Only 279 examples of the Ford Escort RS 2000 Spezial was made between 1976 and 1978. Now one of these very rare performance Escorts is listed for sale on Bilweb Auctions.
At the end of the 1970:s Ford went all in on motorsport, especially rally. In order to do this, a certain number of cars with competition specs had to be sold to regular customers, so called homologation. In the case with Ford Escort, the German Rennsport division sent RS 2000 bodies to Zakspeed for the assembly of wider fenders, front and back spoilers, decal sets in the Ford racing colors and RS wheels.
Together with the debated ”droop snoot” grille and quad headlights, the RS 2000 Spezial was something that really stood out from the crowd. The chassis was subject to a significant upgrade with a limited-slip differential, anti-roll bars, Bilstein shocks and bigger brakes.
The legendary 2-litre Pinto engine was tuned to Group 1+ status, where bigger valves, a competition cam and twin Webers was a few ingredients. The gearbox got a close ratio set up for faster gear changes. The luggage compartment is dominated by a 69 litre fuel tank, unique for the ”Spezial”. The end result was an Escort for road use, but with a close relationship to the works cars.
The car in the auction is a model year 1978 and has been part of a collection with classic Fords in Germany. It was restored to a close to mint condition in 2010 and has been used vary little since then. In 2018 it was bought by a Ford employee in Sweden with experience from historic racing with Ford Escorts during the 1990:s.
This car, however, has never been raced. The 130 000 kilometers on the clock has been driven on regular roads. This is guaranteed by the owner. Homologation cars are sought after in the classic car community due the the often unique specification and the connection with motorsport. Therefore this Escort RS 2000 Spezial constitutes a rare opportunity to purchase an unusual representative of the late 1970:s rally era.
It has been valued at between 700 000 and 800 000 SEK and the auction closes on 23 November.
