RE: All-new Mk2 Ford Escort in development
Discussion
ChevronB19 said:
grumpy52 said:
Cooking in old parlance was the warmed up version of a car . Many did "cooking" versions of cars it was a discription. Brabham Vivas were the cooking version of a Viva , Lumo did cooking versions of Capris , the Cooper and Cooper S were the cooking versions of minis .
As for the great handling of the MK2 , the modern developed versions certainly do handle pretty well .
They certainly weren't the best back in the day , they required a lot of stiffness adding to the shells to give a stable platform . They became very popular and had loads of development work for competition. Things like the Avenger, Chevette and Viva/Firenza were better base cars but were never developed as much and were nowhere near as popular.
300+ bhp in a sub 1000kg package that is very controlable on tarmac make them still very competitive on smooth surface events .
Nope, ‘cooking’ is the base model. Derived from when people used to/still do use cheap wine for cooking.As for the great handling of the MK2 , the modern developed versions certainly do handle pretty well .
They certainly weren't the best back in the day , they required a lot of stiffness adding to the shells to give a stable platform . They became very popular and had loads of development work for competition. Things like the Avenger, Chevette and Viva/Firenza were better base cars but were never developed as much and were nowhere near as popular.
300+ bhp in a sub 1000kg package that is very controlable on tarmac make them still very competitive on smooth surface events .
And more on topic (me, not you) I was at Barbon hillclimb at the weekend where a Sunbeam (I think a Ti, albeit fully prepped) annihilated all the saloons. Escorts are brilliant, I love them, but value for money wise a Sunbeam is the way to go (in my opinion of course)
jason61c said:
GBS? Same as the old robin hood sports cars? Or one of the worse kit car makers in the country still?
Can’t be sure but aren’t GBS in Nithall Nottingham?Robin Hood sports Cars used to be on my old beat in Mansfield Woodhouse iirc?
Always remember a traffic cop friend of mine going to ‘visit’ them following a serious RTA sand the owner wouldn’t open the gates to let him and speak (although I’m sure, knowing my mate, that he prevailed).
As an aside, re the coupe/saloon thing, didn’t Aston Martin used to call their 1970’s V8 a ‘saloon’ even though they were patently what I would call a coupe....?
Julian Thompson said:
ChevronB19 said:
grumpy52 said:
Cooking in old parlance was the warmed up version of a car . Many did "cooking" versions of cars it was a discription. Brabham Vivas were the cooking version of a Viva , Lumo did cooking versions of Capris , the Cooper and Cooper S were the cooking versions of minis .
As for the great handling of the MK2 , the modern developed versions certainly do handle pretty well .
They certainly weren't the best back in the day , they required a lot of stiffness adding to the shells to give a stable platform . They became very popular and had loads of development work for competition. Things like the Avenger, Chevette and Viva/Firenza were better base cars but were never developed as much and were nowhere near as popular.
300+ bhp in a sub 1000kg package that is very controlable on tarmac make them still very competitive on smooth surface events .
Nope, ‘cooking’ is the base model. Derived from when people used to/still do use cheap wine for cooking.As for the great handling of the MK2 , the modern developed versions certainly do handle pretty well .
They certainly weren't the best back in the day , they required a lot of stiffness adding to the shells to give a stable platform . They became very popular and had loads of development work for competition. Things like the Avenger, Chevette and Viva/Firenza were better base cars but were never developed as much and were nowhere near as popular.
300+ bhp in a sub 1000kg package that is very controlable on tarmac make them still very competitive on smooth surface events .
And more on topic (me, not you) I was at Barbon hillclimb at the weekend where a Sunbeam (I think a Ti, albeit fully prepped) annihilated all the saloons. Escorts are brilliant, I love them, but value for money wise a Sunbeam is the way to go (in my opinion of course)
Great to see a project like this - I hope it works out.
If I had that sort of money for a toy I might even be tempted. My MK2 RS2000 with stiffened & lowered suspension was the best handling car I've owned by a long way - even though I've had plenty more RWD cars since!
Shame they aren't using the MK1 shell though - to me it looks so much better.
Slightly off-topic but a year or 2 ago there was a documentary on TV about Michael Dunlop, and some of the footage was shot in his garage where he had the fairings off all his winning bikes hanging on the walls - and in pride of place a MK2 Escort that looked quite similar to this. If he's got one, there must be something special about them!
If I had that sort of money for a toy I might even be tempted. My MK2 RS2000 with stiffened & lowered suspension was the best handling car I've owned by a long way - even though I've had plenty more RWD cars since!
Shame they aren't using the MK1 shell though - to me it looks so much better.
Slightly off-topic but a year or 2 ago there was a documentary on TV about Michael Dunlop, and some of the footage was shot in his garage where he had the fairings off all his winning bikes hanging on the walls - and in pride of place a MK2 Escort that looked quite similar to this. If he's got one, there must be something special about them!
Julian Thompson said:
Sunbeam gets under your skin like almost no other car. It’s a crazy, crap, but brilliant thing with contrasts and contradictions everywhere. The most rubbish car ever made and also one of the best balanced, most feelsome chassis with (in lotus form) a cracker of an engine. An absolute enigma and I can’t understand why after 1981 they are still available to buy for £2.50 when escorts etc went crazy. It doesn’t make sense!
