Innehållsförteckning för March 2023 från Fast Ford

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE! Happy new year fellow Ford fans. As the first issue to land in 2023, let me start by wishing you all a very prosperous new year. I’m confident this year will be yet another awesome year for the Blue Oval fan, and there’s certainly some big changes coming in next 12 months for Fast Ford readers to enjoy, but more on that next month. For now, with the festive period behind us and the days and evenings starting to draw out again, we can start looking ahead to getting out in our cars again. In fact, our show dates diary (page 18) is already starting to fill up quite nicely, and has recently been bolstered by the announcement that Ford Fair once again returns to Silverstone on…

Prices for sought-after classic fast Fords are continuing to climb, despite the current economic situation the country faces. A 1983 Escort RS1600i sold for a record £40,250 at a recent Car & Classic auction, which comes after a handful of fast Fiestas all commanded premium prices in 2021 and 2022. Furthermore, Car & Classic says that the Ford Escort was the second most searched-for model in Q3 of 2022, proving that despite the current cost-of-living crisis, the demand for fast Fords is still very much alive.…

Some ideas are so good, so intelligent and intriguing, that they transcend the ages. Take the two Courier vans we have here: both have been refitted with the running gear and interior from the revered Mk7 Fiesta ST – one by a 22-year-old upstart, the other by a 51-year-old veteran. In each instance, the idea was along the same lines: to create something practical for day-to-day work while also being properly rapid and entertaining to drive. Perhaps the more unassuming of the pair belongs to Lewis Higham, as it’s fully signwritten for his work. Sure, people like us will instantly clock the Mk1 Focus RS wheels and lower-slung stance, but to the average bystander it is quite simply, well, a van. Lewis explains, “I own a garage and specialise in…

SUBARU EJ20 INTO MK1 FIESTA OWNER: CHRIS TODD Like so many crazy projects, Chris’s Fiesta is the result of years of evolution rather than a single wacky idea from the outset. The project started running a big-power CVH engine, but then Chris decided to move that to the rear of the car for better traction when drag racing. Fast Ford readers will know Chris for his tuning work with Blue Ovals, but the man is also a bit of legend in the Jap-tuning scene, so his decision to swap the CVH for the closed-deck EJ20 engine from a Subaru WRX should come as little surprise. With the thumping flat-four mounted, Chris promptly tuned it to over 500bhp. Putting the power down is effectively a modified front-wheel-drive version of the Impreza’s…

QUICK SPEC ■ Mondeo 2.5T ■ 19in Rotiform alloys ■ R888R tyres ■ Scorpion exhaust ■ custom wrap ■ PB coilovers ■ Airtec intercooler ■ EBC four-pot front callipers ■ Ramair filter and crossover ■ Corbeau bucket seats ■ Luke harnesses ■ Helix organic clutch upgrade ■ BD Performance block mod The Mondeo is still in the North West of the country, where it has been for the last few weeks. It made its way up to BD Performance, where the crew installed a much-needed heavy-duty Helix organic clutch and single-mass flywheel upgrade. That was followed by one of BD’s acclaimed block mods, plus a few other tweaks to make sure everything was in tip-top shape. Then, before making its way back down to our South West base, the guys…

NAME THOMAS ‘RUSTY SLIDER’ SIMPSON CAR MK1 ESCORT ESTATE RACE SERIES DRIFT LEAGUE UK HISTORY OF THE CAR “I bought the shell from Trig Bishop to replace my old Ford Pop drift car, which was beginning to show its age. “As it was a cool unique car, it fitted my personality and build criteria well, and after chatting to Trig I realised that this was the car for me. I wasn’t intending to buy a new car and I was planning to run the Pop for one more year, but, as soon as I saw the Escort, I had to buy it. “Between my friends Jamie and Steve, we soon had a lockdown build underway. Although the Escort is already on the track competing, it’s still in development. But I…

WHY YOU WANT ONE… ■ For a Rallye Sport Ford, the Fiesta is surprisingly inexpensive to buy and own – it’s much cheaper than a similar Escort RS Turbo but features superior electronic engine management. It’s rarer too. ■ RS badging (despite not wearing it in Europe) and its fanatical following assures you won’t lose out on your investment – so your money’s safe, even if you indulge in the full restoration a tired example will need. ■ Still quick and extremely tuneable (at a price), the Fiesta RS Turbo gives endless oldschool torque-steering thrills until both front tyres have burst. WHY YOU DON’T… ■ Finding a decent RS Turbo can be incredibly tricky. Just 4183 were UK-registered, most of which were abused, wrecked and thrown away. ■ Rust and…

When we first spotted Adrian Till’s 1985 RS Turbo, we had a feeling it would be hiding something a little out-of-the-ordinary under the bonnet: the wider track, semi-slick tyres, big brakes and roll cage told us this is no average Series One. What we weren’t expecting was a Cosworth YB with 450bhp sent to the rear wheels. Yes, this is still a Mk3 Escort, but not as you know it. Adrian has been a huge fan of the Blue Oval for as long as he can remember. Aged 21 he was cruising around in a Mk2 Escort RS2000, and soon he’d progressed to Sierra Cosworths, including a lairy three-door. By then, Adrian had become a regular at RSOC track days, and was well-and-truly hooked. “I had an E46 BMW M3…

