Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Fast Ford

WHAT'S NEW FEBRUARY 17-18 FEBRUARY Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow Party The 02, London hotwheelsmonstertruckslive.com/event/london-uk-2022/ MARCH 22-24 MARCH Classic Car & Restoration Show NEC, Birmingham www.necrestorationshow.com/ 29-31 MARCH Festival of Power Santa Pod Raceway santapod.co.uk/festival-of-power APRIL 7 APRIL Squires Fordmeet Squires Café, nr Leeds www.facebook.com/SquiresFordmeet/ MAY 5 MAY BHP Show Kent County Showground https://bhpshows.com/pages/bhpperformance-show 11-12 MAY Retro Rides Weekender Goodwood Motor Circuit retroridesevents.com/weekender 12 MAY Classic Ford Show South of England Showground events.classicsworld.co.uk/classic-fordshow/ JUNE 28-30 JUNE Modified Nationals Lincoln Showground www.modifiednationals.co.uk/ JULY 6 JULY RS Combe Castle Combe Circuit www.rscombe.com/ 11-14 JULY Goodwood Festival of Speed Goodwood Motor Circuit www.goodwood.com/motorsport/festival-of-speed/ AUGUST 11 AUGUST Ford Fair Silverstone www.fordfair.co.uk 18 AUGUST Simply Ford Beaulieu https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/simply-ford/ ORGANISING A SHOW OR EVENT AND WANT IT LISTED HERE? Email us with the details –…

“None of this fits,” laughs Lewis Denslow, gazing admiringly at the vivid yellow Focus that's eaten up so much of his time over the last five years. “Absolutely everything under the skin has had to be modified, shortened or lengthened to work.” It's certainly been a labour of love. And while the idea of a pre-facelift Mk3 Focus 1.6 Titanium with an RS bodykit might not sound like cover feature material, this car has come a very, very long way from its humble shopperspec roots. Indeed, Lewis hasn't just got a little bit carried away with this – he's found himself consumed by the intricacies of what evolved into a ridiculously in-depth project, sourcing and customising all of the hardware from genuine Mk2 Focus Touring Cars and stuffing it all…

A lot of you will already be familiar with this car. If you're the sort of person who goes to modified car shows (and that's got to be about 95% of you, right?), you'll have seen this at some event or other. And it doesn't just turn up, it's there to take names – look at the windscreen, you can see that it's scooped the silverware at the Players Classic, Fitted UK, Tucked at the Museum, StillStatic and more… and that was just the 2022 show season. It had been evolving across the years for some time (we definitely remember seeing it with a sit-up-and-beg nosecone at Wheels Day 2015; that year it was the subject of a feature in Custom Car magazine, detailing its rebirth from rusty and unloved…

FAST FLEET GRANT BUTLER FORD COLLECTION Remember last month when I didn't touch or buy a car all month? Well, this month is the polar opposite… Every weekend and nights after work I've been working hard to get the ‘Monster’ RS changed over to be ‘Chaos’. Some people think it's sad to give your car names and I get it, but mine to me are part of the family – plus it's boring saying purple RS, yellow RS, or in this case now… the blue RS! As you can see I've gone to town again on this one. It was stripped back to its original bodywork under the old Blueprint digital wrap to the Ultimate Green; the old boot was taken off and sold to my good friend Rory, who…

The Modified Ford Series showed up in strength at the Ford Power Live event at Brands Hatch in the latter part of 2023, with entries requiring the creation of split grids: Classes SA, A, SB and B+ cars formed Group A, with classes B and C creating Group B. The great thing about this series is the diversity of machinery on track, with grid slots being fought over by everything from Anglias up to Focus RSs and every make and model of Ford in between! It was the RSR Escorts of Tommy Field and Lea Wood which dominated the results in Group A, however fumes in the cabin forced Field to retire in the first Group A race, which meant the hard-charging Mk2 Cortina of Josh Payton took second, with…

We've been conditioned by society to hate the Mustang II. It's one of those inescapable cultural tropes that gets passed from one generation to another without question, like slagging off The Godfather Part III or saying that Ringo was a crap drummer. But all of the ire and teeth-gnashing is unfair; in 2024, this widely unloved but quirky coupe offers a full-on assault of retro charm. And while the know-it-all who rolls into the local cars-and-coffee in a Saxondale-spec Mach I may be scathing in his criticisms, we have to remember that the Mustang II was a runaway success in its day. They shifted over 1.1-million of them over a four-year production run, and Motor Trend named it their Car of the Year for 1974; while the first-gen fastback may…

MK7 FIESTA ST180 Diving into the apex with kamikaze abandon, cocking a rear wheel in the air, front discs glowing amber, flames licking from the tailpipe – that's the natural home of this supremely hardcore track weapon. It was built by Connor Devine of Devine Autotech for a very specific purpose: he probably justifies it as a business endeavour, acting as a shop window for the skills and services of the company… but really, he built it just so that he could give it a hard time. Again and again, over and over, wringing its neck until it howls for mercy. Dedicated track cars always get kicked in the head, that's what they're for, but Connor's relationship with this brutal ST180 really is something else. “The car mainly gets used…

MK2 XR2 ZETEC TURBO The Steele family's long connection with Mk2 Fiestas began some thirty years ago, when Harry's dad Paul started racing them on his local oval circuit. “He raced in the Specials non-contact formula at Brampton Raceway for three decades on and off,” Harry remembers. “My dad soon figured out how to tune them up to compete with the opposition!” While Fiestas weren't the only model of car entered in the fast-paced 1600cc Specials category, they were often to be found at the front of the pack, consistently proving themselves to be the best tool for the job. “I'd seen my dad race numerous times and should have been inspired to join him,” he says, “but unfortunately that didn't happen as my main focus was fast motorbikes when…

