MK 1 1969 Ford Lotus Escort RARE

[300CE]

That white one dont look right to me I thought the wings were flared.

The rarest ones were the rs1600s with a 16valve cosworth BDA engine.
Ahh memories
Ford Escort RS 1600 & Mexico

I think the Mk1 looks gorgeous - I remember there being a white mexico with blue decals on the estate where i lived as a young un'. Memories indeed!

A good debate being had on this thread!

 

[del320]

Why spend £65k on a car when most people will look at it and think that you are driving round in an old Mk1 Escort worth about a grand ??

You could use that argument for folk who buy C63s...

 

[MOCAŠ]

As has been said, this Escort is just a Twin cam, I'm sure it was never named a Lotus though it had a lotus sourced engine. I'd far rather have a Lotus Cortina and lots of spare cash instead of this Escort, but I'm not really a fan of fast Fords.

From David Burgess-Wise's Complete Catalogue of Ford Cars in Britain: "The extra weight of the MkII Lotus Cortina had made it less and less competitive in rallies so in 1968 it was supplanted as the 'works' car by the new Escort Twin Cam - essentially the running gear of a Lotus Cortina in the 300lb lighter Escort bodyshell."

This is borne out by the performance figures:

• Lotus Cortina Mk1: 1558cc; 105bhp; 103mph
• Lotus Cortina Mk2: 1558cc; 109.5bhp; 104mph
• Escort Twin Cam: 1558cc; 106bhp; 113mph
• Escord RS1600 BDA: 1599cc; 120bhp; 113mph
• Escort Mexico: 1599cc; 86bhp; 108mph
• Escort RS2000: 1993cc; 100bhp; 108mph

While I'm not a fast Ford enthusiast myself, I suppose that makes the Escort Twin Cam the connoisseur's choice for someone looking for a car of this period. It also makes the Twin Cam's "Lotus" credentials every bit as valid as those of the Cortina; it had LOTUS writ large within the engine bay, and Dennis Foy suggests that the only reason the name did not appear on the outside of the car was a marketing decision guided by Ford's chagrin at Lotus having taken all the glory for the Cortina's competition prowess.

With regard to homologation and production numbers:

Codenamed J25, the unofficial project was accepted for production and the first 25 cars were assembles at Boreham using the Type 48 bodyshell, while every other "Twink" was built at Halewood [using] a specially-strengthened flared-arch Type 49 bodyshell.

Group 3 homologation (parts for 500 cars made) was reached on March 1, 1968, with Group 2 homologation (parts for 1000 cars made) granted on May 1 the same year. Total J25 Twin Cam production reached 1263 before the introduction of its successor, the J26 (otherwise known as the "Aveley" Escort RS1600 BDA).

The car on sale was first registered 8 June 1969, so it has the flared-arch Type 49 bodyshell (although the flaring is rather restrained). I suspect the "1 of 200" statement is just a typo, meant to be "1 of 1200". In any case, I suspect values will have far more to do with authenticity and current availability than the size of the original production run.

 

[kth286]

73,000 people have looked at the advert compared to say 300 that normally look at a E320 coupe (124).

 

[300CE]

73,000 people have looked at the advert compared to say 300 that normally look at a E320 coupe (124).

Could be 2 reasons there KTH, there's either a lot of interested parties looking at purchasing the car or a lot of people have forwarded the link on going "f***in' ell', 65 grand for an Escort"

 

[Bellow]

I suppose that makes the Escort Twin Cam the connoisseur's choice for someone looking for a car of this period.

It also makes the Twin Cam's "Lotus" credentials every bit as valid as those of the Cortina; it had LOTUS writ large within the engine bay, and Dennis Foy suggests that the only reason the name did not appear on the outside of the car was a marketing decision guided by Ford's chagrin at Lotus having taken all the glory for the Cortina's competition prowess.

The BDA engined RS1600 will be the connoisseur's choice every time.

Mk1 Lotus Cortina.
Mk2 Cortina Lotus.

By the time the Lotus engine was in the Escort its credentials were somewhat lessened.
The Mk1 Lotus Cortina was re-engineered by Lotus, most obviously in its A-frame rear suspension. The Mk2 was a Ford effort.

 

[MOCAŠ]

^^ Although it didn't come across particularly well, what I meant was that the Twin Cam would have been the connoisseur's choice over the contemporary Cortina Lotus (and yes, apologies for getting that the wrong way round on the Mk2, and also for the "Escord" that crept into the list somehow). The BDA wouldn't have been available at the time.

 

[Bellow]

It was a rapidly changing picture with high level involvement from Ford. As soon as the Escort became available, the Cortina was forgotten, and the BDA replaced the Lotus unit just as swiftly. It also coincided with a shift from circuit racing to rallying, and there was formidable competition from Lancia and others, and the Porsche 911 was effective in the hands of privateers.
Ford needed all the help they could muster! Having half the dominant F1 engine in the lightest available shell certainly helped.

 

[Scott_F]

You could use that argument for folk who buy C63s...

Not really.

A C63 isn't my cup of tea but they look great and have fantastic handling and performance.

That Escort looks bland both outside and inside and has handling and performance that are thoroughly unremarkable by today's standards.

For £65k you can buy a serious car and the Escort ain't it.

 

[flango]

Not really.

A C63 isn't my cup of tea but they look great and have fantastic handling and performance.

That Escort looks bland both outside and inside and has handling and performance that are thoroughly unremarkable by today's standards.

For £65k you can buy a serious car and the Escort ain't it.

Neither is the C63 dons Nomex underware and Flameproof overalls

 

[Benzowner]

Didn't ford do a limited Mk1 Escort Apache with a V6 engine. I think they also did a Mk2 Cortina Comanche with a V6 but can find no details on either.

 

[Bellow]

Not sure if Ford did but some of the aftermarket guys did. Jeff Urens name came to mind and when I Googled it I found this >> http://www.hsomerville.com/meccano/Articles/FordHistory.htm
Some mention of the Cortina Comanche.
At the time Ford were focused on the lightweight (relative to the Essex V6) BDA.

 

[C43AMG]

I wish i had kept mine now !!

 

[lxi]

I wish i had kept mine now !!

I think everyone has at least one on that list, but in those days when you wanted to change, you had to sell one to move on to another - my biggest "I wish..." was a Lotus Elan S3 coupe (the original one - can't remember what year it was) - sold in 1976 for £750 (with a new chassis)

 

[nick.ged]

the mk 2 cortina with the v6 essex engine installed was called the savage cortina. i saw one at a show many years ago.

and, looking at the photos, it does have the flared front wings, just like my old 1300e had, the 'e' also had the oblong head lights, they were rubbish.