Classic Ford – August 2019

“THE MK1 UNDERWENT A REBUILD TO BRING

IT BACK LOOKING AS IF IT HAD ROLLED OUT

OF BROADSPEED’S WORKSHOPS IN 1974”

78 August 2019

MOTORSPORT

CLASSIC FORDS FLAT-OUT ON THE STAGE, STRIP AND TRACK

awaited BD powerplant. The car was painted in

a 1971 Broadspeed livery with Castrol striping,

and was campaigned around New Zealand for

10 years until Paul retired the car due to the

class rules changing. Unfortunately, the playing

field had become less than even for those

running period-correct cars against others with

more modern technology.

Dusting off

For the next 13 years Paul’s Escort sat quietly in

the corner, as if unlikely to see any more racing

for the foreseeable future. Although with the

only constant thing on Earth being change,

once again the world of motorsport was doing

just that and an opportunity to dust off the Mk1

arose. There was a new class in New Zealand

motorsport gaining momentum, and it was

geared towards those classic, period-correct race

cars that were gathering dust in sheds all around

the country. The Historic Saloon Car series

stipulated that the cars must run period correct

gear to comply, so it was decided to give the

Mk1 a new lease of life. As the car was already

perfectly compliant with the rulebook, there was

not much work needed to bring it up to speed,

merely the whole car just underwent a thorough

restoration to bring it back to looking as if it was

in Broadspeed’s Southam workshop in 1974.

The Broadspeed theme was continued as Paul

already had a Mk1 Castrol Zakspeed replica in

the garage, therefore maintaining the original

theme was the logical decision. Although rather

than the 1971 Castrol stripes, the Mk1 was

freshened up with the 1974 livery run by Andy

Rouse. The motivation behind this particular

scheme was that Andy Rouse was not only a

Broadspeed driver but also mechanic, and

followed that up by becoming an accomplished

BTCC tin-top driver. When Paul isn’t running

the Broadspeed Escort, he is driving his 1993

Mazda Xedos 6 BTCC touring car, so having a

livery run by a driver who ran in both

championships clinched the deal.

The lines of the Escort are really the show-

stopping feature of this car, and are more than

enough to put a Coca Cola bottle to shame. The

Escort sports tubbed inner arches very much like

those run in 1974, allowing the larger rear rubber

to tuck seamlessly underneath the body lines.

Sitting flush under the Group 2 arches are a

stunning set of 8.5 and 10x13 magnesium Minilite

wheels, all wrapped up in Avon grooved racing

rubber. As with many iconic race cars, the wheels

aren’t merely an addition, they are an important

aesthetic component that defines the look of a car

— and you just can’t beat an Escort on Minilites.

Race compliant

The elegant simplicity then flows indoors to the

cockpit. Paul removed the original cage, and

installed a new FIA-spec cage throughout the

interior with the guise of running the car in the

UK and elsewhere in the future. Nestled

between the cage sits two period-style racing

seats laced with OMP six-point harnesses as per

the rulebook requirements. Perched in front of

the driver is a works style dashboard complete

with a Smiths chronometric tacho that redlines

at 12,000 rpm (Paul runs it to 9500), while a

suede-clad Springalex wheel allows Paul to

thread the Escort down the ribbons of Tarmac