Welcome to this week’s FC Throwback, where we take a look back at some of our favourite previous feature cars. This week it’s Zsolt’s tuned Ford Escort Cosworth from back in 2013…
Red leather interior, and matt black finish, this Hungarian EsCos will have its fair share of haters, but we love it!
This modifying cars lark is a funny game, isn’t it? When quizzed as to why we do it, and why we didn’t just go and buy a faster, more expensive, more ‘sporty’ car in the first place, the usual reply we give is, “because anyone can go and do that”. The implication then, is that we spend all our money modifying our cars to stand out from the crowd, to have something nobody else does, basically we do it to be different.
Zsolt, known to his mates as Hosé, lives in Hungary, and is the owner of this radical Cossie, there are only around five Escort Cossies in the entire country. Therefore, there is no rule book to stick to, no checklist of specific mods to conform to, and no recipe for a tried-and-tested Cossie to follow. In a nutshell, he could do whatever he wanted.
Hosé remembers: “I’ve always wanted an EsCos, ever since I was a child. In 1999 my friend had one and as soon as I saw it I decided I would own it one day.” That day didn’t come until 2010, when the same friend announced the EsCos was up for sale.
However, now it was completely stripped, in thousands of pieces with certain parts missing, stacked up on bricks in a garage, and in need of a complete rebuild. With the car safely trailered back home, Hosé could see the enormity of the task he faced if he was ever to get the EsCos back on the road. He spent the next eight months scouring the web and hunting for the missing parts and the following few months piecing everything together.
As the replacement bonnet and door were different shades, and not knowing the colour code for the finish (the previous owner had resprayed the car), Hosé was faced with no option other than a full body respray. He flicked through the colour charts and settled on a Mercedes pearlescent finish that looked almost black, but had a rich purple fleck.
While this was all going on, the interior was slowly but surely being gathered, and retrimmed too. Hosé recollects: “As interior parts were being delivered, I was sending them straight to the trimmers. It took about five months before everything was ready to fit.
Everything has been covered in red leather and is designed to be as luxurious as possible. With the interior finally fitted, Hosé was on the home stretch. However, he decided that after spending all that time and effort on the interior, it now clashed too much with the Mercedes paintjob, so a complete colour change was on the cards. “At first I thought white, then decided matt black would go better with the red interior.” Having just spent a fortune on the respray, Hosé didn’t want to run the risk of ruining it, so he opted for a ‘Plasti Dip’.
With a mean and moody looking paintjob, Hosé then fitted a selection of carbon fibre goodies in the shape of bonnet, front splitter, and lower rear spoiler, to offset the matt-ness of the finish.
As we know, finding decent size rims with a 4×108 PCD is not easy, so Hosé decided way back in 2011 that he wanted to convert the Escort to a five-stud pattern. To do this he needed to find all four hub flanges from a Mk3 Granada 4×4 (as these mate perfectly with the Escort hubs and have a 5×112 PCD).
“It took me a year-and-a-half to get all the parts,” shrugs Hosé. But doing so meant he could fit what he believes is the perfect wheel for the EsCos, the 3SDM 0.05. He’s managed to squeeze 9.5×18 rims under the arches, but admits that spacers were required to effectively reduce the offset to ET15 fronts and ET10 rears. Some minor arch modifications were required to ensure it all clears, but it looks mint.
“Some people think they look amazing. Some people don’t like them. And some people don’t even believe it’s a genuine Cosworth because it’s five-stud,” grins Hosé, “but I really don’t care. I love it!”
This EsCos is sure to continue dividing opinions, but Hosé has made it clear he doesn’t care what other people think, he’s built this car for him – and that’s what counts!
TECH SPEC FORD ESCORT COSSIE
Tuning
1993cc ‘small turbo’ YBP, ARP bolts throughout, original crank and rods, high-pressure oil pump, steel gaskets including MLS head gasket, original head and camshafts, ported inlet manifold, original exhaust manifold, Garrett T25 turbo (running 1.5-bar boost), Siemens 800cc injectors, VEMS engine management system (anti-lag system, shift light, launch control), HKS blow-off valve, RS500-style intercooler, alloy radiator, 19 row oil-cooler, Walbro fuel pump, Roose Motorsport silicone hoses, adjustable boost controller, wide band lambda sensor, original 5-speed MT75 gearbox, fully rebuilt with ‘uprated’ bearings, Sachs heavy duty clutch, lightened flywheel, original front diff with strengthening plate
Chassis
Fully adjustable H&R coilovers, Wiechers front and rear strut braces, Powerflex polyurethane bushes, Mk3 Granada hub flanges with 5×112 PCD, original calipers with uprated drilled and grooved discs, OMP ‘race’ pads, and stainless brake lines all round, 9.5x18in 3SDM 0.05 alloys with custom spacers to alter offset to ET15 front and ET10 rear, with 225/35×18 tyres
Interior
Full retrim in red leather, Recaro seats, leather dash, red carpets and mats, Momo steering wheel, Sparco pedals, shift lights, LCD for the ECU, AFR gauge, ALS and launch control switches, Kenwood Electronics headunit
Styling
Genuine LHD Escort Cosworth bodyshell, wheel arches widened slightly at front, full respray in matt black Plasti-Dip, all door locks, washer jets, side repeaters, and fog lights removed and smoothed over, Mk6 Escort door mirrors, smoked rear lights, carbon bonnet, front splitter, and lower rear spoiler
Thanks
My father, my mother, Cosworth K-Roy, RS Arpi, Barna Mészáros, Gábor Braun, Jánas Lázár, Tamás Danyikó, for all their help
Words Jamie King Photography Tamás Danyikó
