Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2024 i Classic Ford

Show us a fast Ford fan that doesn’t love an RS Turbo! Seriously though, some cars are so intrinsically woven into the fabric of a culture, that that culture simply wouldn’t exist without it. The RS Turbo is one of those cars. It was the icon for an entire generation of modifiers back in the 1990s and early 2000s; the original king of the cruise and a tuner’s dream – or nightmare when it all went wrong and the CVH needed yet another rebuild! Times have moved on, but the appeal of a fast Ford bearing the words ‘RS’ and ‘Turbo’ is still as strong as it ever was. It doesn’t matter if you hankered after that dream car in all the advertising brochures back in the 1980s, misspent a…

“About 30 miles east of Inverness, a mile from the nearest road and a couple of hundred yards from the nearest Land Rover track lies this Windsor Grey Anglia, which is sinking slowly into a peat bog,” says Richard Wright. “It’s interesting how various bits have weathered but the chrome rear window surround was perfect! I’ve seen worse front bumpers on the road-going cars, too. The question is, how on earth did it get there?” Spotted an unloved Ford on your travels? Email photos and details to classicford.ed@kelsey.co.uk.…

Classics and custom cars delighted visitors in Hayes on Saturday May 11, all while making deep donations for Nishkam SWAT, a charity supporting the homeless and underprivileged. A glorious clear evening saw a Mk1 Cortina (below) join several German gems and Italian icons. The charity relies on hundreds of committed volunteers throughout the week for outreach services in dozens of locations. It takes the Sikh faith teaching and practice of Langar to the streets, to share food and serve humanity —Nishkam meaning ‘selfless’. Donations help fund this important operation with essential purchases, including running and maintaining a fleet of service vehicles. Founder, Randeep Singh Lall was thrilled with the event and the positive contributions. “It was a great atmosphere, with thanks to Car Audio Security and West London Classics for…

FORD FAIR STREET ELITE The show and shine competition, sponsored by Auto Finesse, brings together the best examples of the UK’s Fords, with everything from impeccably detailed restorations through to a modified track demons battling it out on the day to be crowned one of three Ford Fair Street Elite champions. DRIFT TAXIS This year, Ford Fair is stepping up its game with the introduction of an exciting new feature: Drift Taxis. Visitors will now have the opportunity to hop into the passenger seat and experience the exhilarating rush of drifting firsthand, all while being expertly guided by seasoned professionals at the helm. It’s a chance to fully immerse yourself in the adrenaline-pumping world of sideways action, feeling the intense G-forces and adrenaline surge as the car skilfully navigates each…

We first met Richie some time ago now and aside from being an all-round likeable guy, his passion for old Fords is quite infectious and he’s certainly had a long connection with them. Coming from a family of mechanics and vehicle engineers on his father’s side, entering the motor trade was a natural step for Richie to take. “I had a summer holiday job as a kid breaking Fords for spares, then later at college I learnt the principles of mechanics on Mk1 Escorts,” he recalls. “I then went on to specialise in vehicle bodywork, but I’ve always had an interest in classic cars, especially 1970s Fords.” Over the years, Richie has taken on countless old Ford projects which given his background is no surprise, but all of these have…

Turbocharging is nothing new, in fact it’s been around for over 100 years, but it’s still seen as a bit of a dark art among car fans. Granted, we all understand that equipping an engine with a turbocharger will mean that engine has the potential to produce much more power, but why? How does it all work? Well that’s what we’re going to take a look at this issue. So we popped over to Turbo Performance to pick their brains and to take apart a few turbos and peek at their innards so we can show you what‘s going on inside a turbocharger. Contact Contact: Turbo Performance 01425 545303 www.turboperformanceltd.com What is a turbo? Before we start getting too heavily involved with the workings of a turbo, let’s first reacquaint…

