented, "We wanted to celebrate centenary with a car that every man wanted. For me it had to be Escort. Escort gave Ford credibility at the high road and in the motorsport. I have dreamed of the day for all my life and now it is true. Tears are now on my eyes. Today is the special day."
The car won't be entirely true to its roots however with the 98bhp two litre single cam engine replaced with an 1800cc Zetec unit being dropped in to meet current emissions requirements. Power has been reduced from 118bhp to 104bhp to enhance the realism of the project.
Chief engineer Pierre Palmade commented, "We considered using the higher powered engine but that would have required larger brakes and a revised suspension set up. Customers won't be disappointed however. They will be very impressed with the level of authenticity that has been achieved. We even loosened up the steering rack and used pre-stressed bushes to give a loose feel like the original cars."
Interior equipment is similar to the original, with a simple MW radio, wind up windows and cloth seats. Cibie driving lights will be one of the few options available, the others being limited to a choice of alloys.
It's expected that the cars will sell out within the hour when they go on sale a few minutes after 1pm this January 1st 2005 from Ford dealers. On the road price is expected to be around £25,000. Each car will be individually numbered with a wooden plaque on the dashboard, a brass plate under the bonnet and individually numbered kick plates, gear knob, rear view mirror and petrol cap. The first car off the production line will be displayed in Dagenham town center for the rest of this year or until it rusts away (mid January).
We are strongly considering a return to the WRC circuit with a driver line up with either J McRae or somebody else that would like a bloody good challenge.
Not sure if it's true or not
) but I can't imagine Ford being able or willing to spend all that money on another limited run model with limited appeal, they already have the new GT40 (sorry, Ford GT) and also in the US they have the new T Bird, as well as the more promising Mustang, which actually will rake in the money for Ford, but I can't see them being able to waste all that money on a new mk1 Escort, especially when they're already in trouble financially, and there's just been a recall on the Ford GT over major rear suspension trouble, and Ford are advising drivers not to drive them at all until Ford fix it for them (it was in this weeks Autocar, not sure why I bought it, I had some spare change when I went in to get PPC today, which I just read and it's great! 
