THE FORD ESCORT continues to rise in popularity for rallying, 42 years after its first event. And if you’ve ever heard the other-worldly howl of a Cosworth BD-series in a forest, you’ll know why. The old post-historic cut-off date of 1975 excluded MkIIs, but when the rules allowed cars up to 1981, they became eligible – and that opened the floodgates for new examples to be built.

Bearing in mind that vehicles have to run essentially as they did in period, under the mantra ‘prove it or remove it’, here’s what it takes to build the most competitive historic rally car ever. We’ve concentrated on the MkII but most information applies to the MkI, too.

Bodyshell
More MkIIs were built than MkIs, and as they’re slightly younger they’re marginally less rusty. ‘We source all our shells from places like Cyprus, Greece and Germany, where they were originally built,’ says Mark Solloway of Historic Rallysport, which is currently completing its 40th and 41st customer Group 4 Escorts. ‘UK shells just aren’t good or straight enough.’

Historic rally regulations now allow welded-in cages with up to 14 attachment points for extra safety, but the HRCR, organising club of the British Historic Rally Championship, still rigorously polices too-modern features deemed to be an advantage, such as large transmission and exhaust tunnels. All panels are still available from specialists; the price of a fully prepared, rollcaged and painted shell from HR is £14,000 plus VAT.

Engine
Top-running cars use 2-litre alloy-blocked Cosworth BDGs, running Weber 48DCOE carburettors and making about 260bhp at around 8000rpm to retain some driveability in the forests. Price for this is £23,000 plus VAT including clutch, or about £4000 cheaper using aftermarket components. These will need a rebuild after about 1500 stage or testing miles, so that’s effectively every season, at £3000-6000 plus VAT depending on how many parts are needed. Solloway says: ‘The bottom ends are bulletproof – we’ve run them on the London-Sydney – but the top ends wear.’  A cheaper option is the Pinto engine, as fitted to RS2000s; these run in a different category, and can use Warrior twin-cam heads which are period-eligible.

Transmission
The ZF five-speed is the homologated option to the original four-speed (which isn’t strong enough) and universally used; they’re very tough, but the bad news is that they are virtually impossible to buy, secondhand ones being like gold dust. Luckily, Elite Racing Transmissions is making new ZF reverse-compatible ’boxes and parts. Price for either a new Elite-ZF or a worn original is about £6000: expect it to last two or three seasons between rebuilds. Rear axle is the Atlas with limited-slip differential: £5000 including brakes.

Escorts were homologated with either 13in or 15in wheels (which in practice nobody uses because on 15in wheels the car can’t change direction so fast) and not 14in. For UK historic rallying, a maximum rim width of 7in is allowed, with 185/70x13 tyres the biggest permitted. This is a bone of contention among competitors, as a quick MkII quickly vaporises its rears on tarmac. In mainland Europe, up to 9in-wide rears are allowed.

Suspension and brakes
One of the reasons the MkII is superior to the MkI is that the rear axle’s location and geometry are better than the latter’s because it can use ‘long-link’ suspension.

‘A MkI has to use short links,’ says Solloway. These forward-facing links pick up where the back seat used to be and stop the axle tramping under the massive onslaught of power and torque on rallying’s typically loose surfaces. Sideways axle location is looked after by a Panhard rod or, more usually, a Watt linkage.

At the front, though, the homologation papers specify only ‘MacPherson struts with coil springs’ as original. In practice, UK competitors use Bilstein struts or inserts, with Reigger (which makes the kit for current WRC cars) allowed in mainland Europe. Either compression struts or tension struts at the front are permitted. Brakes are AP four-pots up front, with twin calipers on either vented or solid discs at the back. Add another £4000 to the tab for this lot.

Summary
Just remember the Escort is the most competitive rally car in historics, surpassing the dominance of the almost universal Porsche 911. ‘It’s from the golden era of rallying, and that’s why everybody wants one,’ says Mark Solloway.

So, be prepared to stump up the money: a ready-to-go car is around £100k, of which £65,000 accounts for parts. And if you elect for a ‘ride-and-drive’ package, budget for £5000 a rally.