QUERY OF THE MONTH Boost threshold versus lag Q Can you explain the difference between boost threshold and turbo lag? Tim Jackson UK A Boost threshold and turbo lag are actually two very different things, although they are often confused, so let’s clear things up. The boost threshold is the rpm range when the engine is producing enough exhaust gas flow for the turbo to generate positive boost pressure. This can be affected by a number of factors, but generally the larger the turbo, the higher the boost threshold. This means that a larger turbo might not start producing any meaningful amounts of boost pressure until higher up the engine’s rev range when enough exhaust gas flow is being produced, but that doesn’t mean the turbo is ‘laggy’, it just means it has…

Anyone into XR Fords will recognise the name Allen Patch, “I’ve been involved in the Sierra and XR Owners’ Club scene for years,” says Allen, “more recently having the privilege of using a friend’s XR4i as well as editing the club magazine. I was spending lots of time recommissioning and improving the Sierra when my wife, Jane said, ‘why don’t you get something for yourself?’.” “I was priced out of the market,” admits Allen, “and regret having had to turn down some very special XR4is over the years — including Henry Ford Jnr’s automatic and a pre-production example. My attention turned to Cougars since I’d had one for four years in 2010 and prices weren’t as high as XRs. It wasn’t until I went with Classic Ford writer, Dan Williamson…

On the February 1969 launch of the Mk1 Capri, Ford made no secret of its intention to bless the striking coupé with 3-litre V6 power. However, when order books opened in the UK, the Mk1 was solely available with four-cylinder engines. While the Capri was missing a couple of cylinders, there was nothing lacking in the choice of four-pot motors that customers could pick from. Initially, car buyers could opt for 1300, 1300GT, 1600 and 1600GT Kent Crossflow engines, with the GT specification including a 32/36 DGV Weber twin-choke carburettor, bigger valves, more aggressive camshaft and freer-flowing exhaust. Only weeks after the Mk1’s debut and the engine line-up was strengthened with the addition of the 1998cc V4 Essex motor, which was already fitted to the Zephyr and Corsair and available…

A shared passion brings people together and when it comes to classic Fords, father and son, Chris and Nigel Trollope are a prime example. Both are working on their projects together, although they are very different kinds of cars. Chris used to have a Honda-powered Mk1 Fiesta that sadly met a bad ending, but the Escort is the replacement and this time round he’s gone for a Honda K20 with a turbo for good measure. “Ideally, I’d like around 400-500 bhp,” he reveals. “I don’t want to push the stock internals too hard though, as it won’t be treated gently.” That’s quite the contrast to what Nigel wants from his car. “A nice example of a lightly-modified yet reliable, usable classic will do me just fine,” he explains. Nigel has a long…

Clear your diary for the day on Friday, August 2 as the September issue hits the shelves featuring a fine brace of outstanding feature cars photographed by the very best photographers including this special Anglia courtesy of Adrian Brannan. All this plus a Mk2 Fiesta buyer’s guide, Mk2 Escort project, all the action from the most-recent Fiesta Of Fords event, the latest on the magazine’s project cars, and all you need to know about dampers.  Find all of the above and more in the September 2023 issue, on sale and available to download from Friday, August 2. Why not subscribe to make sure you don’t miss it? See page 76 for the latest subscription offers.…

Like all the greatest fast Ford legends, the original Escort RS Turbo had one true purpose: to win. And, just like its predecessor, the RS1600i, it was built for Group A motorsport, with 5000 road-going versions required. As always, that meant Blue Oval buyers were in for a real treat: a factory-built Escort with bundles of trick kit. Enter Ford’s first turbocharged European production car, and the world’s first front-wheel-drive to use a viscous-coupling limited-slip differential. In standard trim, using a specially cast manifold and big-bore exhaust, the RS Turbo produced 3.5 to 7.1psi boost, in turn kicking out 130 bhp at 6000 rpm. That meant 128 mph top speed and 0-to-60mph in 8.1 seconds. The RS Turbo made its debut at October 1984’s Paris motor show, with Saarlouis assembly…

