1972 Ford Escort Mk1 Mexico

• A genuine Mexico built in December 1971 and first registered in early 1972
• Low ownership car, previously the property of well known Historic Racer, Neil Cunningham
• Acquired by Neil in 2009, from 17 years in hibernation, and returned to its best
• Restored, resprayed and fitted with a Vulcan Engineering Stage III engine in the eighties
• Engine rebuilt and fitted with a Maxiflow crossflow head in August 2010
• Rolling road printouts indicate c115bhp at the flywheel
• In a private collection since 2012, this Mexico has hardly been used in recent years

The ever-popular Mexico, so named by Ford to celebrate their victory in the World Cup Rally London to Mexico of 1970. Built by the team in Advanced Vehicle Operations (AVO) to prove reliability and ease of servicing were more important than power and output in certain categories, these models fitted nicely into the niche between Twin Cams and the 1300 GT. Ford's Rallye Sport Escorts were never more popular.

The Escort Mexico on offer here is a particularly special one, with low ownership and having last been enjoyed by likeable Kiwi racer Neil Cunningham. Neil's career included Formula Ford and Formula Renault before a switch to Eurocars (1996 Champion) and British GT brought further success, culminating in a couple of outings in LMP2 Sports Prototypes at Le Mans. In fact, most people would have seen Neil in action without knowing it - in the James Bond film 'Quantum of Solace', where his skills were employed as a stunt driver, or Top Gear where he was an occasional stand-in 'Stig' for his good pal Ben Collins. Sadly, Neil succumbed to motor neurone disease in May of 2016 at the age of 53.

Neil discovered this car, languishing in storage where it had been for 17 years, in 2009. As is often the case, this Mexico appears to have been the subject of various upgrades and modifications during its early life. It was offered for sale in 2012 and the advert in Classic Car Weekly shows the car on 'Revolution' wheels at the time, though our private collector has returned it on to its Mexico wheels for this sale. The advert (clip in the history file) explains that it had covered around 53,000 miles, was wearing a smart coat of Tawny Brown and still displayed many original Mexico features including