Lot details
Registration No: FFV800S
Chassis No: GXATTH00147
Mot Expiry: Feb 2011

The MK1 made the Escort's reputation in rallies, but the MK2 sealed it, with superior handling thanks to long-link rear suspension and ever more powerful engines from the Ford Cosworth BDA / BDG family. The lot on offer is a reincarnation of the ex-Malcolm Wilson / Thomas Motors of Blackpool Semi-Works Rally MK2, using that car's chassis and registration numbers, presented in the Total Oils livery worn by the original `FFV 800S' during the 1979 rally season when Wilson and Terry Harryman competed in the British Championship.

Although like most rally cars it has been through a number of shells over the years, the body is a period-prepared unit with electrically heated front screen, that is said to have been inspected by two of the former Thomas Motors mechanics who were responsible for the original car's build in 1978. The surviving period V5 registration document states `built from parts, some of which are not new'. Then as now the starting point for many rally cars would not have been a brand new or even complete road car.

The engine is a 2-litre Alan Sherwood BDG, built into a new Cosworth block in 2009, with dyno and assembly sheets available. The gearbox was a brand new unit from Historic Rallysport, the axle is a new component from Rally and Competition Equipment in Stoke with 5:1 CWP and LSD, and the five-speed ZF box was refurbished by the same outfit. Brakes are Monte Carlo-spec front callipers and discs with homologated rear discs and callipers. All the suspension was renewed in 2010 to MSA historic spec - Bilstein narrow adjustable platform front legs with, at the rear, slipper springs and Bilstein dampers. The car is fitted with an Electric Fireater system and in-date handheld extinguisher and seats and belts are reportedly in date.

A well-prepared car that has competed in HRCR events for three years, it is variously described by the vendor as being in "excellent" (bodywork and paint), "good" (interior trim), "all working" (electrical equipment) or "recently overhauled" (engine and transmission) condition. Seemingly the nearest thing available to the original Thomas Motors `FFV 800S' machine, this reincarnated Ford is supplied with a new RAC MSA Technical Passport. As the vendor says, it is: "Ready to rally or clean enough to go into a collection".

PLEASE NOTE: The chassis number for this vehicle should read GXATTH00147 and not as stated in the catalogue.

PLEASE NOTE: This vehicle has an MOT certificate expiring 28/01/2012 and not as printed in the catalogue.