For many Ford enthusiasts, the Series 2 Escort RS Turbo fell short of making the grade as a proper Rallye Sport model, mainly because it wasn’t developed for use in motorsport. Yet the Series 2 followed fast Ford tradition of the Mk2 Lotus Cortina and Escort RS2000, which combined the go-faster goodies of a homologation special with added refinement, to make an awesome, all-round performance machine. The range-topping Series 2 was launched in July 1986, five months after the rest of the Mk4 Escort line-up. Like its stablemates, the RS gained rounded styling to improve aerodynamic efficiency, with curvy nose and plastic bumpers. It followed in the wake of the successful Escort RS Turbo Series 1, a limited-edition developed around Group A regulations. This original car was equipped with a…

Think Ford RS Turbo and inevitably your mind turns to Escorts or Fiestas, but there was a car that came before any of them. The first Ford to wear a Rallye Sport badge was the 1968 Taunus RS P6 body 15m, or P7a (one year only) as 17m or 20m versions. This rare Taunus RS is owned by Jouko Halme of Kaarina, Finland. “On January 15, 1979, I bought this 1969 Ford 20m RS P7b two-door sedan from a small car dealership in Turku, Finland,” explains Jouko. “The body and interior of the car were in good condition, and I liked the exterior colour a lot. The car served me in daily use and was often on the streets of Turku on the weekends, participating in the so-called youth quarter…

JULY RS Combe July 6 Castle Combe Circuit, UK www.rscombe.com Kent’s All-Ford Show July 7 Aylesford Priory, UK www.kentsallfordshow AVO National Day July 7 Hatton Country World, Warwick UK www.avoclub.com Goodwood Festival of Speed July 11-14 Goodwood House, Chichester, UK www.goodwood.co.uk Classic Nostalgia July 20-21 Shelsey Walsh Hillclimb, UK www.classicnostalgia.co.uk XR Owners’Club National Gathering July 21 Mallory Park Circuit, Leicestershire UK www.xroc.co.uk RS Owners’ Club National Day July 21 Mallory Park Circuit, Leicestershire UK www.rsownersclub.co.uk Old Ford Rally July 21 British Motor Museum, Warwickshire UK www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk Granada Nutz Classic Car Show July 26-28 Northey Lodge, UK www.facebook.com/groups/granadanuts Festival Of The Unexceptional July 27 Grimsthorpe Castle, UK www.hagerty.co.uk AUGUST Classic Ford September issue on sale August 2 https://shop.kelsey.co.uk/classic-ford-magazine West Berks Classic Vehicle Show August 4 Newbury Showground, Berkshire UK www.newburycarshow.co.uk Coffe…

Email hi-res images to classicford.ed@kelsey.co.uk or post them up on our Facebook page.…

I was gutted to miss this year’s Classic Ford Show, as I’d been invited to bring the Sierra along in half-finished guise by the other Simon. I loved the idea too, but sadly the new all-singing, all-dancing suspension I’d bought turned out not to be a direct fit, despite coming from another Sierra. As I’d already sold the coil-overs that were on the car when I found this out, the Sierra was left up on jack stands for a few weeks when I realised the front top mounts were dramatically different and wouldn’t easily swap over to my current eccentric top mounts. On top of that, the original strut top towers made the fancy remote reservoirs sit at a funny angle that wouldn’t allow the bonnet to close. It quickly…

The year was 1981, and the great days of the Mk2 Escort in rallying were over. So how was Boreham going to continue its fight for supremacy in the gruelling rallies of the world? Rear-wheel-drive, after all, was on the way out. It looked as if all future Escorts would have transverse-engine with front-wheel-drive layouts, and, technically at least, it might be difficult to turn them into winners. In 1980 there were high hopes, but by mid-decade Boreham and its associates had turned to other models and other priorities. Thereafter, Escorts were always around, always credible, but usually overshadowed by other fast Fords dominating the top tiers of motorsport all around the world. You could argue — very loosely — that the first Escort RS Turbo to go rallying was…

