Innehållsförteckning för April 2020 från Classic Ford

FRONTEND YOUR EYE ON THE WORLDWIDE CLASSIC FORD SCENE BULLITT MUSTANG SELLS FOR RECORD £2.88M Arguably the most famous movie car of all time is now also one of the most expensive. The original Highland Green 1968 Mustang GT Fastback, driven by Steve McQueen in the iconic movie Bullitt, sparked a bidding war to sell for $3.74m (£2.88m) at Mecum’s sale in Florida, USA on January 10. The no-reserve auction took place in front of a huge crowd at the Osceola Heritage Park, with bidding started at a mere $3500 because that’s the figure it raised the only two times it had been sold previously – most recently in 1974. This quickly climbed, though it looked as if $2.55m was the ceiling until a burst of bids saw it climb…

RUSTY CORNER Terminally-rotten old Fords Reader, Kevin Greenwood has spent much of the winter dodging the UK weather by travelling around south-easy Asia, but despite being distracted by the sights and sounds, his classic Ford radar was firmly switched-on, with Kevin clocking this critter in Kanchanaburi in the west of Thailand. Over to Kev: “As you can see, this Escort has seen better days, and it’s been fitted with strange rear lights, but it’s more than saveable.” Spotted an unloved Ford on your travels? Email photos and details of your find to classicford.ed@kelsey. co.uk or you can write to us at the address over on page 5.…

WHERE TO GO IN MARCH Classic Car & Restoration Show When: Friday to Sunday, March 27-29 Where: NEC, Birmingham UK What’s going on: The Classic Car & Restoration Show is a great way to kick-start the classic car season – with the indoor venue making it weather-proof. The event brings together 1000 cars on display, 250 exhibitors and autojumblers including restoration companies, services providers and product suppliers; car auction, celebrities, car competitions and practical workshops on restoration skills. The highlights are the 150 club stands where the majority work on a number of projects over the weekend, with a view to getting them up and running by the end of the show. Find out more: www.necrestorationshow.com…

MK1 FIESTA One VISION Marc Rennie’s searing pocket-rocket sets a new standard for topflight Fiesta builds. With the encouragement of his Ford-loving friends, he’s built the no-compromise Mk1 of his dreams. Photos Adrian Brannan Words Daniel Bevis “I OFFERED TO BUY IT, GOT IT AT A GOOD PRICE AND THAT WAS IT I’D LANDED MYSELF A FIESTA PROJECT!” There are a number of criteria that can imbue a car with an adventurous vibe, usually in the area of the traditional grand-tourer: squidgy seats, mattress-like suspension, high-end audio. But not this Fiesta. Look at it from dead-on rear, and what do you notice? No, not the wide track, or the fat rubber, or the rollcage… it’s the fact that it’s only got one seat. Marc Rennie is on a very personal…

HIT THE ROAD Five awesome roadtrips — in the UK and beyond — to experience in 2020 in five different classic Fords. Let’s do this! Have classic Ford, will travel far. That’s a practice we’ve always preached at Classic Ford, and helped many make a reality, too — our Classic Ford Tours have been running for an incredible 22 years (see page 44) and hundreds of you have joined us on them. Whether it’s the breakfast run, or a continental dash, there’s nothing quite like a roadtrip in your Ford. Sure, there’s a great deal of satisfaction — and fun — in the build or restoration but when push comes to shove, it’s pretty pointless owning one if you’re not going to use it. So with our favourite time of…

HOMEBUILT HERO INHERITED STEALTH Original panels, a 3-litre V6, and 42 years of father-son ownership make this Mk3 Cortina a softly-spoken family legacy. Words Emma Woodcock Photos Adrian Brannan So many petrolheads remember the family cars that shaped childhoods. We rote-learned the numberplates, soaped up the bodywork on a Sunday and dreamed of the day we’d have wheels of our own… Jeff Smith is just the same: he was entranced from the very first time his Dad drove home in a 1973 Mk3 Cortina L. “I just loved it,” he remembers. “Dad used to spend hours polishing it, then I went on a mechanics’ course as a teenager and learnt how to pull out, rebuild and reinstall its Pinto engine.” Four decades later, he’s still not finished with that engine…

EXPERT CLINIC TROUBLE WITH YOUR FORD ? SEND IN YOUR QUERY AND WE'LL SORT IT OUT CAN’T GAUGE Q I’m in the fourth year of restoring my 1978 Mk2 Mexico and it’s nearly finished. The problem is I’ve put my clocks back in and the petrol gauge will not go over halfway, even when it’s full, and I have no temperature gauge at all. I’ve replaced the sender with a genuine Ford one but it still doesn’t work. I’ve rebuilt the 1.6 Pinto but don’t know what temperature it’s running at. Could you tell me if the instrument cluster is broken or is it something else? Simon Jackson UK A The most likely reason is that the instrument voltage stabiliser (Ford calls it a voltage divider) has either failed or…

