Has there ever been a car as popular with racers as the MkI and MkII Ford Escort? This diminutive little British family saloon was first launched in 1968, and was an instant hit with racers around the world. Ford were keen to demonstrate their sporting prowess using the Escort as a showcase, and quickly released a 1,600cc Twin-Cam version which enjoyed huge success in saloon car racing.
Within six years of its release, Ford had produced 2 million Escorts.
Its availability, affordability, size, weight, and enormous range of performance parts made the Escort a hugely popular choice among competitors regardless of the strength of their budget, and these are qualities the model still enjoys today in historic racing.
The MkII was released in 1975, and although the racing world had changed almost beyond recognition in the seven years that separated the release of the MkI and MkII, the MkII would go on to enjoy plenty of success in its own right.
It wasn't just the Twin-Cam, FVA, FVC, and later BDA variant powered Escorts that found favour with competitors, numerous attempts were made to mate the Escorts light weight and nimble handling with much larger, or much more powerful engines, and competitors explored everything from turbocharging, to V8 conversions, with mixed results. But they all added to the history of the Escort in competition, and its incredible versatility.
Today, both the MkI and MkII Escort is as popular as ever with racers in both historic and club competition, and still has few equals when it comes to cheap thrills. So here's a salute to the Ford Escort, and its long standing fan base. Go ahead and share your photos and stories of Escorts past and present.....
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