Having a little project car to tinker with is an enjoyable prospect for most people. The idea of buying a fixer-upper and then transforming it with either a mild or wild freshen-up is a rewarding experience. For many that would usually mean finding an abandoned old-school Ford, or perhaps giving a new lease of life to a broken ST or RS, but for Tom Blackwood the idea of a project car was a little different. Tom is well-known in the Ford world, having owned and built several high-profile, crazy-specification Fords that he’s not afraid to use properly. So, when Tom happened to come across this tired Fiesta track car, previously built to full rallycross specification, he took the chance to build a car to fulfil his gymkhana dreams. “It’s very…

Inspired by Ford’s all-wheel-drive WRC Fiesta, Terry Hough had a vision to build a fully kitted-out replica ripe for a rally stage. But during the build his rallying plans were ditched and the project took a different direction – resulting in a 420bhp Mitsubishi Evo-powered stock-looking road-going Fiesta. Needless to say, it creates quite a stir... We first saw Terry’s crazy Fiesta at a very busy Oval Owners’ club meet; as it cruised into the car park at a sedate pace, people barely paid any attention to the TDCi-badged Mk7 – and that’s the whole point of this car. As sleepers go, this Fiesta must be one of the most discreet and unsuspecting examples we’ve ever seen. But once the bonnet was opened, a crowd quickly formed. And, of course,…

The Fiesta ST is now driving brilliantly. The Mountune m235 upgrade I recently installed delivers extra power and torque and is really smooth in its delivery. That, along with the stiffer lowering springs and new wheel and tyre combo, makes the ST very positive to drive. This is my daily driver, but I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to take the car on track when Mountune teamed up with MSV Trackdays for a Ford-only event at my local track, Brands Hatch. Many years ago – when I was eight years old – Iused to come here with my folks. It was those trips that got me into cars and started my love for photography, so those memories made the experience extra special when I found myself driving the Fiesta around…

Although often recited as an all-American success, Carroll Shelby’s story – and the creation of Shelby American – has many connections to the United Kingdom. Carroll Shelby influenced Ford’s global ‘Total Performance’ initiative of the early 1960s in parallel with Colin Chapman and Alan Mann. Shelby fans had two significant anniversaries for both the Shelby company and the man himself in their diaries for 2022 and 2023. Firstly, 2022 marked 60 years since the original Shelby Automobiles company was formed on the 17th of August, 1962: the company Shelby started to build and sell his Ford-engined, AC-chassis sports cars in Venice, California. More recently, on 11th January 2023, the world celebrated what would have been Shelby’s 100th birthday. In October 2022, midway between these two important anniversary dates, the Las…

Adding water to a petrol-fuelled engine may sound like a recipe for disaster, but it’s a practice that’s been going on for over 50 years. The principle behind it is to remove unwanted heat from the combustion process, and therefore aid engine cooling. In a performance engine, a massive amount of heat is produced when the air/ fuel mixture combusts. The piston bears the brunt of this heat, and in many standard engines is kept cool by the introduction of the unburnt air/fuel mixture (which itself has a cooling effect) and by conducting the heat through to the underside of the piston, which is constantly quenched by the engine oil (and is why some performance engines have piston-cooling oil jets), and also into the cylinder walls, which are kept cool…

INDIGO F ord has something of a history of producing mental one-off concept cars to show off its design skills and manufacturing abilities. We’ve featured more than a few on these very pages over the years, and the Indigo project from 1996 is just another example of Ford demonstrating to the rest of the world what it was capable of. Only two Indigos were ever built: one fullyfunctioning running example, and one purely show car. The non-runner was auctioned off a few years ago, but it’s believed Ford still owns the original running example. The Indigo was built as an IndyCar for the road and was designed in conjunction with single-seater specialist Reynard Motorsport. It boasted all the latest materials and was built using all the highest-tech construction processes, and…

You may have thought you’d seen the last of this mid-2010s supercar, but now it’s back, and wilder than ever before. Introducing the Ford GT Mk IV. Extreme track-only supercars have emerged as a slightly bonkers consumer trend for the world’s ultra-wealthy petrolheads. Cars such as the Aston Martin Vulcan AMR Pro, McLaren Senna GTR, and De Tomaso P900 are becoming more common as time goes by. Now, it’s Ford’s turn to get in on the act. The result of their efforts is this: the Ford GT Mk IV. It’s a name that’ll be familiar to Blue Oval aficionados, having first been used on an evolution of the original Ford GT in 1967. That car was a masterclass in how to unleash a vehicle’s potential, which is fitting, considering that Multimatic…

