For our friends on the other side of the pond, a ’71 Ford Escort might not seem all that rare, but we didn’t get many of these MK1s over here. And if finding a left hand drive Escort on our shores isn’t rare enough, this one is an RS2000 with all kinds of fun go fast bits! It’s going to need some rust repaired, a paint job and to be put back together, but when will you find another RS2000 project on our shores? Find this one here on eBay in Elgin, Illinois with a current bid of $5,800.
If you don’t know much about the Escort, these compacts were hot little machines that dominated rally racing throughout the world for much of the ’70s. It was offered with several engines, but this car received the 2.0 liter inline four, which happens to be the same engine that could be found in the Pinto. Of course, it was retuned for the RS2000 and produced quite a bit more power than the standard Pinto engine.
The seller has lots of spare parts for this car, including a spare racing engine. After decoding the VIN, it looks like this is a Mexican market RS, which explains why the steering wheel is on the left. There’s no word on what documents are included, but it’s old enough that importing it shouldn’t have difficult, so hopefully the title is all in order. This really would be an awesome project and would be one fun weekend track car! So do you think it’s worth the work?
The 2.0 litre was used til 74 when they came out with the 2.3
both engines can be built to scream.I have a 2.3 that is really built,
and its probably putting out more hp than its displacement of 144c.u.
This car will be very fun,when done,and very scarce, over here in the states.
Very cool,neat find!
Someone who knows this car posted on another forum
that this started out as a 1300 cc car,& was intended to be a race car,
but the project stalled years ago.
Still kicking myself for not buying that Escort that I looked at
years ago for $4500.
I agree, having owned a 74 Capri V6 2.8L motor, I bumped the HP up to the 180 range, in a 2200 lb car.
There should be no shortage of videos of these in their heyday, basically dominating rally racing.
It would be a real blast
We had three cars with this engine. I understand it was German designed and has a cast iron block and head. It had a lot of low down torque but leaked oil around the engine.
However, there was one bit of brilliance that all other engine designers should follow.
The camshaft timing belt was rubber and like all such belts should be changed at set periods. The German brilliance is that the designer split the timing belt cover at the crankshaft centreline which means the cover can be removed without having to remove the crank pulley (harmonic balancer). These pulleys on other cars always present a challenge when trying to remove. On this engine it is so easy that even I replaced a timing belt out in the street with only two or three spanners when one of the family said the engine stopped. As the engine is a non-interference design nothing is damaged if the belt breaks. I wish all engines were designed with such simplicity.
The RS 2000 wasn’t introduced until 73/4 so there’s no way the I’d will match up as a 71.
The specialty versions avl in 71 would be lotus twincam (one of the last) or an early Mexico (1600 ohv as per cortina GT) or RS 1600 (with BDA engine). Any of these would fetch 5 figures easily.
Like most escorts it will have started life as a common 1100/1300 cc L or XL trim .
Then fitted with the 2.0 ohc engine & other parts.
@Madmatt – the Escort in the shape of the RS2000 was only ever fitted with the 2000cc Pinto Engine, and never the 2300cc engine.
For those looking at this car, it’s background is interesting.
First off it was never an RS2000. It started life as a humble 1300L, and the flares, Pinto 2L engine, non period correct T4 gearbox (should have been a Bullet Box in the Rs2000) and the (non-standard) rear axle were added during the initial build as race car.
It’s questionable if this is a Type 49 strengthened export shell, I suspect not as according to the VIN it is a German built EU spec. vanilla Escort shell, but close examination would determine this fact.
On the upside the flares fitted are the period steel item, well fitted, and correct period, and the shell is totally rust free – I have seen this car in person.
As an RS2000 clone it would make a great race or fast road car, but do not be fooled, as a clone it’s peak value will never exceed 30K GBP.
As an active member of the AVO Owners Club, and the owner of both an AVO built original Escort Twin-cam race car, and an Australian assembled Escort Twin-cam road car, we both love and hate clones …….
Mk1 RS2000’s run in value on the 50K to 60K GBP high side, and the Twin-cam and Cosworth RS’s Mk1’s around the 100K GBP mark. !
