Are there any unrestored fast escorts left?

[MisterH]

Now I am not a Ford fanatic, far too risky to own one and far too much scene look for my liking, however I am fond of Fast Fords as they all look quite nice. However it has struck me that there are seemingly no survivor cars left out there, with everything being subjected to "Full bare shell respray" or "Full restoration" with seemingly no original cars left in existence. I am referring here to the Escrot Mexico, RS series, and droop snoots above all really

https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_4174-Ford-Escort-RS-2000-1979.html

Any that still look like this?

 

[Dick Longbridge]

Jonny Smith found a nice boggo more door mk1 a few years back. Untouched by the modz crew.

[Isopon]

A family member owns a 2door MK1 1100l (unmodified) that is pretty much original bar a respray he did near 20 years ago. 

[sierraman]

You’ve to bear in mind though they were going rotten at 5-6 years old, then they fell into the hands of would-be Hannu Mikkolas then round about the early 90’s a Mk2 RS2000 wasn’t worth a great deal so its little wonder most have been restored. Also most sporting Escort Mk1/2 have fell out of the reach of the average working person unless they’ve had it many many years. Ones that pass hands now are likely to be between people with a lot of money to burn and consequently can fund a cheque book restoration. And why not in a sense, it’s much more useable with the various upgrades.

[MisterH]

Just now, sierraman said:

You’ve to bear in mind though they were going rotten at 5-6 years old, then they fell into the hands of would-be Hannu Mikkolas then round about the early 90’s a Mk2 RS2000 wasn’t worth a great deal so its little wonder most have been restored. Also most sporting Escort Mk1/2 have fell out of the reach of the average working person unless they’ve had it many many years. Ones that pass hands now are likely to be between people with a lot of money to burn and consequently can fund a cheque book restoration. And why not in a sense, it’s much more useable with the various upgrades.

that is very true, I have always felt that if its something that doesn't need doing, and it is done, you end up losing part of the car's history and soul. But yes I know they were built badly and its no wonder the survival rate was abysmal for what was a mass produced car. It's great they have a following now just wish some were allowed to wear their years.

If I had the money to buy one I would load it up with security devices and try dailing it, to get that weathered, but finely matured look that is impossible to fake really (unless you're handy with a scouring pad)

[goosey]

Last year we had a new book keeper start at my work who told us about her husband’s immaculate totally original RS 2000 with only 26k on the clock! 


 

 

 

imagine the disappointment when it turned out it was a MK5 😢

[sierraman]

My brother had a Mk2 1.6 Sport in about 1995. Christ knows what one would go for now, perhaps £20k. 

Using a Mk2 Escort RS2000 daily would I’d imagine be difficult, the prospect for theft is too high. Plus would you want to? Great on a summers day but getting to work in February with the crap heater, your feet piss wet through and all the grit and salt hammering away at the floors. You couldn’t leave it anywhere for a period of time that’s for sure.

Plenty of people do use old Fords daily but it would constantly be on my mind it disappearing. I do get why also you’d drop a Zetec in one at the first opportunity if you were using it daily, not that that’s a cheap proposal, but it would spare you engine work and would make it much more useable. You could still keep it looking fairly stock as well by using proper Ford bits like radiators, expansion tanks etc. 

[garbaldy]

Mine is bog standard on a 68 but as you can see the rear of the wheel arches are starting to go along with the rear of the front wing,  unfortunatly the paintwork is bad enough to need a respray so won't be standard for ever more.

[goosey]

Back in 2001 I was offered a mk1 1300 sport for £450 

I had the money but nowhere to keep it as my dad wouldn’t let me bring it home 

I mentioned to my dad what a good investment it could be type 49 shell etc but my parents just couldn’t see it, my dad said cars like that would always be worth “fuck all” 

 

[Bren]

And to think I gave £300 for a 1300e in 1991.

Having said that it was so rotten you could have inhaled it.

