Fast Ford Frenzy
Tiny-mile Cossie and as-new RS2000 were the stars of the NEC auction
Anyone doubting the continued strength of the fast Ford phenomenon might have been gazing down at their shoes if they were watching Silverstone’s NEC Classic Motor Show sale. With a strong performance Ford offering, ranging from a Lotus Cortina MkI through to a 2011 Focus RS (and all points in between), there was a plenty to chose from.
But it was a couple of the ‘all points in between’ that really stirred the Ford enthusiasts’ emotions, particularly those looking a car with minimal mileage and in as-new order. Silverstone duly obliged with a 1980 Escort RS2000 (900 miles from new) and a 1996 Escort Cosworth Lux with just 837 miles on the clock.
Both cars were offered in the Saturday sale, the younger car being the first under the hammer. It attracted plenty of interest on both sale morning and the day before, and while many might have been just lookers wanting to see how good it really was, there were those hardened enthusiasts ripe for serious spend-up in order to acquire such a special example.
Originality is all for many RS enthusiasts, and this UK-market car delivered by the spadeful, right down to having its original tyres and – amazingly – the tripmeter reading the same mileage as the odometer.
Just two previous owners had clearly been more than careful about looking after it in every respect. The body and paint were almost as new, but it was the underside – still carrying its original Waxoyl coating – that would have been the clincher for many bidders. No surprise, then, that it made £91,125.
The 1980 RS2000 sported an equally clean underside. The bodywork and paint were factory fresh, but being white it was all-too-easy to dismiss it merely as a very good example. A closer look at the shutlines showed that this was more than the average pretty tidy, restored car, however.
Inside the as-new theme continued. The chocolate brown interior was dealer fresh, the seat facings showing no signs of wear, but once again it was the floorpan and wheelarches that saw would-be bidders on their knees, torches in hand, taking a closer look.
Plenty of people in the classic world know the performance Ford segment is very particular about originality, and the opportunities these two RS Escorts offered are unlikely to be repeated any time in the near – or distant – future.