1980 Ford Escort RS 1800

After a successful period competing in rallies in the sixties with the Mk 1 and Mk 2 Cortinas, the Ford Motor Company took a leap forward by building the Escort Twin Cam seeking eligibility for international rallies. The car was an immediate success with Roger (Albert) Clark at the wheel, winning the 1968 Tulip, Circuit of Ireland and Acropolis Rallies in quick succession. In 1970, the engine was upgraded to a 16 valve BDA, officially homologated at 1,601 cc to allow eventual enlargement to 2 litres with an alloy block in 1972. In this specification, the car won three RAC Rallies in succession, one by Clark, and two with the first of the 'Flying Finns', Timo Makinen at the wheel.

A major revamp in 1975 introduced the new shape Mk 2 Escort but the mechanicals remained significantly unchanged. Nothing could stop the success of the Escort RS in rallying and the next five RAC Rallies, making eight successive wins, were won by Makinen, Clark, Bjorn Waldegard and Hannu Mikkola. Just as the car was getting to the end of its production life yet another famous Finn, the legendary Ari Vatanen, won the World Rally Championship in a car run by David Sutton Cars.

It was not just the works Ford team that was successful in Mk 2 Escorts, as virtually every British privateer driver used an Escort and it was to become the most successful rally car in the world. During the eighties and nineties four-wheel drive cars took over in rallying but from the mid-nineties, specific events were organised to allow competitors who still had earlier Escorts and other Historic cars to compete, and soon there was a huge revival in this branch of the sport with, again, the Mk 2 Escort being the car of choice. Events in the hugely successful British Historic Rally Championship often get entries of up to 80 cars of which 75% are Escorts and half of those are fitted with the fabulous Cosworth designed, two litre BDG engine.

The car for sale here, recently driven by Matt Edwards from North Wales, is without doubt, the most successful in the last few years. It was originally owned by Baz Jordan and had a Holbay engine but this engine gave up the ghost on Matt's first event. After this, famous Escort guru Geoff Jones took over the preparation of the car in his workshop near Machynlleth in West Wales. Geoff is not just a builder of cars, but a hugely successful driver who does test and development work for many teams throughout the world, and his first step was to order a BDG engine from Paul Gardner Engines in Lancashire. Anyone, even slightly interested in rallying, knows the unmistakable sound of the high revving BDG engines which now produce up to 275 bhp but this particular engine was set up to sacrifice a little power in exchange for mid-range torque and drivability.

Jones then spent some time on the suspension and used his expertise and years of knowledge to make small modifications which resulted in a car, that those who have driven it, say handles and stops like no other Escort they have experienced. One of the toughest British rallies in many years was the RAC in 2014, specifically on the first night with fog and slippery roads, and Matt was in no doubt that his 58 second lead after only twenty minutes of competition was largely down to Geoff providing a car that did everything required in the most difficult conditions.

This car is fitted with a close ratio, straight cut Rocket type gearbox with zero competition miles since a full rebuild by John Roberts, who also rebuilt the Atlas axle with a 5.1:1 ZF differential and the axle has less than 250 miles of competition use since then. The Gardner engine has only had nine hours competition use so has plenty of life before a rebuild is required. New front discs and pads have also been fitted.

Before its last event the car, which has a full historic specification, welded-in roll cage, was treated to New Forest arches and a complete respray and was fitted with a new RSD professional wiring loom. Seats and belts are in date currently but will need to be replaced for the 2017 season.

Matt is only selling the car as he is intending to compete in the 2016 British Rally Championship for modern cars. For anyone who wants to move into Historic Rallying for the first time or move up to the top class and wants a car to help them to do this, this Escort must be the car to purchase. A small spares package will be supplied with the car.

Geoff Jones is more than happy to continue looking after the car and deliver it to and from events, and Matt, who is an experienced rally instructor, will provide one day's help and support at a test day to enable the new owner to be fully up to speed before the first competitive event.