How to Replace A-panels It’s a guaranteed rot-spot on most ’60s and ’70s Fords, so follow along as we replace rusty metal for fresh on a Mk1 Escort. They’re not as young as they used to be, so it’s not surprising that neglected classic Fords usually suffer from serious structural corrosion. Areas that rot and rust really love are the ones at the back of the front wing cavities, natural targets for the salt and mud thrown up by the wheels. This unwanted rubbish lands on the splash panels, bases of the front door support pillars and the A panels just ahead of them. To check the extent of the damage, wire-brush off any mud and use a strong light to look under the front wings. Check the areas from…

LIKE YOUR CAR! TIM HOLMES With last year’s Classic Ford Show only two weeks away, Tim Holmes left Graeme and his team with a very tight deadline to rebuild his Escort. The bare shell had already been restored and resprayed, but the remainder of the build was left for GSE to carry out. This included fitting the 2-litre Pinto, twin 45 Webers, the wiring, lights, suspension, bushes, brakes, gearbox, flywheel and the rest! With 135 bhp on tap, a beaming Tim was able to make it to the Classic Ford Show in his freshly-built Mk1 just in the nick of time!…

PARTING SHOT LOOKING TO THE PAST ONE CLASSIC IMAGE AT A TIME TAKE IT TO THE BRIDGE Eric Jackson and Ken Chambers skirt around the Sydney Harbour bridge in September 1963 in their pre-production Corsair GT. Halfway into their attempt to journey around the world in 40 days, this mammoth roadtrip was a publicly stunt dreamt up by Ford’s then PR guru, Walter Hayes to help promote the launch of the new Corsair. Did they manage it? Almost... — after a head-on with a water buffalo in India, and breaking the axle in Iran after being forced off the road, the duo eventually made it back to the UK in 43 days and 5 hours, covering 29,991 miles through 13 countries.…

Welcome It won’t last of course, but as we’re putting this issue to bed, the sun’s out, the birds are chirping away, and in garages and lock-ups all over this land, dust sheets are being pulled off classic Fords in readiness for Spring and a return to the great open road. There isn’t much that can top a cracking roadtrip — especially if it’s in a classic Ford. Whether it’s a half-hour escape up the road one evening, or a weekend-long dash that involves at least one ferry crossing, the B-road is where it all comes together. And if you’re looking for a suitable end destination for that roadtrip, can we suggest the Classic Ford Show at Mallory Park Circuit on Sunday, June 7? Advance tickets for Europe’s biggest classic…

FORDFEST IS BACK! FordFest, the end of season finale, now has a new home. This year the event moves to the superb Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire and will take place on Sunday, September 27 with a new organiser at the helm — Live Promotions. The move to a new home means fans will be able to enjoy a 0-60 sprint strip and a standing 1 km challenge, Ford-only Hot Rod head-to-head and Ford-only rally cars taking to the dedicated skid pan. Live Promotions are also promising thousands of club cars, a huge retail village, show and shine competitions and featured anniversary displays. Find out more or book your club stand or entry tickets at www.fordsfestshow.co.uk…

PRODUCT THE LATEST, GREATEST BITS FOR YOUR CLASSIC FORD NEW YEAR, ALL THE GEAR Our pick of the products from Autosport International 1. RP-1 BRAKE PADS Price: tbc EBC Brakes debuted its new, flagship race and track day brake pads at Autosport. Two years in the making, EBC claim the carbon kevlar pads are capable of temperatures and stability rarely seen in performance brakes, and offer longer wear life under race conditions, and stable and repeatable braking lap after lap. The pads feature stainless steel back-plates, and are currently available for various Wilwood and AP Racing callipers, with the application list increasing all the time. From: EBC Brakes, https://ebcbrakes.com 2. FAST ROAD-SPEC FRONT STRUT ASSEMBLIES Price: €990.68 Why build up a pair of struts when you can buy them complete…

