We're delighted to offer for sale this rare and immaculate Ford Escort RS1600 mk1.
The Ford Escort RS1600 is a near standard car in spec, it has received cosmetic enhancement of steel ‘bubble’ arches which are as the factory offered in clubman spec in the day. It has also been given the upgrade of a five-speed transmission, which is essential to relaxed driving at 50mph or more, the quick change has been modified also. A later addition but also factory option is the four Cibie Oscars which add to the aggressive ‘Rally’ stance. The engine and chassis are factory standard and the car has been treated to new paint some ten years ago, the car is solid with no visible rust areas, which for this model and vintage is incredibly rare. The door and panel shuts are perfect and the door close is precise. The car has been registered in the AVO owners club since the club forming in the 80’s and was under single ownership for its first twenty years with four additional owners over the past thirty years.
Of the 1,137 produced during is manufacture run from 1970-1974 there are only between 50-60 RS1600’s still on the road in the UK. Maybe a handful of which are in this stunning condition and appealing spec.
The car draws appreciation from a wide genre of car buffs, at a Goodwood meeting in 2019 amongst other supercar exotica this little car drew the largest crowd by far of appreciating spectators. This was an everyday people’s car that dominated as the unrivalled Rally World Championship model through the entire 70s.
"Ford Escort RS1600 - The Potent Mix” - this was how Ford announced the Escort RS1600 to the world in early 1970. A combination of Escort twin cam chassis and running gear allied with Ford's newly developed Cosworth sixteen-valve twin cam BDA (Belt Drive Type A) engine unit. The announcement heralded the birth of what was to become (along with its MkII descendant, the RS 1800) arguably the most successful rally car of the 1970's.
The RS1600's BDA engine is often described as a detuned Formula 2 racing engine. The design is based on Cosworth's very successful Formula 2 race unit, the FVA (Four Valve Type A). In basic form as fitted to the RS1600 the BDA produced 115 PS DIN, sufficient to propel the car from 0 - 60 in roughly 8.5 seconds and provide a top speed of almost 115mph. Quite a performance in its day, but handling of this lightweight (785kg) sports car is the real highlight to ownership. (Note: the latest Focus RS is more than twice the weight and mass of this little pocket rocket!)
Production of the RS1600 began at Ford's Halewood assembly plant in January 1970 with the first cars going on sale in April/May. Homologation of the RS1600 into Group 2 was achieved in September 1970 on the basis of one thousand vehicles having been constructed. In fact, best estimates suggest that only around 1,137 RS1600's were actually produced over the vehicle's entire five year production span to the end of 1974. From November 1970 production was transferred to Ford AVO's (Advanced Vehicle Operations) purpose built assembly line at Aveley, Essex where it was joined by a new model, the Escort Mexico.
The specification of the RS1600 changed in slight detail through production life. RS1600 production was at its peak throughout 1971 and 1972 with the numbers going into a gradual decline during the following year. Once the RS2000 was introduced in late 1973 very few RS1600's were sold as road cars. Only a few dozen vehicles are believed to have been manufactured in 1974, with production finally ending in November of that year.
The RS1600 is supported enthusiastically via AVO owners Club, the marque registrar is Mr Arnold who has been in this position since the formation of the club in the 1980s. This fantastic car has been on the club database and is known to Mr Arnold, should interested parties want to verify the car.
Due to the versatility of the AVO production line a host of performance and cosmetic options became available for the cars including the Clubman Pack (a competition orientated pack including uprated suspension and safety items) and the Custom Pack (a luxury road pack including cloth trimmed interior). Possibly the ultimate was Special Build, introduced in 1972, which allowed many factory fitted performance items. Indeed it was possible to have virtually a full Group 2 spec rally car from the factory, although this would have more than doubled the cost of what was already a very expensive Escort.
The purpose for the RS1600's was to provide Ford with a competitive race/rally car, so it is in this area that the car is most commonly remembered. Once the cars reliability was established it went on to take many international rally wins including the Thousand Lakes in Finland, the Safari, Circuit of Ireland and three consecutive outright wins on the Lombard RAC rally from 1972 to 1974. Many famous drivers such as Roger Clark, Timo Makinen, Hannu became synonymous with the little Escort. On the circuits, the lightweight RS1600 racers from the likes of BroadSpeed and Zakspeed developed a giant killing reputation using 2 litre fuel injected versions of the BDA engine developing up to 280bhp.
With the introduction of the re-styled MkII Escort in 1975 the RS1600 was replaced by the RS1800 which featured an enlarged version of the RS1600's all alloy engine.