[Mally]

I've built a couple of Duttons out of 1600 sports.

Someone at work saw one break down one morning so I stuck my phone number under the wiper  '£100 ' now m8

[D.E]

Coincidentally, a couple of days ago I saw an RS2000 for sale that... well, isn't exactly original either, but modified and raced in the 80s and seemingly never restored or altered since. I quite like it.

https://www.schadeautos.nl/nl/schade/personenautos/ford-escort-rs-2000-rally-uitvoering-2000cc/o/1344253

[MisterH]

2 hours ago, sierraman said:

My brother had a Mk2 1.6 Sport in about 1995. Christ knows what one would go for now, perhaps £20k. 

Using a Mk2 Escort RS2000 daily would I’d imagine be difficult, the prospect for theft is too high. Plus would you want to? Great on a summers day but getting to work in February with the crap heater, your feet piss wet through and all the grit and salt hammering away at the floors. You couldn’t leave it anywhere for a period of time that’s for sure.

Plenty of people do use old Fords daily but it would constantly be on my mind it disappearing. I do get why also you’d drop a Zetec in one at the first opportunity if you were using it daily, not that that’s a cheap proposal, but it would spare you engine work and would make it much more useable. You could still keep it looking fairly stock as well by using proper Ford bits like radiators, expansion tanks etc. 

This theft paranoia is the thing that really puts me off anything to come out of Dagenham. I am worried enough with an Audi 80 B2 Sport and a Volvo 480ES, which are distinctive, and in one case quite desirable, but neither have that magnetism that fords seem to attract, and I know ownership just wouldn't be worth the worry for me. 

I forgot to add that in my scenario the car would be cavity waxed and protected, as while I like to preserve patina, preserving is the name of the game and I would definitely do that straight up. I wouldn't mind the cold as I have a rather odd view that "If people did this back in the day no problem, so will I, it isn't that hard"

 

I was born about 40 years too late wasn't I? While I haven't had it yet, I am waiting for one of my peers to one day ask where the bluetooth connection is in one of my various pieces of 20th century tat. That will be a day to remember...

[horriblemercedes]

1 hour ago, Bren said:

And to think I gave £300 for a 1300e in 1991.

Having said that it was so rotten you could have inhaled it.

To be fair, they were doing well if they made it to 1991

[Fumbler]

7 minutes ago, MisterH said:

I was born about 40 years too late wasn't I? While I haven't had it yet, I am waiting for one of my peers to one day ask where the bluetooth connection is in one of my various pieces of 20th century tat. That will be a day to remember...

I had that when taking friends in the BX. They tried to A. find the Bluetooth button and then B. find tne aux input. When they found neither, they were rather confused.

[Datsuncog]

I knew a fella who backed a rough but original MK2 RS2000 into his garage in 1988, intending to restore it - and as far as I know, it's still in there...

Must make enquiries next time I'm in the area.

[holbeck]

I'm glad I had the opportunity to own an Escort 1300e at the £500 price point. 

With the greatest of respect to the Ford pervs, I enjoyed it but wouldn't even now spend much more on one. 

[sierraman]

There’s a few Sierra Cosworths that will be original, especially if they went into collectors hands from the get go. Extremely unlikely though if like 90% of them that spent a few hours at some point doing doughnuts on an estate in Liverpool. At one point they weren’t worth much, you could have easily picked one up for £3-4K but it would have been rough and the insurance ££££

[TheOtherStu]

13 hours ago, goosey said:

Last year we had a new book keeper start at my work who told us about her husband’s immaculate totally original RS 2000 with only 26k on the clock! 


 

 

 

imagine the disappointment when it turned out it was a MK5 😢

10-15 years time, that'll be worth millions.

Just as those shitty old Mk2 escorts (which I always hated) are now worth a fortune. Never liked Mk2s. Hate the lights and the square boxiness.

[sierraman]

If you really want something of that era consider a Viva or an Avenger, much much cheaper, but obviously not got the same following. 

