1969 Ford Escort Twin Cam ex-RAC Rally

This very car was prepared by the competitions department at Chester Ford in 1969 for a privateer rally driver. It ended up competing in, amongst others, the 1969 AND 1970 Lombard RAC rallies.

A few years of rallying later, the car suffered a roll and was subsequently the subject of a comprehensive restoration by Burton Engineering. This example is now offered in 'better-than-new' condition. For example, the new shell was a new factory seam-welded "service" shell from the rally division, which was fitted with a dry-sump, Vegantune 1760cc engine, which now develops in excess of 180bhp and would cost around £15,000 to buy today, is barely run in having only covered around 1,000 miles since it was built three years ago. 

The quality of the work that was undertaken can be gauged from the photos you can see here on the listing. Or, you could take Tony Mason and Mick Jones’ word for it; they were so impressed with the quality of the Escort they signed the boot lid. Really, do endorsements come any better than this? (for those that don’t know, Mick was one of the chiefs at Ford’s Competition base at Boreham Airfield)

Its provenance, which is fully documented, makes it eligible to race in a number of well-known events, including the MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the Historic Rally Championship.

The seam-welded bodyshell is not original, being a replacement fitted in 1973 following an accident during the Trident Rally. It is however an official replacement shell of the correct spec for the car. This shouldn’t be any cause for alarm as aficionados will know that such work is often inevitable and part-and-parcel of a competition car’s provenance.

The coachwork is in beautiful condition and is almost certainly way better than anything that came out of the Halewood factory in period. The wheelarches are, of course, steel and sit over beautiful Group 4 magnesium Minilite alloy wheels. Four Cibie spotlights dominate the front of the car and the purposeful nature of the bodywork is offset by the two delicate chrome quarter bumpers on the front and the full-width chrome bumper at the rear. 

The underside of the car is as clean as the topside. Literally.

The interior is beautifully functional, wearing its hard-won patina with pride. There are sports seats, full harnesses and a competition roll cage, of course. But there is so, so much more than that. 

For example, a period Heuer clock and stopwatch sit on the dashboard, serving double duty as eye candy as well as being a highly functional weapon in the rally co-driver’s armoury. This item alone cost £1,800. In 2003…

But, please don’t mistake this for something that’s been lovingly ‘recreated’ via the pages of a Demon Tweeks catalogue; this is the Real Deal and everything in here serves a purpose. Nothing is superfluous.

The Vegantune engine, bored out to 1760cc and dry sumped, is beautifully prepared. Developing more than 180bhp, it’s a ferociously expensive piece of kit but then winning is never cheap…

The car also features competition suspension and brakes, as well as a limited-slip differential. The mechanical specification of the car is confirmed as being original in a letter written in 2010 by its original owner, Mike Offley, who raced the car in the 1969 and 1970 RAC Rallies. 

It is being offered with no known faults, although we would encourage potential bidders to inspect the car for themselves prior to placing a bid.

The supplied history file (all three A4 box files of it…) comprises – amongst many other items – contemporary rally reports, photographs and copies of Autosport magazine confirming the car’s competition history from its first appearance in the 1969 RAC Rally (using the cherished registration number ‘FM28’) through to its big ‘off’ in 1973. A professional researcher was commissioned to undertake the work and potential bidders will start to understand just how well-known this car is when they learn that it featured in no fewer than 53 articles in Motoring News in 1970 alone! 

The car is also being offered with a rare copy of the ‘Escort Twin Cam Supplementary Workshop Manual’, a copy of ‘Ford Escort Rally Preparation’ and a bound compendium of road tests featuring the Escort Twin Cam and RS1600.

The DVLA agrees that the vehicle is historically important, reissuing it with its original registration number of CFM 342G. It also has its original ‘buff’ log book and a number of old MOT certificates.

Please visit the ‘Records’ section of this listing where you will find a huge number of invoices, photographs and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has what is possibly the most comprehensive race and service history we have seen.

How do you even begin to value a car like this? I suppose we can start by looking at the sort of sum that’s being asked for a ‘normal’ Twin Cam Escort. Good cars are now selling for £40,000 and above, with the very best going for more than twice that. 

Given that this is one of the very best you’re ever likely to find we think that a base guide price of £42-52,000 isn’t at all unreasonable. But then we must factor in the car’s incredible competition history and impeccable provenance, which means we wouldn’t be surprised to find that it goes for considerably more than this.

However, because it is here to sell, we’re offering it with a reserve that is less than our guide price… 

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen in Crawley, West Sussex; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.