Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2019 i Fast Ford

INTRO WELCOME TO THE MARCH ISSUE! Let me start by wishing you all a very happy new year. As we welcome in 2019 I can't help but get excited about what's in store for the Ford fan in the months ahead, and I'm sure you're the same too. At the time of writing, we're just getting everything ready to head to the first big event of the year, Autosport International. This is seen by many as the curtain-raiser to the motorsport season, and it's the place to find out all the latest news ahead of the 2019 campaigns, but in recent years, with the inclusion The Performance & Tuning Car Show, it packs even more relevance to fast Ford owners. There has always been links between motorsport and fast road…

WHAT'S NEW NEWS See what’s going down in the world of fast Fords... TEAM SHREDDED WHEAT CONFIRMS 2019 BTCC DRIVERS Following a solid 2018 season, Motorbase Performance has confirmed that Tom Chilton and Ollie Jackson will form the two-driver line-up for Team Shredded Wheat’s 2019 campaign in the British Touring Car Championship. Chilton returns to the Wrotham squad after enjoying a hugely successful maiden year in the Ford Focus RS; securing his 13th race win and 48th podium of his BTCC career so far, he ended the 2018 season in 3rd place overall and 2nd in the Independent Championship standings. Jackson is a Motorbase veteran, having raced with the outfit as part of its Porsche Carrera Cup squad in 2009 and ’10, where he clinched the Pro-Am 1 title. With…

ESCORT SLEEPER DARING BROWN It takes guts to build something different. If you had your heart set on a red S2 RS Turbo, how hard would you have to convince yourself to build a brown 1.3L instead? Not an easy decision, but Kirsty Baker’s pulled it off in style… Words MATT WOODS Photos DAN BEVIS Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt. Too much exposure to any given thing can bleed out any passion for it, leaving a void of disinterest. This is something that rears its head here and there in the motoring ecosystem; look at the rows of Mk1 Golfs or E30 BMWs you see at shows, each outstanding in its own right but all modified in the same manner until they become homogeneous. Once people hit upon an established…

ESCORT RS2000 RARE BEAST The Mk6 RS2000 4x4 may not have sold as well as its Cosworth-badged brother, but that just makes examples like this screaming 2.3-litre rally-style stunner even more special… Words & Photos JON CASS It’s normally the Cosworth model that immediately springs to mind first when asked to name a fast Escort from the 90s. Yet, there were other lively models too, some better than others we must admit! The Mexico, Harrier, and to some extent the XR3i models were essentially just a hasty decision to resurrect a legendary badge on a what was otherwise a fairly normal car, but the RS2000 was a different story; that, despite being overshadowed by its bewinged Cosworthbadged sibling, was actually a decent car. Sadly, they’re a pretty rare sight these…

FOCUS RS MK2 DO IT RIGHT Right from the off, Ollie Horne decided that if he was going to build a big-power Focus RS, he’d do it once and do it right... Words & photos DAVY LEWIS This thing puts a smile on my face every time I drive it,” laughs Ollie Horne as he fires up his Performance Blue Focus RS. There’s a bark from the twin-exit tailpipes as the five-pot motor bursts into life and settles into a deep, rumbling idle. It sounds fantastic. As he shows me around the car, it’s clear he has a real passion for this 817bhp, tiger-striped missile. “I bought the car in 2014; I’d always wanted one after seeing them at shows,” he explains. “I knew I was going to modify it,…

MARK ESCORT COSWORTH DIFF BREAKER Mark’s been out enjoying the Cossie on track, perhaps a little too much as the recent broken front diff confirms he wasn’t taking it easy… QUICK SPEC 577bhp and 558lb.ft Cossie YB • DPE big tooth gearbox • Quaife diffs front and rear • Black Art Designs coilovers • six-degree rear beam • AP Racing 380mm 6-pot front brakes • 300mm rear discs • Carbon roof, WRC rear wing, and bonnet vents • Porsche Acid Green • WRC kit I built this car to do a few track days in. And despite making its public debut at RS Combe during the middle of the summer, I’ve always seemed to be too busy during the show season to actually find the time to venture on track…

