1972 Ford Escort Mexico

A genuine Escort Mexico, it was the care of a Mr. Blower all the way from 1986 through to 2012. The owner was told that Mr. Blower kickstarted the restoration/conversion by sending it to well-known marque specialists RS NorthWest to have steel bubble arches fitted. Upon its return, he continued to work on it but eventually ran out of money when the Escort was only around 70% completed. He sold it to the vendor at this point, who’s now had it for the past eight years.

Now finished, it might have been repainted in its original colour of Le Mans Green but it is very far from original underneath as it now features an Escort MkII RS2000 engine under the bonnet in addition to those fabulous arches.

Only for sale because the owner is thinning his collection as he gently eases his way into semi-retirement (we are selling his Aston Martin Vanquish previously, and there’s an Audi Quattro in the way…), this is a rare opportunity to get a genuine Le Mans Green Escort Mexico that now goes as well as it looks.

Finished in its factory colour of Le Mans Green it has also been fitted with black stripes, chrome quarter-bumpers and ‘bullet’ door mirrors plus four huge Hella Rallye 2000 lights. The result is one of the most purposeful - and period - MKI Escorts we have ever seen.

The paintwork is good but is clearly an older respray. It’s holding up very well though but does have the odd mark on it, most noticeably a small bubble on the leading edge of the bonnet behind one of the Hella lights.

The deep-dish Minilite-style alloy wheels are straight and free of dents and serious dinks but do have a few light scratches around their periphery and the odd mark on the spokes. They’re shod with matching Nankang 205/60R13 Tour Sport 611 tyres, all of which still have a very good depth of tread.

As we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but do give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

The windscreen is a new top-tinted jobbie, and the rest of the glass and light lenses are good. The door and boot seals are all new too and still need bedding in properly, which is why the doors and boot lid might look to sit a little proud.

Problems? Well, as a working Escort the panel fit isn’t to concours standards, with the nearside bonnet alignment not being mm-perfect. And, areas on the offside and nearside rear wings have been touched-up where they meet the boot lid, there’s some cracking to the paint on the nearside windscreen scuttle, and the window seals on the front quarterlights have seen better days. Not big stuff.

The front black vinyl seats, with their funky headrests, look excellent, being support and comfortable and utterly in keeping with the car’s overall design ethos. They still look like new and are trimmed to match the rear seats, which are equally impressive.

The classic six-dial dashboard contains the usual array of factory gauges and is complemented by a silver fascia. The padded dashtop is in great shape, and the three-spoke steering wheel looks and feels fabulous.

The headlining, which was fitted recently along with new door cards and a parcel shelf, is very clean and taut. In fact, the whole cabin is a cut above the usual Escort interior.

The boot is well-painted and looks to be completely solid. Home to the spare wheel, battery and fuel tank, the only thing we can see the new owner might want to sort out in there is the battery, which is held down with a cable tie. (Albeit it the sort of cable tie that could be used to anchor a super-yacht.)

Other work to do is limited; the carpets don’t fit terribly well where they abut the sills and handbrake lever, the wipers don’t self-park, and the windscreen washers, blower motor, and fuel gauge don’t work. And don’t ask us how we discovered the latter…

None of it is serious and would only be the work of a weekend, which would also give you a chance to bond with your new toy.

The MKII Escort RS2000 engine feeds its power to the rear axle via a five-speed gearbox. Fresh from considerable mechanical work using parts from folk like Stage 1, Burton Power, AVO Suffolk, and Questmead (please see the attached invoices for the full details) it breathes through a pair of rebuilt Weber DCOE 40 carburettors. Dyno-tested to 110bhp, we can’t help but think there might be a little more to come…

The radiator is alloy, and the starter motor, steering rack and braking system have all been refurbished. As you’d expect given all this work and expense, it is running well and drives as it should.

The engine bay is as neatly detailed as the rest of the car, featuring good paint, a beautifully presented engine, and the sort of attention to detail that speaks of many, many hours of careful fettling. If, like us, you’re prone to low-level OCD where your cars are concerned then some of the components such as the washer bottle and brake fluid reservoir could do with degreasing and cleaning, but that’s very much a nice-to-do job rather than any essential.

While the underside has a painted finish rather than the more usual underseal, it looks to have been laid on good and thick, so should protect the underlying metal more than adequately.

The Escort doesn’t have a current MOT certificate, and while it is exempt by virtue of its age, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have the car re-MOT’d at the earliest. The cost of an MOT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic car, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the car’s condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies…

The Escort also comes with a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years, a Minichamps scale model, a Haynes Workshop Manual, and an old V5 registration document.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

NB. We know that many of you will be limiting your social exposure over the coming days and weeks, so if you’d rather not come to see the car in person, please give us a call and we can shoot a personal video of the car honing in on any areas you’d like us to concentrate on.

Everyone loves a Ford Escort and few are more appealing than a competition-prepared MKI, especially one that is capable of doing double-duty as a road and/or rally and track car.

It’s got all the Good Stuff on it, too. Designed to be used rather than displayed, its guide price represents only a fraction of the cost of building one yourself, making this your opportunity to get behind the wheel of a motorsport icon for not a lot of money.

How little? Well, there’s no denying that some parts of the market are taking a bit of a of battering at the moment as we’re all locked down; with this in mind, you might be able to snap this one up for as little £23,000 to £30,000, which is astonishing value.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; 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: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Footman James for classic car insurance Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car and AnyVan for transporting it.