1979 Ford Escort RS2000

The Mk1 Escort RS2000 had proven to be a huge hit, especially in the UK and showed the potential of the idea, so Ford took the Mk2 RS2000 up market, positioning it as the performance car every young professional needed. A new deformable polyurethane nose transformed its look and gave it a distinctive, more glamorous identity but it was practical as well, reducing drag from a CD of 0.444 to 0.386.  Announced at the 1975 Geneva Motor Show, the RS2000 became the best-selling RS Escort ever made, with over 23,000 being produced at Ford's Saarlouis plant in Germany before production ceased in July 1980.  

On offer here is a genuine1979 Ford Escort RS2000 which spent its early years on the road before being purchased by its current owner in 2005, with the intention of recreating a fully prepared 'Group 4' RS2000. Maylum Motorsports of Kent were tasked with building the car to our vendor's specification and naturally the Ford was fully stripped and the appropriate body panels were replaced with X-Pack panels from Ex-Pressed Panels of Keighley. It was fitted with an Atlas rear axle and a limited-slip motorsport differential with 4:6 crown wheel and pinion, 'Group 4' half shafts, 'Group 4' hubs front and rear with 4-pot callipers accompanied by mechanical and hydraulic handbrake and discs. Braided brake and fuel lines have been fitted internally throughout with a bias pedal box and dash mounted brake balance adjustment along with front and rear coil-over suspension which have adjustable TCA and adjustable compression struts to the front and four link and a panhandle rod kit to the rear.

Motivation is provided by a 2-litre Ford Zetec with a Rick Wood-built head, Wossner pistons, steel rods, and a motorsport crank, fuelled by 45mm tapered Jenvey throttle bodies and managed by an Omex 600ECU. The engine is dry-sumped (Titan) with a 2.5-gallon boot-mounted oil tank and is fitted with a steel flywheel, HD clutch, hydraulic clutch cylinder and an RS2000 aluminium bellhousing. The engine was run in and set up on a dyno by Rick Wood, producing a documented 296bhp @ 6,400rpm, however the camshafts were designed to produce peak power at 7,500rpm so there is more scope yet. The gearbox is a Type 9 5-speed with Quaife straight-cut internals coupled to the rear axle with a Rally Design one-piece prop. Other specification details include a 'Group 4' 8mm ally sump guard, 12-gallon ally fuel tank with separate swirl pot and primary and secondary fuel pumps with an inline fuel filter, electric power steering, a Varley 'red top' battery and an Armtech hybrid battery isolator.

The cockpit is a basic competition car but is well prepared with checker-plate floors, internal fuses, Sparco circuit race bucket seats with roll-cage mounted 5-point TRS harnesses and a Lifeline 3-litre plumbed-in fire extinguisher. Now finished in Signal Yellow with 'Blue Oval' graphics, the RS looks 'the business' sitting on  X5 13" Minilites with 205 x 60 x 13 road tyres.

Offered from 15 years of ownership, this project has obviously been a 'labour of love' and the fit and finish are exceptional. We invite and encourage interested parties to come along to Race Retro and see just what can be achieved when you put your mind to it.