MOTORBASE FOCUS BTCC NEW DRIVERS Preparation for the 2019 BTCC seasons continues with the team getting the cars ready and the new driver line-up eager to get going… By the time you read this, the motorsport season’s curtain-raiser event, Autosport International, would have been and gone. But at the time of writing, the whole team is busy making sure everything is ready for the show and the season ahead. We’ll be showing two cars at the NEC this year, but as we write this the cars are far from show-ready! That’s because, after the Dunlop test a few weeks ago the cars have been completely stripped back to bare shells before a meticulous rebuild process could begin. This may seem extreme, but it’s actually fairly standard practice; after a hard…

IN THE SPOTLIGHT TREVA CLARKE SAPPHIRE COSWORTH 4X4 We couldn’t not include a Cosworth of some derivative here, and a newcomer to Squires is this 4x4 Sapphire of Treva Clarke. Now, Treva’s owned this Flint Grey example since 2004 and had a hellish journey along the way. In fact, we’re lucky it got here at all having been off the road for the last decade. Beginning life as a company car, the Saph has still only ever had 3 owners, but since 2004 things have been a bit hectic for this Cossie; the engine had blown, then once it had been rebuilt the car was stolen… and then returned. “I decided to have it repainted, but the paintshop went bust and I struggled to get the car back,” Treva explains.…

BUYER’S GUIDE SIERRA XR Retro styling, rear-wheel drive, a thumping great V6, and rarer today than the Sierra Cosworth; the XR4i is fast becoming a seriously sought-after fast Ford… Words DAN WILLIAMSON Photos JON HILL “...the XR4i is by far the cheapest way into a sporty three-door Sierra, but prices won’t stay low forever...” If you like your fast Fords old-school and unsophisticated – with rear-wheel drive, lairy styling and an oversized normally-aspirated engine – it’s time to try the Sierra XR4i. The XR4i laid the foundations for the mighty Cosworth, and it achieved widely-overlooked competition success. Yet it wasn’t designed for anything sporty: the plan was to stimulate public interest by creating a rapid grand tourer. After experimenting with a gutless 2.3-litre Cologne powerplant, Ford swapped to the Capri…

ROUSE SPORT 304-R RETURN OF THE ROUSE Having grown up with this rare, Rouse Sport 304-R, Ryan Powell managed to track it down and has returned it to its former glory – with some added oomph! Words and photos DAVY LEWIS If you were into cars back in the late ’80s/early ’90s, then there was only one place to be on a Sunday afternoon: sat in front of the TV to watch the British Touring Cars. With packed grids featuring hot versions of all your favourite production cars, proper bumper-to-bumper racing and drivers with big characters, it was something not to be missed. Part of the appeal was that you could go into your local dealer and buy road going versions of the cars that did battle every weekend –…

WHAT'S NEW NEW STUFF The latest gear on the Blue Oval scene ST SUSPENSION MUSTANG LOWERING SPRINGS £219 It’s said that size isn’t everything, but trust us when we say, 30mm makes an awful lot of difference to some people - the sort of people who like to throw cars around with abandon and really push track limits or B-road blasts to the very edge of both sanity and legality. For those people, the 2.3-litre and 5.0 V8 Mustang quite obviously benefit from being just over an inch closer to terra firma thanks to the latest ST Suspension lowered spring kit. Alignment can still be carried out within manufacturers specification, and ST say there’s almost zero ride comfort compromise and the handling overall will be both more predictable and exceptionally…

TWIN FIESTAS DOUBLE ACT Rebecca Alexander and Jo Sugden show that girls do it just as well as boys when it comes to fast Fords, with their pair of feisty Fiestas; a low-riding, styled Zetec S, and lairy Stage 2 ST… Words & Photos JON CASS Maybe it’s just sod’s law that every time that perfect car or part is advertised it just so happens to be located at the opposite end of the country. Often the thought of travelling hundreds of miles just to look at a car that might turn out to be a total shed would put many of us off leaving the comfort of our own sofa, but if you’re lucky that mega road trip might make all that effort well worthwhile. Luckily, Rebecca Alexander and…

