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Post by Jamie on Jun 26, 2018 17:32:40 GMT
I know many of us on here are big Gordon Murray fans so I’d thought I’d let you know about a series of YT videos I’ve been following.....
Basically, Gordon Murray is having a renowned car builder / restorer build a modified Mk1 Ford Escort for Gordon’s personal use and the company are documenting the build in detail on YT.
The company are called Retropower and I think there have been 7 videos in the series so far.......it’s rather excellent I think and gives an insight into all the little touches Gordon wants.......I must say, the chap has impeccable taste!
They are doing an outstanding job of the car so it’s well worth a look if you think it’ll be of interest 👍. Link below:
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Post by charleselan on Jun 26, 2018 22:29:33 GMT
I know many of us on here are big Gordon Murray fans so I’d thought I’d let you know about a series of YT videos I’ve been following..... Basically, Gordon Murray is having a renowned car builder / restorer build a modified Mk1 Ford Escort for Gordon’s personal use and the company are documenting the build in detail on YT. The company are called Retropower and I think there have been 7 videos in the series so far.......it’s rather excellent I think and gives an insight into all the little touches Gordon wants.......I must say, the chap has impeccable taste! They are doing an outstanding job of the car so it’s well worth a look if you think it’ll be of interest 👍. Link below: Darn right Jamie, it certainly is of interest. What could be better than a Mk1 Escort, just a brilliant little car, i doubt Ford have made a better or more loved car. I will now follow this with great interest. Many thanks indeed. |
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Post by mikael on Jun 27, 2018 3:41:45 GMT
Thanks a lot, Jamie; very interesting.
I agree that the Ford Escort was/is a good car. My first car was a 1975 Escort Mk. II. It was originally an 1100cc model - in which I mounted a 'Pinto' 2000cc from a (crashed) Ford Taunus. So it was 'almost' (basically) an RS2000 engine with an "1100 gearbox" - and with that low gearing it took off like a rocket! (Of course something like that was not strictly legal: anyway ... It was in the early 80's, before I resolved I'd better go back to school; in the days where my whole world revolved around motor sport and motorcycles and cars. )
As one viewer notes on YouTube, it's interesting that the car Gordon Murray - a man who has been the responsible designer of "super cars" - really desires is a Ford Escort Mk. I.
Not to "rain on the parade", but when seeing some of these videos, one thing that comes to mind is that, when you have a car rebuilt like this, whether it's a 1972 Ford Escort Mk I, or it's something more exotic, like e.g. a 1972 De Tomaso Pantera (which was equipped with a non-exotic, standard American Ford V8 engine), the price you will have to pay in the end will probably be the same, more or less. But of course ... if it's really the former car you desire, then why not ...
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Post by chrisb on Jun 27, 2018 4:48:39 GMT
i did like the Mk1's and Mk2's - Ford did make some good cars amongst the 'others'- will look at this when i get the time, thanks Jamie -
Gordon was someone I really admired and liked as a human being and some of his designs were beauty personified, i just detested the hydraulic suspension and the fan car, all credit to Gordon for such innovation but...then i watched the video of his eco-friendly car and my admiration soared
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Post by Jamie on Jun 27, 2018 7:03:16 GMT
I agree gents, the Mk 1 Escort is a beauty, a real design classic, such lovely flowing lines.
A mk1 RS2000 in either Modena green or Daytona yellow would be very near the top of my ‘most desired’ list of real world cars. I say real world......good examples of the RS escorts fetch incredible money now, I’ve seen them for sale north of £35k!!!
And you're quite right Mikael, I’d like to know what this is eventually going to cost him but I expect he could buy a modern super car with the same cash. I just love the fact that Gordon is doing this; I expect he could afford pretty much whatever he wants but what he really desires a Mk1 Escort 😁 I think that’s brilliant and so I’m keeping with his character, kudos in spades to the man.
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Post by Jamie on Jun 27, 2018 7:20:36 GMT
Thanks a lot, Jamie; very interesting. I agree that the Ford Escort was/is a good car. My first car was a 1975 Escort Mk. II. It was originally an 1100cc model - in which I mounted a 'Pinto' 2000cc from a (crashed) Ford Taunus. So it was 'almost' (basically) an RS2000 engine with an "1100 gearbox" - and with that low gearing it took off like a rocket! (Of course something like that was not strictly legal: anyway ... It was in the early 80's, before I resolved I'd better go back to school; in the days where my whole world revolved around motor sport and motorcycles and cars. That must of gone well Mikael, the pinto 2000 always suited the rear wheel drive escorts perfectly 👍 |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2018 7:21:51 GMT
The image I always associate with the Escort is Bjorn Waldegard going sideways, perhaps on ice.
Decades-long fan of Gordon Murray, needless to say, and I do agree that some of his tricks while showing his knack for lateral thinking, they weren't always an example of ethics. For that, he is not to Forghieri's level, to me.
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Post by charleselan on Jun 27, 2018 9:52:36 GMT
Cost is irrelevant when it is something you most desire, and of course have the cash to be able to fulfil that ambition. All credit to Gordon Murray for doing this and letting everyone see what is happening in the restoration. Gordon has always had a great taste in cars and isn't always swept away with supercars, some of his favourites are small family vehicles like the Renault 4L and the Fiat Panda.
The Escort Mk1 is just so iconic in every way, even a bog standard 1100L was good to the eye; my dad had a turquoise one followed by a white 1300 Super, both pre-owned (how's that for modern terminology). Lasting memory was seeing Roger Albert Clark in the white with pale blue side flash Esso Uniflow car at Blenheim Park when he won his first RAC Rally. A fantastic sight, and the sound of that "twin cam" motor is still one of the best rally soundtracks ever. The flared arches just set the car off, amazing to think they came off a LWB Ford Transit van.
