The Mark 1 Ford Escort RS, a car that shaped Ford Motorsport’s victorious rally racing history, along with a car that became an instant icon when first launched. Produced from the 1970s, the MK1 Escort RS was no joke. Rear wheel drive, 115HP, and a light weight body made this car an atrocious rally performer. Ford has teamed up with a company known as Boreham Motorworks to bring back that iconic car, but develop it into the best possible sports car. Have they done it? Let’s find out.
The Boreham Motorworks Ford Escort RS – Overview
The Escort that Boreham Motorworks has created after 21 years since the Ford Escort was dead, is nothing close to what the Escort used to be. This new vehicle is a pure restomod monstrosity. It’s back as a limited-run continuation model called the Escort Mk1. The company behind what it’s calling a “continumod,” Boreham Motorworks, got official licensing rights from Ford, complete with chassis numbers. That means Boreham Motorworks doesn’t use donor cars but instead builds each Escort Mk1 to “blueprint-accurate, period-sympathetic” standards from the ground up. The new models maintain the same smooth and clean body lines of the original, with Boreham modernizing the hardware under the bodywork.
Boreham Escort RS – Design
From the outside, this is the recognisable and beautiful Ford Escort Mark 1, with a few “Upgrades”. The entire bonnet, roof, and boot lid are made of carbon fiber. The exterior comes with magnesium or traditional alloy 4-spoke racing wheels, all of this to reach a main target: Lightness. Boreham says their target figure for this car is around 800 KG, which is absurd and would make this car incredible to drive and handle. Other than that, most of the original design philosophy of the Escort is retained here, which is wonderful, as the original Escort was remarkable to look at.
Boreham Escort RS – Interior
The interior features a pair of bucket seats with a full roll cage. While the interior remains fairly spartan, Boreham added Alcantara and leather along with a small infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, air conditioning, anodized dials, and new switchgear. The layout of the interior is crisp, driver-focused, and made with a “no-nonsense” philosophy. The seats are available as carbon fibre buckets optioned with racing harnesses and traditional hand brakes wrapped in Alcantara.
Boreham Escort RS Powertrain- Redline Madness!
The engine is where this car is hiding most of its charm, with a light body of 800 KG, anything above 150 BHP would be enough to make this car enjoyable. Yet, there are two engine options: The base option is a 1.8-litre twin-cam unit that makes 182HP and comes with an iconic Ford Bullet 4-speed manual transmission, which has straight-cut gears. Those straight-cut gears would result in a transmission sound that resembles that of Rally Cars and GT3 race cars.
The upgraded engine option is a naturally aspirated 2.1-litre four-cylinder engine that makes a crazy 296 BHP and a 5 speed dogleg manual transmission. This is the engine that hides the crazy charm. This 2.1 unit is capable of revving up to 10000 RPM! In comparison, a Porsche 911 GT3RS revs up to about 9000 RPM, so this engine is going to be mind-blowing when it comes to power and performance, along with driver experience. With just 800 KG, 296 HP, a manual transmission, and a 10000 RPM redline, this car will be one of the best driving cars money can buy today.
Boreham Escort RS – Pricing In The UAE
The exact variant-wise pricing has not been announced, but the starting price of the Boreham Escort RS is around 1.3 million AED (375,000 USD) and will go up with options and extras. This vehicle doesn’t have a rival as it’s a pure restomod and comes in categories of vehicles such as the Singer DLS and the Tuthill 911.
Boreham Escort RS Verdict – Value For Money Restomod!
Though the pricing may sound absurd at first, but this sports car is one of the cheapest fully built off-the-lot restomods you can buy today! And for that, it’s a ton of cars! The lightweight goodness paired with the extreme redline power of this car makes it one of the best driving cars and worth what it costs. Other Restmods like the Tuthill Porsche 911 provide a similar experience, but for more than double the money!
