THE FORD ESCORT AT 50
When Ford launched the replacement model for the trusty but terribly out-dated Anglia in 1968, no one could have predicted the influence the new model would have on motorsport.
Half a century after the launch of the Ford Escort Mk1, the model and its younger brother the Mk2 continue to have a huge impact on the sport; rallying in particular. The cars have won global success, brought numerous major stars to the fore and given immense pleasure to thousands of drivers and millions of fans.
More than any other car in history, including the Mini Cooper and the Audi quattro, the Ford Escort changed the face of rallying. Little wonder that the Escort was once voted the bestloved competition car by the readers of Motorsport News, outscoring epic machines like the Lotus 72 and Porsche 917 in the process.
The Mk1 Escort was launched in 1968, as a flagship popular mid-range car to replace the ageing Anglia and sit beneath the larger Cortina. Seven years later along came the Mk2, firstly under the unexciting code-name of Brenda. Though repackaged in a squarer bodyshell, the Mk2 shared much with the Mk1 including basic underpinnings, drivetrain and engine options. Both models quickly showed their motorsport potential and, while the front-wheel drive Mk3 – which appeared in 1980 – had some rallying success, it was the Mk1s and Mk2s that made the Escort a motorsport hero.
The Mk1 was an instant hit in the showrooms. In just six years from 1968, Ford produced two million Escorts and more than half of them were built in the UK at Ford’s plants at Dagenham and Halewood. Right from the start, the Mk1’s potential as a competition car was clear and, under the direction of former race and rally driver Henry Taylor, Ford’s Advanced Vehicles Operation at Boreham put the Lotus twin-cam engine from the Lotus Cortina into the Escort Mk1 bodyshell. A ZF gearbox and Atlas axle completed the package and the Escort was ready for racing and rallying. The strong engine, a wider track than the Anglia and a decent suspension set-up made it a fine package and that has helped it become a Peter Pan of rallying. Just as the Mk2, a well set-up Escort handles like a dream and begs to be driven on the lock stops. It seldom, if ever, bites back and few cars have ever delivered sideways motoring to rival the Escort.
The Mk1 was rallied by the Boreham-based team and was soon winning regularly, alongside an ever-growing number of smaller teams and amateur competitors who recognised that the rear-wheel drive, Mcpherson strut suspension concept was a winner. The Escort was successful in 1300GT, 1600cc crossflow and twin-cam variants. A very brief flirtation with the 2.3-litre V6 lump from the Granada proved that the extra 100kg hanging over the front of the car came at the cost of the car’s natural balance and that idea was rapidly filed in the bin.
In 1970, the Mk1 took one of the most important rally victories in the sport’s history when Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm won the London to Mexico World Cup Rally. This most daunting and challenging rally linked the venue of the 1966 World Cup with the host city of the 1970 tournament and Ford’s team of bored-out 1850cc versions of the Kent engine were at the head of the 16,000-mile, 38-day marathon.
It was a rally that captured the public’s imagination like few other motorsport events and it created massive global publicity, which was just as well as Ford competition boss Stuart Turner admitted that the rally budget was massively over-spent and only a victory would pacify the corporate bean counters. Four Escorts finished in the top six and the decision to use an enlarged version of the bomb-proof Kent engine rather than the more powerful twin-cam or BDA options was vindicated.
Mikkola’s London-mexico success was a huge boost for Escort sales and spawned a celebration model, the much-loved Escort Mexico. The 1600cc Kent-engined model was ideal for sporting use and one-make series were established for both racing and rallying. The competition was fierce and drivers like Tony Pond, Russell Brookes, Gerry Marshall and Andy Rouse all enhanced their growing careers in Mexicos.
For three glorious years, from 1972 to 1974, the Mk1 triumphed in the RAC Rally, the forerunner of the modern day Rally GB. The RS1600 model was introduced at the top of the range, using the 1600cc Cosworth BDA engine and Roger Clark made history in 1972 as the first British driver to topple the Scandinavians and win the RAC Rally. It was widely held that no Brit would be able to beat the Scandinavians in the forests, but Clark and Tony Mason proved the pundits wrong in LVX 942J, resplendent in Esso Uniflo colours. Timo Makinen headedclark and Markku Alen in an Escort clean sweep of the podium in ’73 and then won again in ’74.
However, the victory for Makinen and British co-driver Henry Liddon in York in November 1974 was a farewell for the Mk1 as production of the Escort Mk2 was less than a fortnight away. Generally using the same mechanicals as the Mk1, the Mk2 gave the Escort a new lease of life without really moving the goal posts in terms of concept and design. Aside from the bodyshell, the proven package was retained and the rallying success story was just as impressive.
The Pinto-powered RS2000 and Cosworth Bdg-powered RS1800 ruled the roost in rallying through the second half of the 1970s. For five years in a row, the RS1800 won Britain’s round of the World Rally Championship with Clark, Makinen, Bjorn Waldegard and double-winner Mikkola. In all, the Mk2 RS1800 won 20 rounds of the WRC across seven years at the top of the sport. Ari Vatanen