BURTON POWER FIESTA ST REAR NEGATIVE CAMBER PLATE KIT £101.95 Sometimes the simplest upgrades are the most effective, and that certainly appears to be the case with Burton’s new rear camber plate kit for the Mk7 Fiesta ST. Fitted between the rear wheel hub and rear beam, these plates give an extra 1.5 degrees of negative camber, which helps optimise the tyre’s contact patch during hard cornering. Burton says this simple upgrade will improve the handling and steering response, as well as giving you more confidence in the corners, especially on track. For more details, speak to Burton Power. www.burtonpower.com WEBCON TWIN WEBER IDF INLET MANIFOLD FOR PINTO £390.20 Webcon has just released its own production manifolds for fitting twin Weber IDF carbs to a Pinto engine. Fully cast and…

2023 FEBRUARY 24-26 FEBRUARY RACE RETRO Stoneleigh Park, Coventry. www.raceretro.com MARCH 24-26 MARCH CLASSIC CAR & RESTORATION SHOW NEC, Birmingham. www.necrestorationshow.com APRIL 9 APRIL FORDMEET START OF SEASON EVENT Squires Cafe, Leeds. www.facebook.com/groups/fordmeet MAY 14 MAY CLASSIC FORD SHOW Ardingly, West Sussex https://classicsworld.co.uk/classic-ford-show 21 MAY ISLE OF WIGHT TAKEOVER Royal County Show Ground, Isle of Wight www.iowtakeover.co.uk 21 MAY SIMPLY FORD Beaulieu, New Forest, Hampshire. www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/simply-ford/ JUNE 24 JUNE RS COMBE Castle Combe, Wiltshire. www.rscombe.com JULY 16 JULY THE FORD SHOW Santa Pod Raceway, Northants. https://santapod.co.uk/the-ford-show.php AUGUST 13 AUGUST FORD FAIR 2023 Silverstone circuit, Northamptonshire. https://events.fastcar.co.uk/ford-fair 19 AUGUST RSOC NATIONAL DAY Donington Park, Derby www.rsownersclub.co.uk/rsoc-national-day 25-27 AUGUST THE CLASSIC Silverstone circuit, Northamptonshire. www.silverstone.co.uk/events/the-classic ORGANISING A SHOW OR EVENT AND WANT IT LISTED HERE? Email us with the details – fastford.ed@kelsey.…

There is an ever-increasing portfolio of companies these days making megabucks from reimagining classic cars of the Eighties and Nineties. Alfa Romeos, E30 M3s, Delta Integrales and even 22B Imprezas are now being turned out via this modern-day phenomenon of restoring an old car, putting in some modern tech, presenting it with some pretentious marketing spiel and charging anything from £250,000 to over £500,000 for the result. Some of us are old enough to remember that only five minutes ago these types of creations were simply called resto-mods and wouldn’t require prospective owners to have a Monaco postcode. Back in the real world, Simon Palmer is a builder. From Essex. As down-to-earth as they come. But he has put together one of the best ‘reimagined’ Fords we’ve ever seen –…

p60 JASON FIESTA ST MK8 Jason’s been putting all the recent upgrades to the ultimate test as he joined Mountune for a track day at Brands Hatch. DAN FOCUS ST250 The Focus is in daily service, but how long before Dan commissions a 1/43 scale model of his beloved estate? DALE RANGER KING CAB The chassis is back from the blasters and has been given the thumbs up: now the custom fabrication can begin. Full update next time. p58 FAST FORD REP TO RACE CAR MONDEO Power! The Mondeo finally hits the rollers at Collins Performance for a custom remapping session. And the results are in. ADE SAPPHIRE COSWORTH With the Saph finally back on the road, Ade has been out enjoying it as often as he can, despite the…

The Focus has been a mainstay in Ford tuning circles for a quarter of a century, but its days are numbered. With production switching to EVs, the Focus will end production in 2025, going the same way as other fan favourites like the Fiesta and Mondeo. That’s a shame because, since the Focus first arrived in 1998, it has continued to develop and get better and better. That means the latest Mk4 Focus ST is the best of the breed. Its styling and five-door-only bodyshell may lack the sporty image of earlier Focus STs, but the technology, driving experience, and build quality of the Mk4 more than make up for the grown-up image. In fact, it’s precisely the inconspicuous nature of the Mk4 that appeals to many owners. It means…

H osting a rolling road shoot-out and simultaneous show-andshine event for dedicated Blue Ovals sounds like a great combination, so when Aaron Blore invited us to attend the first such event by Midlands Ford Enthusiasts, we didn’t want to miss out. Aaron is no stranger to hosting meets but after a decade of running Midlands Scoobies events, last year he decided to head back to his roots – to where it all began – with Ford. “I set up Midlands Ford Enthusiasts to help get us all out socialising again after lockdown. The club’s popularity has grown quickly and we now have 3400 members, with around 150 cars attending our regular meets at the Griffin’s Head in Papplewick, Nottingham,” he says. This rapid success led to Aaron taking the ambitious…