EVENT REPORT Squires Cafe Ford Meet SQUIRES CAFE FORD MEET We head to the ever-popular end-of-season multi-forum Ford meet at Squires Cafe for one last outing before many of these treasured Blue Ovals go into hibernation for the winter months… Words & photos JON CASS WHERE SQUIRES CAFE, SHERBURN WHEN SEPTEMBER 2018 We’ve mentioned before that the huge Fordmeet show at Squires has been lucky with the weather, but the end of season show for 2018 was initially looking to be the wettest yet, with heavy rain and strong winds predicted all day. Then, only a day or two before the show, the forecast changed completely. The rain diverted further south to bring another show day of bright, uninterrupted sunshine! Many were expecting muddy conditions too, as there had been…

IN THE SPOTLIGHT DAVID FOX MK2 FIESTA David Fox is regarded as a true Ford guru in his area, and his stunning S1 RS Turbo has graced these pages for a full feature in the past. But one of his latest creations is this Mk2 Fiesta, which was recently rebuilt from a 1.1 Ghia shell and a box of bits – and it sounds like a few of those boxes were missing. “There was no interior, the suspension was only half there, but I could see some potential,” David laughs. In place of the asthmatic 1100cc engine, there’s now a 2.0 Silver Top Zetec running Jenvey 45mm throttle bodies and an Omex 600 ECU – all live mapped by Norris Motorsport. Much of the remainder has been upgrade to XR2…

#PRINTMYFORD See your very own fast Ford in full printed glory! Ever wanted to see your car appear in all its glory in the printed pages of a Ford tuning magazine? Well, if so, all you need to do is ask! Simply email us, or post a picture of your car on our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages and add the hashtag ‘#printmyford’, and each month we’ll choose our favourites and print them in this aptly named feature! Alternatively, drop us an email with a couple of pics, a full spec list of any mods and upgrades, and a few details about your time with the car to fastford.ed@kelsey.co.uk with the subject heading ‘print my ford’ and we’ll pick our favourites for a slightly more detailed review each month too!…

FORD HEROES Celebrating the key people behind the Blue Oval DAVID BARTRUM Successful driver turned team boss, David Bartrum’s racing career has almost always involved a fast Ford... The Motorbase name is indelibly inked in the history of the BTCC, most notably running Ford Focus in the series since 2011, and the man behind the numerous successes is David Bartrum, who founded the team in 2004. His own entry into the world of motorsport was in a Ford – indeed, a P100 pickup, of all things! – back in 1988, and in the following year he levelled up to Production Saloons, racing a Sierra Cosworth. The natural progression from there was to enter the Esso Group N Saloon Car Championship in 1990, swapping car mid-season for a Sapphire Cosworth that…

DRIVEN MUSTANG BULLITT 50 years after THAT car chase first hit cinema screens we finally get a right-hand drive Bullitt Mustang of our own. And we’ve been driving it… Words DAN TRENT Photos FORD On-screen cops and their cars have a rich history, especially Fords. Choose your era but over here we’ve had everything from The Professionals in their RS Escorts and Capris to Jimmy Nail’s Spender in his Sapphire Cosworth. All have to bow to Steve McQueen’s detective Frank Bullitt and his battered, Highland Green GT390 though, the appearance of this car 50 years ago in one of Hollywood’s most famous car chases an integral part of Mustang folklore. Looking at that car now you know it was a carefully considered choice in keeping with McQueen’s car nut image.…

FAST FLEET Check out what’s been going on with our projects this month… DAN FOCUS ST The Focus is busy earning its keep as a daily driver, which means Dan's not had any time to fit any upgrades for a few weeks. But, the plan is still to go full Stage 2 in the near future. PAUL RS500 RACE CAR The RS500's conversion from track to race car continues. This month Paul removes the front suspension and running gear, and then pulls the engine out too. JAMIE FOCUS RS After a hectic summer of shows, events, and, of course, modifications, this month has been uncharacteristically quiet for the RS. But Jamie has plans for the latest software upgrade soon. MARK ESCORT COSWORTH It may be the 'off' season, but nobody…