WHERE BICESTER HERITAGE WHEN JANUARY 7TH Brass monkeys. Well, what else would we expect for the first weekend of January? Of course it was absolutely bloody freezing, but the good news was that it wasn't raining (as it had for the previous, ooh, hundred days or so, probably), and the winter sun brought all sorts of interesting machinery out of the nation's garages. The first Bicester Scramble of the year is always bound to pull in a wide and varied selection of automotive treats in impressive numbers; everyone's been in semi-hibernation over Christmas, awash with Baileys and Twiglets, so it's a great excuse to get out and do something car-related – plus it's arguably the only big show until the springtime. As such, Jan ‘24 enjoyed a stellar turnout, with…

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 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. In order for us to print your Ford please ensure all images…

MK2 FOCUS #KB43VER It's hard to believe more than a year has passed since the highly talented motorsport icon, Ken Block, tragically lost his life. On 2 January 2023, a day most of us were still nursing hangovers from New Years Eve, the sad news echoed around car-focused communities worldwide, leaving everyone in shock. We imagined Ken Block was a celebrity who'd still be showing off his skills for decades to come and if we hadn't already seen him in action close up, surely we were bound to have the opportunity later. But this was not to be, and his sudden passing was a cold reminder that no-one is invincible – not even the alltime greats. On a less bleak note, Ken did leave us with some incredible memories and…

FIESTA DISI CONCEPT Here's an interesting snapshot of something that could have been. Back in 2001, Ford rolled out a concept Fiesta running an all-new experimental Zetec S3 DISI engine. DISI stands for Direct Injection Spark Ignition, and this is an idea that had been successfully implemented by Mitsubishi back in 1996 with their GDI engines (which a lot of people mistakenly assumed were diesels, but it actually stood for Gasoline Direct Injection). In essence, the technical difference is in the preparation of the air/fuel mix, which happens not in the intake manifold, but directly inside the combustion chambers where the nozzles are pointed. A system of swirling airflow called inhomogeneous stratification ensures a more efficient burn, although that's too bloody complicated to get into here… Ford's idea was to…

2024 SHOW SEASON SHAPES UP This year is looking like it's set to be an all-time classic for shows and events. Things have been gradually ramping up across the board in the wake of the pandemic, and 2024 is going to see a calendar not just back to maximum capacity, but actually busier and more diverse than ever before. First and foremost, we have to talk about Ford Fair. We're really excited about this one; returning once again to Silverstone on August 11th, the thirty-eighth running of Ford Fair is going to see a bunch of important Blue Oval milestones celebrated, for the Capri and Mustang as well as the Mondeo ST200 and T25 EsCos… the two we're particularly keen to showcase are the 40th anniversary of the Escort RS…

TWIN ESCORT COSWORTHS The fabulously pristine Cosworths you're seeing here are essentially a real-world manifestation of a number of colliding childhood dreams. Owned by a pair of lifelong Ford enthusiasts, Matthew Pearce and Tarron Reeves, they offer a satisfyingly similar and yet tastefully unique take on the timeless Escort RS Cosworth profile, distilling their collective formative enthusiasms for performance motoring in general and Cossies in particular. Both cars retain the core touchpoints of what is, let's face it, a rapidly appreciating and valuable modern classic, each one a cherry-picked example found in clean original condition with low mileage and desirable spec, and enjoyed as intended rather than mothballed to accrue value. These are proper enthusiasts, with proper cars. “As a spotty teen boy racer, I spent much of my time…

MK8.5 FIESTA ST We all remember the lockdowns, right? That strange era which evoked tones of existential nihilism across the globe; this being said, however, en masse dread wasn't always on the menu. Especially within the realm of car enthusiasts, the once-in-alifetime blessing of seemingly unlimited free time to tinker away on our project cars ready for pastures greener on the other side was quite the tantalising offer. This is the precise conundrum Lewis Armstrong found himself in with this freshly delivered Mk8.5 ST. The brand-new hot hatch, and the maximalist no-stone-left-unturned attitude to ownership Lewis pursued, has given him an awfully nice example. Filled with aftermarket goodies ranging from subtle stylistic changes to full-on fast road modifications more akin to a track-built car. Lewis's quick Ford story doesn't start…

HISTORY OF THE CAR It was originally built by Jason Watkins, who raced it in the BARC Southeast Saloon Car Championship – in which he took the title in 2004. I bought the car in the winter of 2019, and after a light refresh raced it in 2020. During 2021 I switched the engine from a CVH unit to a 2.0-litre Zetec plucked from a scrapyard! I was lucky to win the BOSS championship in 2020 after a close battle with Malcom Harding. FAVOURITE RACE SERIES AND WHY? I'm a huge BTCC fan, I like the racing and the characters involved. WHAT GOT YOU INTO RACING, AND HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT IT? Always been a big fan of cars and motorsport. Fifteen years ago I met Jon Flanigan at Race…

FF TECH THROTTLE BODIES Throttle bodies are designed to improve the flow and increase the amount of air/fuel mixture entering the combustion chamber. The more air/fuel you can get in and out of an engine, and the quicker you can do this, the more power that engine will make. That's the basics of all car tuning. The engineering involved to produce a set of throttle bodies is immensely complicated. There are a number of factors that need to be taken into consideration to produce the perfect set of throttle bodies for a specific application. Whacking a set of motorbike bodies onto a huge, lazy V8 is never going to work. Neither is bolting a huge set onto a little, high-revving three-pot. To get a better understanding of exactly how throttle bodies…