1974 Ford Escort Mexico Replica - Restomod

About as iconic as a car can be, the MK1 Escort paved the way for the sporty family two door car, the old adage of win on Sunday and sell on Monday was certainly still hard at work in the 70’s following on from the great success of the Lotus Cortina, the Escort Mexico created adoring fans all over the world. This car started life as a 1300, which had the correct body lines, but not the grunt or beef to withstand said grunt.

 

Thankfully this little peach has been subjected to some super enthusiastic ownership (its current owner has built a full carbon fibre E30 M3 from scratch on his own too, to give some context!), so no stone has been left unturned. The floor pans were replaced, but somewhat unbelievably the only part that required attention, as he chose a very tidy shell, as can be seen in the boot, it’s all original! He then added all of the type 49 strengthening bar the boot area, to make sure it would be able to cope with the planned power unit.

 

Turn the key and the cammed Duratec engine fires up with ease. Breathing through the Jenvey throttle bodies, it makes all of the right noises and produces a rather savage punch to boot! All 262bhp as tuned by Emerald themselves really does get the car moving at a surprising rate. Feedback from the original RS steering wheel is sublime and adjustable too, as the power steering can be fettled with the re-used choke knob – genius!

 

The car rides and handles very well too, no spine jarring and crashiness here, smooth and confident handling reign supreme. Even coming to a rest in double quick time thanks to the Wilwood four pot callipers. This is a very impressive package all round, if you’re after a fast, useable, classic Ford, look no further – I bet you won’t find a car that drives any better than this. It also looks fabulous, with the details taken care of, paint, interior all in fabulous order, whilst retaining some patina where possible, the perfect resto-mod?

I’m sure the eagle eyed will have spotted that very little is original, bar the shell, but all of it has been done so well, it is nicely in keeping with tradition. The rocker cover coating, adjustable steering weight via the choke knob, the original gear knob re-tapped to fit the Mazda 5 speed box, bias box for the pedals, with dual circuit and a hydraulic clutch, all of the modern performance parts are there, but oh-so neatly hidden!

 

The list of upgrades is so extensive it won’t fit in to this advert. Suffice to say that every single one is noticeable and the way that the car responds to your inputs is sublime. Absolutely no expense has been spared in the quest to make this the best driving experience ever for a MK1. A short list of the main upgrades are as follows:

 

262bhp Duratec on cams

Jenvey throttle bodies

Emerald K6 ECU

Wilwood brakes

5 speed box

Quick rack

Power steering

Plated LSD

Custom manifold & exhaust

Emerald Wiring loom

All cables and wires tucked

Roll top seats retrimmed

Hidden cut-off switches for safety

 

In order to be able to let the hammer fly, the car has been serviced in preparation for its new owner, so all you need to do is turn the key and enjoy!

 

 

 

TOTAL NUMBER OF PREVIOUS OWNERS: 8

TRANSMISSION: 5 speed manual

ENGINE CAPACITY: 2.0L

ENGINE SPECIFICATION:

2.0L Duratec on Emerald K6 ECU, Newman Cams, Jenvey 48mm throttle bodies, Bosch green giant injectors, steel rods, forged pistons, adjustable FPR & full stainless manifold & exhaust system.

POWER:   262 hp

PRICE: £44,995.00 – Open to sensible offers

 

 

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