Description
It was the Escort that really put Ford on the rallying map, proving capable of winning World Championship events from 1968, when the Twin Cam engine model was the works` frontline rally car, right through to 1981 when Ari Vatanen became World Rally Champion driving an Escort RS. In 1970 the Ford Twin Cam engine was replaced by a Cosworth BDA 16-valve unit to create the definitive Escort rally car, the RS 1600, though the engine was homologated at 1, 1601cc to enable future enlargement up to the 2-litre class capacity limit. Enlarged at first to 1. 8 litres, with outputs varying between 210 and 250 hp depending on the type of event. In this ultimate form the Escort RS1600 proved good enough to win the RAC Rally three times on the trot between 1972 and 1974 as well as a host of other World Chamoinship events.
PVX400K is the last of 21 RS1600 works cars registerd during 1971 and one of only eight thar are believed to still exist. It is one of three bulit for an assault of the 1971 RAC Rally and was allocated to Roger Clark. The other two cars, registered PVX398K and PVX399K, were driven by Timo Makinen and Hannu Mikkola respectively. The team was sponsored by Wills Tobacco and carried the livery of Embassy brand. In the event, Clark and his co-driver Jim Porter could manage only a 11th place, handicapped by a faulty gearbox and a defective fuel gauge.
At Boreham over the succeeding winter, PVX400K was upgrades with a ZF five-speed gearbox, with a modified body-shell, and assigned to Timo Makinen as a „recce car“ ahead oft he forthcoming Monte Carlo Rally. PVX400K was back in competive action in June for the Scottish Rally driven by Andrew Cowan and Johnstone Syer a spart of three-car team. Repainted in the blue/ white livery of the Scotsmann newspaper, the RS1600 finished in a creditable 6th place overall. The Escort did not fare so well on its next outing at the Olympia Rally driven by Dieter Glemser and Klaus Kaiser.
On the 1972 RAC Rally, the car was crewed by Timo Makinen and Henry Liddon, and for this event was fitted with a Brian Hart 2. 0-litre alloy-block engine rather than its customary 1, 800cc Cosworth BDA unit. Back in Embassy livery, the Escort fared no better than on its first RAC outing, retiring whith wheel stud failure. PVX 400K made its next and last works outing in 1973 as Hannu Mikkola´s „recce car“ on that year´s East African Safari Rally.
Back in the UK the car was sold into private ownership, changing hands a few times before undergoing a sympathetic restoration in the mid-1990s. During the current ownership PVX400K has been to David Sutton (ca. 2010) having a new roll cage fitted; the glass replaced by modern triplex and various other works. More recently, the vendor’s personal mechanic has given the engine a top-end rebuild, which included the fitting of a new cam belt, since when only track days and the above demonstration have been undertaken.
This Escort RS1600 is an authentic admission ticket for top-class events like Tour Auto Optic 2000, Spa Classic and others. It can be easily uprgaded for circuit racing.