[MisterH]

36 minutes ago, sierraman said:

If you really want something of that era consider a Viva or an Avenger, much much cheaper, but obviously not got the same following. 

I have been led to believe the Avenger was the unsung best performer in that segment, a very competent car that no one thinks about today, am I wrong? 

[sierraman]

No idea, never driven one. A Tiger looks a formidable beast but again where are you going to find one now? If you could find a solid shell and put a decent engine in one it could be. 

[Timewaster]

In 1998 a mate had just finished a pukka restoration of a 1980 Escort 1600 sport. 

As soon as it was finished he put it up for sale to get a deposit for a house. 

We all told him not to sell, I offered £1500 with an agreement to sell it back to him when he was back on his feet. 

I think he got £2k and it was never seen again. 

[Wack]

South Africa is probably your best bet 

Some years back a mate & his wife went on a cruise that docked at Monaco just after the GP , as they left the ship they could see a crowd gathered round a car , couldn't see what it was for people , F1 car , Bugatti Zonda 

No it was an original Mk1 escort 1.1 that had probably been in the area for decades ,some old guy came out of a shop pushed his way through and drove it off.

[Timewaster]

SA Escort Sports often turn up at anglia car auction. 

You can usually spot them as they are odd colours. The last one I saw was AS beige. 

[sierraman]

The SA Fords look a decent bet, many look like they’ve seen plenty of wob and the mechanicals and interiors are tired but still an infinitely better prospect than something that’s seen 40 winters. Plus they had some different specs to us. 

[greengartside]

4 hours ago, sierraman said:

There’s a few Sierra Cosworths that will be original, especially if they went into collectors hands from the get go. Extremely unlikely though if like 90% of them that spent a few hours at some point doing doughnuts on an estate in Liverpool. At one point they weren’t worth much, you could have easily picked one up for £3-4K but it would have been rough and the insurance ££££

This is the one that springs to mind for me.

It was sat in a garage since the early ‘90s with 5000 miles on the clock, and sold recently for eleventy-billion quid.

[sierraman]

2 minutes ago, greengartside said:

This is the one that springs to mind for me.

It was sat in a garage since the early ‘90s with 5000 miles on the clock, and sold recently for eleventy-billion quid.

Problem with that it’s it’s now pretty much unusable other than as a garage ornament. Too low miles that using it will detract from it, can’t be left on its own for a moment due to it being an old Ford so it’ll have a crowd of men with necks like birthday cakes loading it on to a trailer plus its worth that much that you couldn’t use it as it was intended for fear of damaging it. 

On top of all that you’ll have to endure nasal sounding liars at car shows telling you their dad had a Cosworth, when you can tell by their general demeanour and empty recollections that they are talking bollocks. Likewise if you turned up in a nice tidy 1.6 Laser Capri, some wanker would say it’s ‘fuckin shit cause it’s not a 3.0’. Old Fords seem to attract the absolute worst of the worst at these events. 

 

[Dick Longbridge]

12 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I knew a fella who backed a rough but original MK2 RS2000 into his garage in 1988, intending to restore it - and as far as I know, it's still in there...

Must make enquiries next time I'm in the area.

Let's hope it wasn't parked in a garage block, as I'd be assuming that the garage is very much empty by now. Old fast Fordscin long-term storage tend to be 'found' even if the owner doesn't want them to be...

[Datsuncog]

44 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Let's hope it wasn't parked in a garage block, as I'd be assuming that the garage is very much empty by now. Old fast Fords in long-term storage tend to be 'found' even if the owner doesn't want them to be...

Nope, it was a stand-alone concrete garage on business premises, with a load of other cars parked in front of it; the guy who runs the business owns the RS, and he's still operating... he pulled the door up once to show me it sitting in there, said "retirement project", laughed, and closed the door again.

I catch a glimpse of the garage whenever I'm driving past, and wonder if it's still tucked away in there...