MK1 ESCORT IMMACULATE CONCEPT RetroTek’s Chris Bailey could have built an RS-replica or a rally car with his two-door 1300 project. But he does that all day for his customers; for his own project, he wanted to create a road-trippin’ Escort GT like no other. Words Daniel Bevis Photos Adrian Brannan It’s a truth often told that there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Naturally, we’d rather you left the felines alone and focused on building cool old Fords instead, and that’s precisely what Chris Bailey’s been up to with this 1971 two-door. Now, much like with our furry chums, there are many approaches to take with a Mk1 Escort, but it’s fair to say that Chris (channelling his years of expertise, and holding the reins at RetroTek…

IT’S BETTER WITH FRIENDS Don’t want to go it alone? Here are five organised roadtrips with convoy potential. The Classic Ford Tour Our annual tour, organised by Scenic Car Tours, takes in a different route and location every year, but for 2020 we return to Jersey for it’s world-renowned International Motoring Festival. Featuring a heady mix of classic motorsport action, top-notch displays and a festival atmosphere, the island gives itself over to the lure of four — and two wheels — over the weekend, and this year we’re forming part of it. As well as superb road runs (this year put together by tour regular and classic Ford nut, Paul Brown), the Classic Ford Tours are above all about getting together with likeminded Ford fans and having a great time.…

FORD’S SIX-CYLINDER For British buyers, the Mk3 Cortina range topped out with the 2000E and its 2-litre, four-cylinder Pinto. Enterprising racer, Jeff Uren filled the go-faster niche with his Essex V6-powered Cortina Savage creations but some markets did receive official six-cylinder Cortinas. Australia equipped the family saloon with the 3.3 and 4.1 litre straight-six engines from the larger Falcon model, while South Africa followed the same route as our feature car and fitted 2.5 and 3-litre variants of the Essex V6, creating the Big Six (above).…

MOTORSPORT CLASSIC FORDS FLAT-OUT ON THE STAGE, STRIP AND TRACK East is East With the performance capabilities of the venerable YB tested and found wanting, serial Escort-tweaker Adrian Hall opted to look to the Far East for engine inspiration for his Mk2 track stars. Words Jamie Arkle Photos Adrian Brannan “BOTH ESCORTS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED TO AN IMMENSELY HIGH STANDARD AND TO A DEGREE IT WOULD’VE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE JUST A FEW YEARS AGO” You’ll struggle to find a better visual representation of the sheer versatility of the Mk2 Escort formula than the two cars shown here, both the product of Adrian Hall. The box-arched black car will likely need no introduction to longtime mag readers, but it says much about the flexibility of the concept of the modified…

THE SPECIALIST GS ESCORTS After a devastating fire late last year, GS Escorts are back up and running in record time thanks to a huge amount of support. We head along to the open day to help celebrate. Words Jon Cass Photos Jon Cass, Adrian Brannan Many readers will be aware of the fire that devastated the Widnes premises of long-running specialist, GS Escorts (GSE) last October. With 90 per cent of its stock lost along with tools, machinery and a couple of cars, the average business owner may feel like giving up in such a situation, but Graeme Worthington and his team weren’t going to let that stop them and within an incredibly short space of time they’re back in business at new premises in nearby Runcorn. To show…

buyer’s guide: sapphire cosworth 4x4 BUYER’S GUIDE SAPPHIRE COSWORTH 4X4 Now 30 years’ old, the 4x4 Cosworth is the perfect tool for a classic B-road blast. Here’s what to look for. Words ChristianTilbury Photos Jon Cass “ARRIVING IN 1990, THE SAPPHIRE COSWORTH 4X4 OWED ITS EXISTENCE TO FORD’S MOTORSPORT AMBITIONS” Like many of its RS predecessors, the Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 4x4 owed its existence to Ford’s motorsport ambitions. Born out of the manufacturer’s desire to literally keep up with rally rivals, the all-wheel drive Sierra arrived in road-going form in January 1990. To the uninitiated, the new Cosworth didn’t look that different to the outgoing, rear-wheel-drive version, the 4x4 sharing the same four-door bodyshell and Ghiabased interior. Those who gave the latest Cosworth a second glance might have noticed the…

your projects: escort rs1600i BAHN STORMER Your projects: Old RS1600i race cars don’t die, they just get turned into awesome road cars. At least if Guido Pitzen has anything to do with them... Words Simon Woolley Photos Ade Brannan Car: ex-Group A RS1600i Start condition: rolling shell Condition now: in final stages of rebuild Estimated date of completion: April 2020 Name: Guido Pitzen Age: 54 Job: motorsport engineer Location: North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany If there’s anyone else out there more dedicated to finding, saving and rebuilding original Group A Mk3 Escort race cars then we’ve yet to meet them. Guido Pitzen aka Professor Futzemann has been rolling some incredible restorations out of his impressive home workshop near Cologne in Germany for some years now, ready to return to the historic race…