Think you’ll find that sorted Lotus Sunbeams are £30k and up.Superleg48 said:
Julian Thompson said:
Sunbeam gets under your skin like almost no other car. It’s a crazy, crap, but brilliant thing with contrasts and contradictions everywhere. The most rubbish car ever made and also one of the best balanced, most feelsome chassis with (in lotus form) a cracker of an engine. An absolute enigma and I can’t understand why after 1981 they are still available to buy for £2.50 when escorts etc went crazy. It doesn’t make sense!
Think you’ll find that sorted Lotus Sunbeams are £30k and up.
I haven’t checked prices for a while. I don’t think they are. Even if they are mine is staying here!
B17NNS said:
grumpy52 said:
Cooking in old parlance was the warmed up version of a car.
I always thought cooking meant ordinary/standard/base model. ie the 1.3L’s and GL’s were the cooking models of the Escort range. Like cooking wine. Or cooking lager (4% - not premium).phil_cardiff said:
Drove a 1600 at a rally school and have been in love ever since. So easy to take up to the limit, over, then back again.
Phil Price used to run Mk2s at his rally school. Loads of sideways fun at sensible speeds 
HKSMAT said:
That would make a great road car for my usage - 5 or 6-speed box with 160bhp 2.0 XEand some nice Recaros
I had a couple of RS2000s but also had great fun in my cheap 1.3L with a few mods and a 100-110bhp of 1760xf dropped in. Was just enough poke for the 175s - didn't tramline but enough grip for a light car
Purchased for a few hundred quid, pulled the 1760 out for a friend's car and dropped in a 1600 to sell it .....for a couple of hundred quid more than I paid
I was a bit of a fan of this Mk1 remake design. Just a bit of fantasy what-iffery, but yeah, what if!
https://www.carbodydesign.com/archive/2007/05/21-b...
https://www.carbodydesign.com/archive/2007/05/21-b...
Superleg48 said:
Julian Thompson said:
Sunbeam gets under your skin like almost no other car. It’s a crazy, crap, but brilliant thing with contrasts and contradictions everywhere. The most rubbish car ever made and also one of the best balanced, most feelsome chassis with (in lotus form) a cracker of an engine. An absolute enigma and I can’t understand why after 1981 they are still available to buy for £2.50 when escorts etc went crazy. It doesn’t make sense!
Think you’ll find that sorted Lotus Sunbeams are £30k and up.Bloke down my parents road had one in about 1990 when they were erm about 3k. Walked past one day and it was sitting properly smashed up.
2 weeks later a brown 1.0 arrived, was stripped, sent for painting, came back pristine. All the lotus parts were transferred over including the reg number. Lotus shell disappeared to the scrap yard.
To be fair it was probably a better car in the end.
I spotted this the other day in the same vein,
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Starlet-KP61-Cos...
No longer for sale, would be fun, though think a NA engine would be more appropriate somehow,
Like this, with an Escort,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9z08zexDdE
Some excessive speed and slightly sketchy driving aside.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Starlet-KP61-Cos...
No longer for sale, would be fun, though think a NA engine would be more appropriate somehow,
Like this, with an Escort,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9z08zexDdE
Some excessive speed and slightly sketchy driving aside.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
No, never driven one. Thanks for all the replies! I've owned an Austin mini and that was hilarious. But that's a very different kettle of fish to a rear drive car. It just struck me kinda mad to spend 60k on an old escort with good bits when for the same price you could get something "more exotic" i.e a good cayman, decent M3 etc for that money. I think Escorts and Minis are a bit overrated in a way, as I remember driving MK1 and 2 Escorts and though I loved them, at the time I never thought them a paragon of handling magic, they were generally miserable old 1.1 Populars or tragically Barried four door 1.3's with a loud exhaust.
I think people now appreciate that the basic set up is good and they drove well, but back in the late eighties the rally pedigree was there but most folk couldnt wait to ditch them for a MK3 Escort XR3i.
I remember my mates 1.1 MK2, so gutless and basic, it always steamed up and getting an MOT was a challenge, but to be fair when I drove it, I quite liked it, my MK1 Capri was better as it at least had a 1600 engine though.
Most ones anyone drives nowadays will be fully restored Mexico reps or four linked rally cars, not the S reg 1.1 knacker I remember. remember a mate whose dad had a garage getting a low, low mile 1.3 Ghia owned by an old couple given to them by a customer retiring from driving, like new, that was a lovely car.
The whole Escort thing annoys the crap out of me, see it on Facebook, classic car enthusiasts that wibble on about Escorts and then say "kill it with fire" to pretty much anything else, doesnt stop me wanting one though, yes I am conflicted !
I think people now appreciate that the basic set up is good and they drove well, but back in the late eighties the rally pedigree was there but most folk couldnt wait to ditch them for a MK3 Escort XR3i.
I remember my mates 1.1 MK2, so gutless and basic, it always steamed up and getting an MOT was a challenge, but to be fair when I drove it, I quite liked it, my MK1 Capri was better as it at least had a 1600 engine though.
Most ones anyone drives nowadays will be fully restored Mexico reps or four linked rally cars, not the S reg 1.1 knacker I remember. remember a mate whose dad had a garage getting a low, low mile 1.3 Ghia owned by an old couple given to them by a customer retiring from driving, like new, that was a lovely car.
The whole Escort thing annoys the crap out of me, see it on Facebook, classic car enthusiasts that wibble on about Escorts and then say "kill it with fire" to pretty much anything else, doesnt stop me wanting one though, yes I am conflicted !
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