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Post by Jamie on Jun 27, 2018 10:02:06 GMT
I never knew those arches were from a transit 🤔 great pub quiz fact that 👍
The turquoise colour was very iconic with the Mk1 wasn’t it, along with the purple, very flower power.....car colours were much better back then.
My Dad had a Mk 1 estate 1300 in bright red and it’s the first family car I remember. Dad being Dad fitted a 1600 crossflow with a cherry bomb in the exhaust system........happy days 😁
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Post by charleselan on Jun 27, 2018 10:14:07 GMT
I never knew those arches were from a transit 🤔 great pub quiz fact that 👍 The turquoise colour was very iconic with the Mk1 wasn’t it, along with the purple, very flower power.....car colours were much better back then. My Dad had a Mk 1 estate 1300 in bright red and it’s the first family car I remember. Dad being Dad fitted a 1600 crossflow with a cherry bomb in the exhaust system........happy days 😁 Yes they took the arches from the rear twin wheel axle of the LWB Transit. Didn't they just look, so right. |
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Post by mikael on Jun 27, 2018 13:16:28 GMT
That must of gone well Mikael, the pinto 2000 always suited the rear wheel drive escorts perfectly 👍
It was quick! It was a light car, just 800kg -- 100 HP to 800 kg was not bad.
The sound of a BDA Twin-Cam (RS 1800) was sweet music indeed.
The white/green Mk. II on the upper part of the attached front page (of the Swedish motor magazine "IMS"), owned and driven by a Swedish driver (whose name I cannot remember), was a frequent visitor to the Danish track "Jyllands Ringen" in the late 70's. It was entered in the "Special Saloon Car" class. (The shown issue is from 1977 - I remember this front page well.) I can still recall the sights and sound of this car, even though it's 40 years ago (but such childhood memories stay on). The sound was really something.
(Sorry for the smallness of the image.)
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Post by chrisb on Jun 27, 2018 20:38:31 GMT
funny aside about Bjorn, I met him and his co-driver in the early 80's - very quiet - exceedingly quick but a real party person, the Swedes are so funny when they are drunk, although the hotel i was staying at didn't seem to appreciate the palm tree that Bjorn, and many others had deposited in my bed, I was something totally out of it at the time, well, apparently they thought i was lonely....not quite what I had in mind, but at least they thought about it
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Post by Jamie on Jun 27, 2018 20:46:12 GMT
funny aside about Bjorn, I met him and his co-driver in the early 80's - very quiet - exceedingly quick but a real party person, the Swedes are so funny when they are drunk, although the hotel i was staying at didn't seem to appreciate the palm tree that Bjorn, and many others had deposited in my bed, I was something totally out of it at the time, well, apparently they thought i was lonely....not quite what I had in mind, but at least they thought about it Brilliant story Chris 😂😂 |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2019 9:02:57 GMT
I know many of us on here are big Gordon Murray fans so I’d thought I’d let you know about a series of YT videos I’ve been following..... Basically, Gordon Murray is having a renowned car builder / restorer build a modified Mk1 Ford Escort for Gordon’s personal use and the company are documenting the build in detail on YT. The company are called Retropower and I think there have been 7 videos in the series so far.......it’s rather excellent I think and gives an insight into all the little touches Gordon wants.......I must say, the chap has impeccable taste! They are doing an outstanding job of the car so it’s well worth a look if you think it’ll be of interest 👍. Link below: Typically, I'm a bit late to the party on this thread, but it is a goodie. I've also been following that YT series, they are a bit slow in coming out, but the quality of the work the Retropower Garage guys do, and the quality of the video's they produce is extraordinary. The glimpses of the other cars in their workshops are almost worth the watch on their own, If I'm not mistaken the reason that Gordon Murray said for wanting an Escort is that it is a car he's always liked, and it fits in his collection of sub-1000kg cars. The bit I find a curious about the project is that he's keeping it pretty simple apart from a custom designed Independent Rear Suspension system. I guess the power and torque of the Cosworth Duratec engine would overwhelm a live axle rear end, but surely it would also fundamentally change the handling characteristics of the car. And the handling is what the Escort is most famous for. On the subject of awesome YT car build series, are all the Racers already fans of these series? Bad Obsession Motorsports - Project Binky - Putting a Toyota Celica 4WD power train into a BMC mini - Funny as heck, and obsessive levels of engineering, and tea drinking. V8Stealthbeetle - (Rob will like this one) South African Jean Fourie has developed an aluminium sheet chassis that engineers an Audi V8 and transmission under a VW Beetle body - Mid engined with BMW suspension and brakes. Toms Turbo Garage - Project Thunderbolt - which as engineered an LS3 V8 and transmission into an NB series MX5 - a beautiful piece of engineering - 525bhp in a 1100kg car, that still looks like a stock MX5! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2019 9:17:27 GMT
I never knew those arches were from a transit 🤔 great pub quiz fact that 👍 The turquoise colour was very iconic with the Mk1 wasn’t it, along with the purple, very flower power.....car colours were much better back then. My Dad had a Mk 1 estate 1300 in bright red and it’s the first family car I remember. Dad being Dad fitted a 1600 crossflow with a cherry bomb in the exhaust system........happy days 😁 My own Escort memories are that the first work vehicle I had after collage was a Mk2 Escort van. 1300cc of pure sound! It took some serious abuse hauling survey tools and tunnelling materials around during the working week, and myself and my (drunken) mates around at the weekends. Learning how to oversteer around the back roads of Mid-Lothian. I also 'helped' a mate put a 1600 engine out of a Capri into an otherewise standard Mk1 1100 Escort. It was a pretty rusty four door, with drum brakes. Amazing it didn't kill him. |
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