If you’d like a brand new Mk1 Ford Escort, legend of suburban life and of rally stage in the 1970s, or an example of the blue oval’s super-rare Ford RS200 rally special, you’re in luck. Coventry-based Boreham Motorworks have announced a deal with Ford that allows them to build new versions of these competition greats - and you can sign up now to be among the first to have one in your drive to complement your everyday Ford Focus. But your newer than new Mk1 Ford Escort will be nothing like your factory Focus, and here’s why.
Each Mk1 Ford Escort will be hand-built by Boreham Motorworks, part of the DRVN Automotive Group which also recreates Jaguar’s E-Type. Not just that, but original blueprints will be used to recreate these limited edition competition versions of the original Ford Escort. Because beyond the Ford Escort’s perennial popularity on British roads in period, this innocent little car became one of the most successful rally cars of all time, most famously winning the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally driven by the great Hannu Mikkola.
This recreated Ford Escort may not be a regular production model, but it will have proper Ford chassis numbering. Indeed, these are billed as “continuation models”, again with Ford’s consent, meaning that individual numbering picks up where production of the Mk1 Ford Escort left off when production ended in March 1975. The same goes for what will be the first Ford release from Boreham Motorworks, the recreation of the Ford RS200, built to ill-fated Group B rally regulations, which were cancelled after serious accidents. The RS200 restomod will, like the original, resemble a small Ferrari, featuring composite bodywork and four-wheel drive, with appropriate upgrades. Shorthand: it will be fast.
Original Mk1 Ford Escort rally car was pretty fast too, and the remake is likely to match that. Along with special stage successes, the modified Mk1 Ford Escort race car - complete with distinctive bubble wheel arches to accommodate race rubber and a Formula 2 power plant - dominated every series it competed in, notably winning the 1968 British Saloon Car Championship. Expect your Boreham Motorworks Mk1 Ford Escort to resemble road and rally competition titans rather than the average suburban runabout, then.
No pricing has yet been announced, so let’s take an educated guess. Ford’s official blessing means both Ford Escort and RS200 are likely to be as intricately engineered as other restomods, such as the delightful and far-from-cheap Lancia-inspired offerings from Italian specialists Kimera. We’d suggest both the Mk1 and the RS200 restomods from Boreham Motorworks are going to need Kimera money: and that’s around £400,000. Phew. But Ford collectors will be registering their interest with Boreham Motorworks already, and they’re unlikely to be disappointed.
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