OUR CARS – NICK
NICK DIDN’T TRY TO BE A TREND SETTER WITH HIS ESCORT VAN PROJECT, BUT IT SEEMS THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENED
ESKY VAN LOOKS SMART
WHEN I decided to sell my rock-concert tour programs at auction some years ago, I was hoping to pick up a few extra shekels to put in t he bank, but the bonus education I got from the auctioneer might have been t he rea l benefit. Considering t hat t he Beat les were probably t he biggest band in t he histor y of t he English-spea k ing world and as John Lennon pointed out, arg uably ‘more popular than Jesus Christ’, I was surprised when adv ised that Led Zeppelin would net double t he dolla rs, while t he quirk y but comparatively obscure Frank Zappa might make even more . His reasoning was simple…
You see ever yone kept t heir Beat les memorabilia, they knew they were the next big t hing, t hus your tour program from 1964 can be replaced in a heartbeat whereas Led Zep was considered a here-today, gone-tomorrow outf it, not wit hstanding t heir rock and roll prowess.
And there my friends is t he secret to t his appreciating asset, t he Ford Escort Mk II blind van. We a ll threw them away when they were worthless, rusting, slow and outsized by Falcon vans, or t he might y, ultra-cool Sandman.
So when I purchased my van on eBay in 2011 I was an unknowing pioneer of the coming of age of the Escort van. An impulse-buy you might t hink, but actua lly far from it. I had wanted a blind van for some time. The key point t here is ‘blind’. No side-windows for me – it had to be just t he way it
"WHAT BETTER THERAPY IS THERE THAN TO TAKE A MONTH OFF AND GET ON THE TOOLS?"
came from t he factor y.
The excuse for the van purchase was a lready hav ing a Mk II tarmac-ra lly car. The van could be the ser v ice crew car, I t hought. How ver y Ford works team that would look, and it was t he same colour as t he ra lly car. Well a lmost. Noddy (as he is af fectionately k nown) is Ford Pine n Lime or code-P, whereas the pure yellow t int of t he ra lly car might be ca lled Egg Yolk.
In August 2011 I had just been made redundant from my job, follow ing t he sa le of the dealership I managed in t he Barossa Valley. This was tota lly unexpected and mortally wounding so what better t herapy is there than to ta ke a month of f and get on t he tools in your loca l paint and panel shop to turn your rough and ready new acquisition into t he team ser v ice crew van? As luck would have it, I was able to work with a group of loveable lunatics in Neil, Ash and Dave from Dave Adler spray painting in nearby Gawler. I enjoyed ever y moment of my induction to paint and panel in t heir mentoring env ironment.
Escort vans var y in condition from not bad to not even worth a look. Where a sedan or coupe might suf fer t he not
unusual rust in t he doors or f loor, vans can display t he added af f liction of r ust in t he roof gutters making them beyond redemption for even the most die-hard restorers. Fortunately, mine was a walk in the park compared to most.
There was a dent in the right-hand rear and rust in both doors. The right hand was f i xable, but I searched high and low for a left-hand door to prov ide a simple solution to t he rot. Used body panels for Escorts are becoming increasingly hard to f ind and for a van you will struggle, ot her t han an odd number of rear doors for sa le on socia l media. Mk II vans are a hybrid product of a manufacturer making the old new with the absolute smallest tooling cost.
A Mk II van is Mk 1 From the plenum panel back. The bonnet is the same as a Mk II coupe or sedan,
“THE EXCUSE FOR THE VAN PURCHASE WAS MY MK II TARMAC RALLY CAR. THE VAN COULD BE THE SERVICE CREW CAR I THOUGHT, HOW VERY FORD WORKS TEAM THAT WOULD LOOK”
as is t he front panel and radiator support, but t he front guards are an entit y unto themselves. They are neither Mk 1 nor Mk II. The rear end of t he g uard f its the Mk 1 plenum and door while t he front edge has to mate up with the Mk II front panel and grille. But here’s t he k icker: So, you t hink t his is a modified Mk II guard, well maybe not. Where a Mk II front g uard widens at t he crease line, t he Mk I- guard narrows and so does the Mk II van. So as fa r as I can tell, Ford built a new model van with the addition of one new panel. Prett y t hrif t y, eh?
Grille and headlights were swapped from square to round to match the tarmac car and a pair of the original Ford Rally Pack driv ing lights was f itted. Bumpers had to be black of course and I cut t he front bar into sections and made my own bumperettes. The interna l cargo barrier was all my own work as you won’t f ind t hese at your loca l reta i ler. Minilite-st yle wheels were f itted to match t he look of t he ra lly car and I even f itted some black race-st yle seats. Yes, we a ll had a good laugh about the race seats in t he van. The orig inal 1600 crossf low st ill remains, a lbeit wit h a litt le