CALLING ALL CLUBS! JOIN US AT THE CLASSIC FORD SHOW There’s no better way to experience Classic Ford Show than having an allocated club area inside the show. As well as discounted entry tickets, club stand members can beat the traffic with access to the show hours before the public, and there are exclusive discounts on camping available, too. Club stands must have a minimum of five cars — to book your club stand go to www.classicfordshow.co.uk/club-ticket, or to register your club email classicfordshow@kelsey.co.uk or call 07375 554420. The Classic Ford Show takes place at Mallory Park Circuit on Sunday, June 7. For discounted advance tickets and track time go to: www.classicfordshow.co.uk…

WIN! A set of classic Pirelli Cinturato tyres courtesy of Longstone! For the ultimate roadtrip you need the ultimate set of high-performance yet era-correct tyres, and thanks to Longstone Classic Tyres you could be in with a chance of winning a set of five Pirelli Cinturato CN36s worth up to £599! The Pirelli Cinturato CN36 is a classic radial tyre originally introduced in 1968 and subsequently fitted to many sporting Ford of the 1970s — so perfect for your on-point Escort, Capri or Cortina restoration. Now reintroduced, Pirelli has ensured it complements the chassis design of these cars — lightweight rear-wheel-drive Fords with progressive handling. Longstone Classic Tyres are giving away a set of five CN36s, in either 185/70VR13 or 175/70VR13 to one lucky reader. To be in with a…

MK2 ZEPHYR BLOOD AND THUNDER Beneath its blood-red flanks, this big-power Zephyr is bringing the thunder from Down Under with its force-induced V8 rumble. Words Daniel Bevis Photos Ben Hosking Look at the way this Zephyr sits. Glorious, isn’t it? A magnificent specimen of Ford of Britain’s Americanised styling of the 1950s, resplendent in its trademark two-tone paint. Its gait is elegant yet purposeful, something exaggerated no end when you double-take at the rear wheels and realise that they’re full-on dragster-spec, each one a clear foot across and shod in Hoosier Pro Streets specifically formulated for smokeshows. Indeed, the whole car is full of Easter eggs for aficionados; those paint colours didn’t come out of the factory that way back in 1959, you’re actually looking at a more modern Ford…

classic ford’s project cars Mike’s Mk1 Fiesta It’s landmark moment in Mike’s Mk1 Fiesta rebuild as the new engine fires up for the first time — though not without putting up a fight. What’s been done this month: Fitted the braided brake lines, bodged the wiring to get it to fire up, fired it up, realised why it’s called a ‘boom tube’ exhaust... Next on the to-do list: Redo the wiring loom, start putting it all back together for the last time, buy some ear defenders Thanks to: Zak at Power Engineering for helping me out, 01895 255699 Think Automotive for the brake lines, 020 8568 1172, www.thinkauto. com Ignition Advantages for the MAP sensor, 07788 848180 There are many big milestones to achieve when building up a project car.…

UNSPRUNG HEROES MANUFACTURER SUPPORT That Adrian has been building the black track car over such a long, three-decade-long span of time means that both he and the car have seen the wider Ford and club motorsport scene change beyond all recognition. One of the key ways is technology, which stands to reason; after all, who reading this is still waxing lyrical about the state-of-the-art damper tech we first utilised three decades ago? The result is that Adrian has found himself pairing with a string of firms with towering reputations within their respective markets. Both 3J Driveline (the firm will be the car’s principle sponsor in 2020) and Nitron Racing Systems (“As good as Ohlins, but at a fraction of the price”) are on board, and both have either tailored their…

MOTORSPORT CLASSIC FORDS FLAT-OUT ON THE STAGE, STRIP AND TRACK WORLD OF SPORT Thousands headed to Autosport International to banish the New Year blues last month. These are the classic Ford-shaped highlights. Words and Photos Simon Woolley CONTACT Autosport International www.autosportinternational.com…

THE BODY AND PAINT SIDE JV RESTORATIONS JV Restorations (07817 555236) first became associated with GSE around four years ago when Graeme asked JV proprietor, John Vagianos if he was able to restore a couple of Escort shells for customers. “JV had been trading since 1999 and I was impressed by the standard of their work. As they were located right next door, it made sense to be able to pass any metalwork, fabrication, prepping and paintwork services on to them for our customers, “ Graeme explains. “We could supply the parts and panels and carry out the remainder of a full, ground-up rebuild effectively all on one site.” Luckily, JV managed to escape the fire last year, but are set to move into premises in Runcorn very soon right…