MK2 ESCORT RS1800 REP
Mk2 Escorts have been a popular choice for ST170 engine swaps for some time now, and there’s an overt acceptance of the loss of originality that enables restorers to really go to town with whatever fancy ideas might spring into their heads. In the case of model specialist Montescort back in 2014, that scope for creativity manifested itself in the notion of crafting an RS1800 replica. This was a very good idea indeed, as it hardly needs pointing out here that real RS1800s are vanishingly rare, and the idea of engine-swapping a genuine one would be utterly absurd.
For the uninitiated, only 109 Mk2 Escort RS1800s were ever built, and the DVLA reckons just 36 of them are currently on the road. Of course, it never really stood it to sell: the RS1800 was a homologation special. And while Group 2 regs dictated that 1,000 examples be built, Ford didn’t have to – the Cosworth BDA engine had already been doing the business on the rally stage in the RS1600, so all they needed to do was bolt it into a Mk2 shell and call it an evolution. And so, at Aveley, a bunch of Sport shells found themselves structurally reinforced, fitted with BDA twin-cams and adorned with blue side-stripes. With the boxes ticked, a legend was born… even if, at the time, few realised quite how significant a collectors’ car this could become.
