1974 Ford Escort 1300 MK1

It is difficult to imagine a Stage Rally in the early seventies without the Mark 1 Ford Escort. Those of us who put up with the really early morning starts and the trudge through dank woods over ankle-twisting tree stumps in order to get as close to the action as possible were often rewarded with the sight and sound of Escorts doing what they do best. You could hear them way before you saw them, the cacophonous howl of a BDA at 10,000 revs screaming for more cold air, would echo up through the pines and then, suddenly, a pair of bright headlights on the outside of four seven-inch Cibie Oscars would burn a hole in the mist and then past, only inches away, the exhaust resonating in your chest as your internal organs vibrate in sympathy, and if you were really lucky you would get showered in gravel as well. Addictive.

This, well presented Escort was originally manufactured in 1974 but lives on as a purpose built, tarmac spec club rally car.

The initial build was carried out by an ex-Gartrac engineer and the car was fitted with a full cage, seam-welded, Group 4 alloy wheel arches, alloy fuel tank is alloy sitting on a lightened tank support, and a fibreglass bonnet and boot, Suspension is by means of a four-link, Panhard rod, and gas coil-over rear setup, with Bilsteins on the front. Competition brakes with AP Racing callipers all round are in charge of the stopping department.

The car is fitted with an all-steel, 1300 BDH (BDA) engine which has the benefit of a dry sump oil system and is fuelled through twin 45 Webers. An earlier dyno printout, which is with the car, indicates that it was producing 147.2BHP and 96.3lb/ft at the flywheel at that point. A heavy-duty AP twin-plate hydraulic clutch is mated to the 'Tran-X' (Type 9), 5-speed, straight-cut gearbox with an RS2000 bell housing, and at the rear, the power is distributed through a fully floating 'Atlas' axle with 'ZF' LSD and 5.8:1 CWP.

Inside, the car has been prepared as you might expect with a bespoke dashboard containing the appropriate instruments and an accessible fuse board with 'pop-out' fuses supplied by a competition wiring loom. All the fuel, oil, and extinguisher lines are run internally. The pedal box is biased and the navigator's foot brace is heavy duty light alloy. We understand that the bucket seats and harnesses are now out of date for competition use.

This is a good entry-level rally car with an MSA Logbook. The preparation and build appear to have been done to a high standard and the Diamond White paintwork is in generally very good shape, apart from the inevitable small battle scars, however, a little fettling and some updates on the safety equipment would transform this car. BDA engined, Mark 1 Escorts will undoubtedly have a long future in Historic Rallying and at this guide, TPU 534N could offer a sensibly priced entry into the club.