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This Brand-New Classic Saloon Car Champ Is the Mk1 Escort that Excels
Midway through the 1968 British Saloon Car Championship, Australian tin-top ace Frank Gardner swapped his Lotus Cortina for a Ford Escort Mk1 built by Alan Mann Racing. He won the title by almost 30 points and his red and gold-liveried machine earned its place in annals of auto racing.
Now Britain’s Boreham Motorworks is building 24 continuation cars, sanctioned by Ford, Alan Mann Racing, and the FIA. Each example will come with an FIA Historic Technical Passport, making it eligible for competition. Which is a good job, as they won’t be road legal.
What they will be is impeccable replicas of the 1968 race car, down to the hand-formed bubble arches, and front suspension that was derived from the GT40. At the rear there’s a rigid axle and Watts linkage system, while adjustable Koni dampers are fitted at each corner, but only because the original shock-maker Armstrong is long gone.
The Ford Escort Alan Mann 68 Edition was developed by reverse engineering that first race car, which was disassembled and 3D scanned so that each component could be recreated.
Of course that includes the 1.8-liter Twin Cam engine, which Boreham Motorworks has fettled within the boundaries of FIA historic regulations to muster almost 210 hp at 8000 rpm. A four-speed bullet gearbox is fitted, and braking is by discs all-round, with P16 callipers at the front and Girling NRs at the rear. Dinky 13-inch flow-formed aluminum wheels are installed, helping to keep the dry weight down to just 795 kg (1753 lbs).
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The cabin is brutally sparce, with just a pair of race seats, roll cage and fire system for company, with the bare minimum of instrumentation and trim. You’ll find no sound deadening material or any other creature comforts whatsoever, and you’ll have to pay around $400,000 to own one.
If that all sounds just a bit extreme for your Escort, then fear not, for Boreham Motorworks will also launch a road-going Mk1 this summer, with a reborn RS200 also on the agenda.
This craze is getting crazier by the minute. To cash in, I’m going to make replicas of the Rambler American I had in high school. Orders are now being accepted.