1. Don’t just renew It’s all too easy to let the direct debit continue and sign up for another year with your existing insurer. Before you do though, have a look at quotes from other insurers. If they come in cheaper and you don’t want to switch, call your existing insurer, quote the cheaper prices and quite often they will be able to bring your renewal quote down to a similar level. 2. Look at classic insurance They’re often tied into Agreed Value, limited-mileage polices but classic insurance specialists can offer some great-value policies. Most class a vehicle eligible for classic insurance as being over 20 or 25 years old, but some allow exceptions for modern classics, so do your research before you dismiss a classic insurance policy out of…

Recently, we reported on how the industry was eagerly awaiting an announcement from the Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, regarding the way historic vehicles are handled by the DVLA. Now that announcement has been made, with Mr Harper launching a public call for evidence on how to future-proof classic cars and the £18 billion sector that surrounds them. Mr Harper made the announcement during a meeting hosted by the Historic and Classic Vehicle Alliance (HCVA) at Bicester Heritage on May 9. The day included a tour of technical businesses on-site and a chance for the Secretary of State to experience a selection of historic cars on the test track. In a move that could open the door for more classic EV conversions, Mr Harper said the government was…

Old Ford Rally When: Sunday, July 21 Where: British Motor Museum, UK What’s going on: The long-running Old Ford Rally always attracts a strong gathering of classic and period-modified examples from the classic era and now that the organisers have expanded the age-range to 1995, a good turnout of slightly more modern classic Fords, too. There’s always a good autojumble, and over 400 cars are usually on show in the grounds of Gaydon. Find out more: www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk…

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH 80 MM STEPPER GAUGES From £89.50 Rally Design Rally Design’s good-value, super-accurate stepper gauges include the matching 80 mm tacho and speedo. The tacho range is from 0-10,000 rpm, while the speedo reads up to 170 mph, and the latter comes with a speed sensor. Stepper motors have extremely fine step precision of about 1/2 a degree per step, 600 steps for single stepping, fast response for quick movements, and a range of 315 degrees. Their smooth motion makes good for projects that need a dial indicator, and more precision motion than you can get with a traditional needle gauge. Contact: 01227 792792, www.rallydesign.co.uk CARBON FIBRE MK2 ESCORT DASH £588 Burton Power Burton Power can supply super lightweight carbon fibre dashboards for the Mk2 Escort. Manufactured…

The Escort RS Turbo. Ford’s first turbocharged European production car, the world’s first front-wheel-drive road car to use a viscous-coupling LSD and the first Ford to bear the now-legendary RS Turbo tag. Like all the greatest Blue Oval-badged machines, the Series 1 Escort RS Turbo was built to take motorsport victories. Following the mildly successful 1983-84 Escort Turbo Rally Championship — in which 125 bhp T3 turbo kits were fitted to carburettor-fed 1.6 CVH Escorts — Ford’s Special Vehicle Engineering (SVE) began work on the road-going RS Turbo during April 1983. The idea was to produce a homologation special (5000 examples had to be built) for rallying, designed around Group A regulations. Ford Motorsport requirements were therefore pretty straightforward: suspension to handle 200 bhp, wheelarch extensions to house 8.5 inch-wide…

It’s not often we see a switch of brand loyalty, but from his teens until his late 20s, Carl was a mad-keen Vauxhall fanatic. “I had a few Corsa GSIs which I kept for years,” he recalls, “they were highly tuneable and easy to work on.” Yet, his outlook would all change when he paid to a visit to a friend’s workplace one day. “I noticed an old white car in the back of his yard,” Carl remembers, “it was covered in moss and looking quite sorry for itself.” On closer inspection, the mystery hatchback turned out to be a Fiesta XR2i. “I’d never seen this model before and instantly fell in love with the shape, blue stripes and bodykit,” Carl smiles. Coming across a neglected XR2i these days is…

