S2 RS TURBO

Zetec Turbo’d Series 2 RS Turbo ready for the B-road blast!

When it comes to taking on a retro project car like this Series 2 RS Turbo, there are three fundamental schools of thought: firstly, there are the concours purists; those that will travel to the ends of the Earth to hunt down the period-correct factory wrap for their wiring and will baulk at the idea of having the wrong colour fluid in their washer bottle on the showground. Secondly, there are those who will take the old-school base as a canvas to paint something radical and otherworldly; an unrecognisably modified example that alters the car’s very character and soul. And thirdly there are the people like Cameron Cook, owner of this astoundingly clean RS: their MO is to sneakily enhance and improve – to maintain the spirit of the car, but optimise it for modern use. This Series 2 is, in essence, the sort of Escort that Ford might put out if they were still making them today: a faster, sharper, more refined Escort. At first glance, it looks period-perfect in that factory grey paint – it’s even got the stock RS Turbo fifteen-inch alloys, along with the obligatory 4-inch aftermarket pipe that was so essential in the 1990s. But take a step closer and you’ll spot more than a few clues that this thing is slicker than the average; the carbon-fibre roof skin, the shiny intercooler with its bright blue pipework peeping through the bumper… still waters run deep.

“I’ve not actually modded many cars – this is only my second one,” Cameron admits. “I’m one for keeping hold of things for a while, I get attached to them! Prior to this I had a Mk5 Fiesta Zetec-S, which is sort of where I learned