So clones are a love hate relationship for us. They dilute the pool of genuine cars, but they are a cheap fun way of getting the genuine item.
So let’s look in US $ terms, lets do some quick numbers. This will never fetch more than $40K in fully finished gleaming appearance. To turn this into a road or race car is going to cost between $25 and $30K for a really presentable finished car.
Anyone who is willing to pay more than $10K for this collection of interesting bits, as pretty and fun as the prospective long term finished product, is smoking their socks !
Just my 2 cents ……..
So for all, the RS2000 Pinto engined car persisted as both a Mk1 Escort, and the Mk2 (more boxy shape) well into the late 70’s. The Mk2 was distinctive in having a sort of chisel nosed front end fiber glass front end – kind of distinctive for the time.
Rarity tends to parce out the value of the cars ……
The most distinctive, and most valuable is the Mk2 RS1800 Cosworth engined cars, with total production between 200 and 300 cars, and very limited road car availability. The next most valuable cars are the RS1600 Mk1 cars, simply because these were only AVO cars, and never Oz assembled, but moderately high production figures, around 1500 to 2200 cars. Then comes the (Lotus engined) Twin-cam. These were produced in the AVO works, but around 800 were assembled from KDC in Oz, with a total production of around 1600 cars combined between AVO and Oz KDC assembled cars.
Then comes the Mexico, and RS2000 Mk1, and finally the RS 2000.
These unique, and sheer fun to run cars all share one common thread. They look good, make the right noises, have good brakes and R&P steering, are totally tail happy, cheap to modify, and can be fun to run from 105 HP in the standard Twin-cam to over 380 HP in the latest iteration of the Hart / Cosworth engine.
Can you imagine how much a handful 380 HP in a 2000Lb short chassis car could be ……….. go search Utube !
Someone dropped $16,650 to get the car.
I wonder if it is vintage eligible? Probably in a couple of sanctioning org’s, anyway.
@Craig – that is a great point, how did I miss this piece of total BS.
You are totally correct, the RS2000 was only introduced in 73 – there is no such thing as a 71 RS2000.
@Alan – whoever paid this kind of money has frankly just over invested. The only RS made in 71 was the RS1600. They switched from the Twin-cam (lotus engine) to the RS1600 (Cosworth engine) in 1970. They also made the Escort Mexico (1600 crossflow) 71 through 74.
So build it as a 71 RS2000 – I don’t think so, possibly Mexico, or use the body as a donor for an RS1600.
Not being a genuine period car, any choice made would make it a clone, severely limiting the Vintage / Classic club events that the car could be used in.
Because of the popularity of Vintage / Classic racing, they are tightening up on clones, although this may slip in purely because of it’s popularity and rarity in the US.
Look for ROGER CLARK & ARI VATANEN among others raced these in period, also they are STILL used a lot in Tarmac Rallies especially in IRELAND, seen some fitted with Mazda Turbo Rotaries, Vauxhall XE 16V, Sierra Cosworth YB amongst others! They still manage to win regularly even today, the Irish Tarmac rallying association does a 1400cc class as well as the upto 2000cc & over 2000cc classes! Look them up for more reading.
@ Mark-A – Did you actually mention Clark and Vatanen in the same paragraph with mentioning the use of a non period engine – shame on you!
Fitting anything other than a Ford based 1600 Cross-flow, Pinto based 2000, Cossie BDA, or Twin-cam, in a Mk1 is sacrilegious.
Let me try to put my point of view forward – I have had Brits come and look at my “Big Wing Escort Twin-cam” at race meetings in the US, tear up at the sight of my car. It’s embedded in Brit DNA to expect this tail happy Mk1 competition Escort to have a period appropriate FoMoCo engine under the hood, and not some modern POS.
That would be defining a Pig in sheep clothing buddy.
My 2 cents from a purist point of view – don’t recommend diluting the gene pool !
These cars are getting rare in Australia now. Ive seen a tidy 2 door go for over 20 grand not long ago. just a standard 1300 4 speed….