Ford Live at Knockhill has always been a mainstay on the Blue Oval calendar, and this year was no different. There may have been a smaller turnout in the club display paddock than some years, but there were still plenty old school Fords to nosey around. Booming breakfast meets were one reason banded about for smaller numbers. In one way understandable as who doesn’t love a free morning meet? But a later start and the potential to see some proper track action beside a show takes the likes of this event to a different level. Also in paddock one there was the show and shine/concours competition. You don’t get owners arranging mirrors, setting up tents, taking off wheels and cleaning already pristine cars to mind-blowing levels at a cars-and-coffee-type meet.…

The Gnoo Blas Classic Car Show was once again held in Jack Brabham Park in Orange, New South Wales, surrounded by the roads that served as the Gnoo Blas racing circuit between 1953 and 1961. The show is open to all marques but there were plenty of iconic Fords on display. Sitting in close proximity were a 1964 Falcon with a wheezy 170 cubic inch six-cylinder and a 1969 Mustang Boss 429 with a huge 429 CID big block V8. It is staggering to think that the performance of Ford cars saw that much change in only five years, largely due to Ford’s Total Performance programme in the USA during the 1960s. With plenty of Falcons on show it was easy to follow the styling trends, initially from the swooping…

Craig Langley From: UK Car: Mk4 Escort “I bought this Mk4 for £750 including delivery off Facebook Marketplace,” recalls Craig. “I didn’t even view it — I just took a gamble! That was in 2020 and the engine ran OK, it just wanted a service really. The body was as it is now — just dull and dusty!” “I purchased an exhaust and suspension and got it on the road for a friend’s funeral, continued using it as it was, just changing wheels occasionally, then I sold it but bought it back four months later. “I kept toying with doing an engine swap and was going to go for a modified turbo diesel — I had three diesel engines lined up at one point but got fed up of having…

First introduced in 1966 in 2494cc and 2994cc formats, the Essex V6 engine was manufactured at Ford’s Dagenham plant until the early 1980s — hence the name! The Essex is still a legend, scoring highly on its acres of motorsport history; culminating in the lovely Cosworth GAA engine. Post-1970 engines are best for getting more power — Ford claimed 138 bhp for the standard unit, but it responds well to V8-style tuning practices, and there’s plenty of power to be had. The argument for using an Essex is similar to that of a Kent — lift the bonnet and it’s the engine that should be there, especially in something like a Mk1 Capri. Tune it properly and dress it right you have the right stuff. SAFE TECH When working on…

So how many times has this happened! Your working away on your project car, up to your elbows with a welder, filler, plans, aspirations… and suddenly, you find yourself in a position to acquire another car in better condition. This is exactly what has happened to me, and I didn’t hesitate to jump from one rusty Anglia project to a much more mintier second one! The thought of an Anglia in the fleet had seen me acquire a shell that appeared to be clean on first inspection, but the reality is there were hundreds of hours of graft needed to get it ready for road use. I had been blinded by my 30-year love affair with the 105E, and the opportunity to get one meant I had overlooked many issues…

Visitors to this year’s Goodwood Members’ Meeting may well have been surprised in several ways by this Capri. First of all, it’s peculiar to see a Mk2 rather than the usual Mk3s that like to line up on the grid; secondly, there’s the Samuri Racing livery, which most people would more commonly associate with the Datsun 240Z; thirdly, there’s the head-scratching confusion of a lesser-spotted Win Percy livery, for the storied racing legend only ran a Samuri Capri very briefly, in the 1977 BSCC season. But no-one was more surprised than the guys at Valoroso, the company that painstakingly restored this car. “The Capri was never meant to be there!” laughs Valoroso’s Matt Green. “We had actually received an entry for the Gordon Spice Trophy with our Toyota – we…

The English axle we’re using in our Mk1 Cortina project car came to us bare — just a casing and set of halfshafts. We need to sort a third-member/differential unit with a final-drive ratio that’s going to suit the purposes we want the car for. The first thing on the list then is just that — what do we want to use the car for? It’s pretty simple really — it’s more of a traditional build to see fast road and track action. It’s not meant as a motorway cruiser, but then we don’t want it to be screaming its nuts loose at 70 mph either! Especially as the gearbox will be a four-speed. We have a couple of diff units at our disposal, and it would be nice and…