WHAT DREAMS MAY COME
When Jon Clarke was 17, he cut his motoring teeth on a perky little XR2. Fast-forward to his thirties, and he’s built the hyperactive Fiesta that his teenage self always dreamed of…
It’s very easy to go fast in modern cars. Well, that’s a flippant generalisation, it’s easy to go fast in a lot of old cars too, and many new cars are slow; what I mean is that the relentless march of consumer-pleasing in terms of soundproofing, lightness of touch and the anaesthetising of the driver experience means that the modern motorist has arguably lost a certain sense of wonder. If it’s easily achievable for any old humdrum hatchback to crack 70mph and onwards, without the driver having to hang onto the wheel for dear life and try to make their peace with the almighty as they weave between the cats- eyes, then where’s the sense of achievement?
It’s this line of thinking that led Jon Clarke to build himself a shiny, pretty Mk2 Fiesta – and not just any old Fiesta, but one that would feed into and satisfy the long-held yearnings of his youth.
“It all started when I was seventeen years old,” he whimsically reminisces, “back in the good old days of there being no speed cameras or average speed checks. I was lucky enough to be the proud owner of a red C-reg XR2! Back in the day this was a very unusual thing to own as a first car. I quickly got used to the standard 96bhp though, and was hungry for more – so it was straight to Mullets Tuners for a set of twin 40s... this is how my passion for this fun little car started.”
Jon was also once the proud owner of a G-reg Mk2 XR2, which is a pretty rare beast ( not that he realised it at the time) as there were only 200- odd registered in 1990. And you’ve probably spotted that the Fiesta sprawled across these pages is a Mk2 on a G-plate too. But don’t worry, we’ll get to that.
Now, it’s often said that you never forget your first time. Personally, my first try at driving happened in a MkV Cortina 2.3 Ghia on a French campsite – OK, I was five years old so I was actually only doing the steering while my dad operated the rest of the controls, but it left an indelible mark. Fords have had a special place in my heart ever since. And so it is with Jon – his formative driving career, back in those halcyon days of the turn of the Millennium, when the newfound skill of operating a motor-car meant that anything seemed possible, have left a Fiesta-shaped impression on his very soul.
“I am a Ford fanatic, along with my brother and close friends,” he confirms, matter- of-factly. Often the way, isn’t it? You find yourself surrounded by like minds, it’s as if the blue oval has its own gravitational pull. “In the past I’ve owned many different models of Escorts and Fiestas, and have always had a soft spot for XR2s; in September 2014 I wanted a new project… or shall we say, the feel of lots of boost fuelling that craving for adrenaline! Once a petrolhead, always a petrolhead, right? And the thought of 180mph in a Fiesta can be daunting for some…”
Enigmatic words, but this was clearly a man with a plan. Specifically, Jon wanted to build a fast, light XR2 – the sort of thing that he always wanted his first car to be. Call it fulfilling destiny, call it exorcising demons; whichever way you cut it, it’s a winning strategy. So that’s exactly what he set about doing.
“The ball was well and truly rolling by this point,” he grins. “I quickly bought two shells to act as a base for the project - one was an XR2 which I used for bits, and the other was a G-reg 1.1 Fiesta auto which is the shell that was used - a perfectly straight and solid shell that had not had a hard life. Both cars were stripped, work had commenced.” So there you go, he’d managed to find another G-plater as a donor shell, and the game was afoot.
“The shell was prepped and painted by my good friends Andy and Dave at Sprayart. biz,” Jon reveals. “The pair are fantastic vehicle finishers. The colour we went for is Viper Blue, mixed by Andy and with a secret twist. I can’t
“The car was set up by Jano at OddKidd Creations. Wow, this guy knows his stuff”