PAUL SIERRA COSWORTH RS500 RACE CAR ENGINE OUT The conversion from high-spec track car to fully fledged Historic racer continues as Paul removes the front suspension and engine ready for the race upgrades… The race season is fast approaching, and before I can enter the Caltex car in any competitive motorsport later in the year I’ve still got loads to do. Regular readers will remember that last month I replaced the rear suspension and diff with the Group A-spec components required to compete in Historic Touring Car racing, and this month it’s been a case of more of the same, only turning my attention to the front of the car. The car was already running on some rather trick magnesium front uprights, but as these only work with the original…

IN THE SPOTLIGHT RYAN JONES FIESTA ZETEC S There were plenty of Mk7 Fiestas at Squires this year, and that’s always great to see, but now and again there’s the occasional modified example that really stands out, seeming to look just right. This time around it would be this 2014 Zetec S belonging to 22-year-old Ryan Jones that grabbed our attention; his clever choice of mods ticks all the right boxes. Ryan’s only owned this car for 18 months having bought it initially after his dad mentioned he might want to take a look at this model! A quick test drive later confirmed his dad’s suggestion was a good one and Ryan became the proud owner of an almost standard Race Red Zetec S. The H&R springs providing that killer…

IN THE SPOTLIGHT CARL WAITAM PUMA This is a little Puma, Ford s cute little sporty coupe, but probably not as you’ve ever seen one before...! Carl Waitam bought this car as a part-finished project, the Honda Blackbird 1100cc bike engine conversion already installed and running, fitted to a custom made subframe. The conversion uses the Blackbird’s original gearbox with a starter motor brought in to take on the role as a very useful reverse gear. It s been built for hill climbing, so I’ve also fitted an electric fuel pump, Quaife LSD and heavy duty clutch,” Carl tells us, “currently the car has 174bhp, but weights very little, so it’s incredibly quick. I’ve been competing in a Mk2 Escort so far, but this should be a totally different experience”…

IN THE SPOTLIGHT REECE STAINTON FOCUS ST The Focus ST has long been the backbone show car of Squires since its inception, and we’ve seen numerous fine examples come and go in that time. Other than those classy Mondeo ST rims and Triple R splitter, this 2007 model belonging to Reece Stainton could outwardly appear to be a standard car, but underneath some major changes have taken place. “I’ve had the car six years and began adding mods, taking it to Stage 3,” Reece recalls, “once it had reached 360bhp with a hybrid turbo, a rod shot out of the block and I had to start again.” Undeterred, he had a forged engine built and upgraded all the running gear to RS-spec. An RS induction kit, mountune exhaust and bigger…

MUSTANG HISTORY CRAZY HORSES THE COMPLETE STORY OF THE MUSTANG After half a century as an all-American institution the Mustang is now making friends with Ford fans the world over – here’s how it got here… Words DAN TRENT Photos FORD There were Mustangs in the UK before Ford launched the current version. But up to this point you needed to be a proper die-hard, most likely with a music collection of country classics, a stars’n’stripes bandana and one of those American mailboxes at the end of the drive. You no longer need to go full American to appreciate the Mustang’s charms though and we’ve quickly taken the pony car to our hearts, fully embracing the tradition of tuning and personalisation that’s always been part of the story. Let’s backtrack…

FASTER FORDS NO.10 CAPRI 4X4 FORDS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN… Long, long before Ford fitted the 4x4 system to the Sierra to take it rallying, there were all-wheel-drive Capris competing in Rallycross, and Ford flirted with the idea of producing a road-going 4x4 version too.... Words GRAHAM ROBSON Photos FORD ARCHIVE No, this is not merely a rehash of the story of the ‘works’ rallycross cars, which competed from 1969 to 1971 and were often seen on British TV, but of the serious road-car programme which succeeded them. Even before the launch of the Capri, incidentally, Ford engineers had started serious development work on the use of the GKN-Ferguson four-wheel-drive system in Zephyrs and Zodiacs, for the police were extremely interested in this layout for their use in wintry conditions.…