Classic Ford – August 2019

MK2 ESCORT

32 August 2019

What better car to take to the rolling lanes

for a summer road trip than a fully-loaded

RS2000 with all the competition trimmings?

This RS icon ensures plenty of adventures

along the way, and that ready power and

poised chassis keep a smile plastered across

Jeremy’s face mile after mile. “I’m a member

of the Devon RSOC, and run another club

called Obviously Ford, so it goes to shows all

over the country,” he says. “People’s

reactions are amazing and it makes all the

hard work worth it! Some of the club

members tease me with their air-con and

mod-cons at some of the baking hot shows,

but I’ve driven this car all over the place

without issue and it’s always great fun.”

That’s the power of a properly built Escort

— look after it, and it’ll look after you.

ROAD-

TRIPPIN’

DRIVEN, NOT HIDDEN

— thinking it would be a cheaper option...” Of

course, as we well know there are no cheap

options with Mk2 Escorts, but it was never

Jeremy’s intention to cut corners. Indeed, a

visit to Historic Motorsport South West was

all it took to convince him that a rally-inspired

fast-road build was just the ticket.

“I sold off the spares I wouldn’t be needing,

which netted £1449 — meaning I’d paid just

£51 for my RS2000,” Jeremy grins. “The car

then went to Historic Motorsport to have the

link boxes, rear tubs, turrets and Watt’s towers

fi tted. At this point I was offered an accident-

damaged Focus ST170, so I snapped that up for

the engine and put the rest on up for sale. I

couldn’t believe how much of it sold, so I ended

up buying another ST170, and another, and

another... selling these parts was buying the bits

I needed for the RS!”

Wheeling and dealing like a true Delboy

helped pay for the body repairs, which is just as

well as it needed a lot: sills, fl oorpans, strut tops,

front tubs, gearbox and diff tunnels, wings, slam

panel, and even a roof skin. The aim was to

“WHEELING AND DEALING HELPED PAY FOR THE BODY

REPAIRS — JUST AS WELL, AS IT NEEDED THE LOT...”

Six Cibie Oscars dominate the now-fl atfront RS’s front

end — perfect for tackling the lanes at night.

Link boxes mean the rear seat assembly had to go

— but who wants back seat drivers, anyway?

Diddy Cibie now serves as an extra reversing lamp

(as long as Jeremy remembers to remove the cover...).

Superlights sit under a pair of Ralloy’s front

Tarmac arches designed for 15 inch rims.