ESCORT 1600 SPORT REP
Laurel Green Mk2 is a fitting tribute.
Aheartfelt tribute can be a wonderful thing. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as the old cliché goes, and the world is jam-packed with people and places paying tribute to the things that inspire them. When notable art forgers are arrested, they usually claim that their efforts are in tribute to their creative heroes rather than trying to steal a little of their reflected glory, and you can see the logic of that (even if it’s not always strictly true). The glimmering city of Las Vegas is so enamoured of global architecture that it features its own replica Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Egyptian pyramids, and even a little Statue Of Liberty. And there’s another Statue Of Liberty replica in Kosovo; Thames Town near Shanghai replicates much of London; heck, in Virginia there’s even a copy of Stonehenge made entirely of foam. It’s called, as you might imagine, Foamhenge. A little respectful borrowing is what keeps creativity vibrant and alive — this sort of behaviour is effectively a dedicated real-world version of clicking Facebook’s Like button. Wear your influences on your sleeve, that’s the key.
The car you see here is a very real embodiment of this train of thought, at the same time fusing a sort of greatest-hits melange of parts that acts as an exercise in anti-concours. Paul Yeomans isn’t actively trying to convince anyone that this splendid Mk2 is a genuine 1600 Sport, because it hasn’t been built for peacocking. No, the roots of this project are extremely deep and emotional.
“My mother passed away in 2003, and I wanted something to do with my dad, so I bought the car in late 2007 without him knowing,” he explains. “I had it dropped off round the corner from his house and drove round to surprise him. I’d always liked Escorts, I used to walk past a few on the way to school when I was young, and this felt like a great project for us to work on together.”
Getting stuck in
As-bought, the Mk2 was a completely stock and rather basic 1.1 model, which had been off the road for around a decade. It was reasonably solid and complete, and Paul and his dad had the car road-worthy in no time, addressing a few functionality issues and treating it like a rolling resto. Some minor rust repairs and attention to the wings was required, but on the whole it was a decent shell; Paul rattle-canned the front wings and it was looking pretty decent from the 10 metre mark. With the brakes renewed, some new dampers and smidge of lowering, the Escort happily sailed through its MoT. Good vibes positively flowed through the project. Well, for a few months anyway.
“It wasn’t long before the 1100 engine gave up,” he says. “Now, I’m not a mechanic or anything like that, and neither was my dad — we just had a go and worked things out as we went along. We bought an engine crane and got stuck in!”
With a fresher 1600 motor sourced, a new carb and an Ashley exhaust were stirred into the mix, and the plucky duo once again found that everything was turning out rather well. The engine may have all of about 80 bhp, but the joy is in the achievement rather than the boast, and this was an impressive feat that they’d achieved together just by trying their luck. Buoyed by the results, Paul then tracked down a full interior from Sweden from an Escort that was being stripped as a rally project; the vivid green hue is far more exciting than this car’s original beige, and the act of swapping it in was supremely satisfying.
“At that time I also fitted an RS2000 five-dial dash,” he continues. “The threespoke steering wheel cost me a crate of beer — and those vinyl roof trims that are silly money now? A guy in Finland posted a set to me for free when he took his vinyl roof off. With the vinyl roof installed, I then fitted quarter bumpers, overriders, spotlights, and the rear spoiler and chin spoiler. Then, last year, I had the gold 1600 Sport decals fitted, just because I’ve always liked the look, and that really finished it off. DMB Graphics supplied and fitted the decals, and this photoshoot is actually on the farm next to Dave from DMB’s house.”
Working together
Throughout the rebuild, a keen eye has been kept on the details to ensure it’s all matching up to the vision of period-upgrade cohesion in Paul’s head. This extends to a host of upgrades throughout the chassis, encompassing the Hi-Spec front callipers, the home-brew servo retrofit (“I temporarily extended the old brake pipes to fit and haven’t got round to replacing them properly yet…”), the thorough polybushing, and the lowering blocks and single-leaf springs. Nothing mould-breaking or radical, but rather a taster-menu approach of greatest hits.
“I had the body repainted in its original Laurel Green,” says Paul. “It’s not perfect, but it’s tidy and I don’t have to worry every time I go anywhere that it might get scratched. And I fitted a set of Capri Laser wheels; they look nearly the same as Escort RS2000 wheels but they’re loads cheaper… although people who know Escorts point
“WE’RE NOT MECHANICS WE JUST HAD A GO AND WORKED THINGS OUT AS WE WENT ALONG”
them out straight away!” That’s all par for the course with old Fords, of course, and the intention here was never about aesthetic or mechanical perfection, but perfection of a more spiritual kind. Something which was thrown into focus a few years down the line.
“My dad became ill in 2015,” Paul explains. “When it was time for him to come home from the hospital, I’d been going home after visiting him and replacing the rear wheel cylinder and brakes in the freezing cold at 10 pm, and sorting out anything else it needed for the MoT; I got the MoT on the Thursday and picked him up on Friday, and we got to use the car a few more times together before he passed away. So this car’s got some great memories for me now.” Much as Paul had initially planned, this project served to be a wonderfully collaborative effort, a sort of automotive therapy, and this is a thread which will continue into the future. He has his own son now, a little chap who loves being taken out in daddy’s old green car, and you can be sure that the lessons learned and memories made will filter down and continue to renew. Paul has a few plans for the Mk2, including a little more power and a set of 7 inch Alleycats that are sitting in the garage, but for the moment this oh-so-green Escort is fulfilling its brief perfectly. A heartfelt tribute, not just to an iconic car model, but to a formative generation.