This modified Ford Escort RS2000 fuses the F2 rally style of the 1990s with cutting-edge 2020s technology. Careful, if you look at it wrong it’ll have your leg off.
Ford Escorts will always be inextricably linked with rallying, the two things go together like fish and chips. For most people, the first mental images to be conjured when the subject is brought up would probably be the Mk1s and Mk2 of the sixties and seventies, extravagantly sliding through gravelly forests, BDAs snorting and mud splashing across their Uniflo or Rothmans liveries. But there’s far more to the rally Escort oeuvre than that, of course, and for enthusiasts of a certain age, the F2 rally cars of the mid-1990s will always be the kings of the genre.
F2 Rally Car History
A subdivision of the WRC from 1993-99, F2 cars were front-wheel-drive nat-asp machines with exaggerated bodywork that caricaturised the standard factory lines; the likes of the Citroën Xsara and Peugeot 306 were artfully amped-up to cartoonish proportions and, in 1994, the Ford Escort RS2000 Kit Car made its debut.
By 1997, this had evolved into the RS2000 Maxi, an even more extreme variant with colossal rear arches aping those of the old Works Mk1 Escorts with the dial turned up to eleven. These were formidable and exquisitely engineered machines, and perhaps the most resonant part of their appeal across the ages is that they appeared on the rally stages at just the right point in history; Max Power, Fast Car, Revs and Redline were shifting unprecedented numbers of units through the newsagents, and for a generation increasingly enamoured with hatchbacks sporting extravagant bodykits, the link between the motorsport these enthusiasts saw on TV and the cars they saw at the local cruise on Saturday night had never been clearer.
As the decades eased by, these Maxi Kit Cars passed into the realm of back-in-the-day legend along with all those iconic Rattlesnake Escorts and Carisma GT Turbos, and the fact that new fibreglass Maxi RS2000 kits are now available on the market means that fans are able to relive those glory days with fresh new old-school builds. Naturally there’s always the hurdle of finding an RS2000 to base it on – but hey, it wouldn’t be any fun if it was easy.
Brian’s car history
Striding into the arena at this point with the swagger of a man who knows how to get the job done is Brian Boyce, the mastermind behind the Signal Yellow Maxi RS2000 you see before you. He’s seen a thing or two when it comes to modding old Fords, and given that he already had a project-spec RS2000 to play with, this all came together rather fluidly.
“I’ve owned and modified cars since I was a teenager,” he assures us. “My first car was a Mk3 Cortina at the age 14; it needed some work so me and a friend did it all ourselves, then I swapped it for my first motorbike. I’ve had all sorts of modified cars vans and so on, and one of the best builds I did was in the nineties – an Orion 1.6i Ghia painted pearlescent rose pink, with an RS Turbo engine and gearbox and a whole load of other mods.”
This stuff’s in Brian’s blood, and the car you see here has actually been in his possession for seven years or so, passing through various evolutions along the way. This was originally a Mk5 RS2000 forest/gravel rally car, and the thing that really convinced him that he wanted to buy it was the presence of a Quaife 5-speed dog ’box, plus the fact that the RS I4 engine was sporting some hot cams and fancy head work… all of which would ultimately prove to be irrelevant, but the heart wants what it wants and Brian was keenly on the righteous path.
Plans for the Escort Mk6 RS2000 build
“My son, Marcus, had bought a Fiesta ST180 and put a Stage 3 upgrade on it, giving it 365 ponies under the bonnet,” he says, “so I thought: that’s what I want. With that thought I also wanted to build it as an Escort Maxi Kit Car – being a massive fan of the underrated Mk6 RS2000 it just made sense. I contacted a friend who is quite well known in motorsport fabrication, Scott McMinn at McMinn Motorsport, to chat about what I was going to do to the car. I took it to Scott’s place and we set about what we initially discussed, but then with his input the project grew arms and legs – like the front and rear Escort Cosworth Group A anti-roll bars, the Tilton 600-series floor-mounted pedal box, the list goes on.”
It’s clear from the incredibly high-end specification of this car that Brian is a man who insists on doing things properly, and with the influence of Scott’s years of experience, what began as a kernel of a good idea developed into an incredible modern interpretation of the classic Maxi Escort formula, utilising cutting-edge and up-to-the-minute technology to refine every individual element. And while all of this was going on, a further positive influence was about to enter the narrative.
Building the modified Ford Escort RS2000
“We soon ended up with tubular crossmember wishbones and a rear independent axle being fabricated,” Brian continues, “along with a new fully triangulated 8-point rollcage. I had initially decided to go for the ST180 engine and gearbox, but really I wanted a sequential transmission; I had contacted a few of the gearbox manufacturers but they couldn’t supply a ’box with the torque figures I quoted, so it seemed like I’d have to go with a 6-speed H-pattern OEM ’box with a Coolerworx shifter. But then one day, after fitting the Fiesta’s engine and gearbox – an easy job for Scott – Andrew Gallacher of AG Motorsport came in…”
This meeting of minds turned out to be a game-changing shift in the direction of the project. With Brian, Scott and Andrew putting their heads together, their collective knowledge and creativity immediately took things up a notch.
Upgrading to a Quaife Sequential Gearbox
“I spoke to Andrew about wanting him to rewire the car, and also about the possibility of a sequential gearbox,” says Brian. “He said to leave it with him, so I did. Scott and I carried on with the fabrication of the car until it was all done, then I took it home to strip it down one last time for a final inspection before prep and paint, all of which was carried out by myself. Then I was on Facebook one day and Andrew happened to tag me into a Quaife 10j 6-speed sequential he had just fitted into a Fiesta ST180, so I contacted him about it and got one ordered!”
The timing worked out perfectly, as the Escort was due to go to AG Motorsport anyway for the fitment of the AiM dash and PDM and the SCS Delta ECU, so Andrew was able to swap in the trans at the same time. And as you can see from the eye-watering spec list, as well as the astonishing fit-and-finish of the car, the Quaife 6-speed was the cherry on top of an already delicious cake.
Verdict
This modified Ford Escort RS200 is a true wolf in wolf’s clothing, big and brash and endlessly aggressive; it channels the spirit of the Max Power era along with the contemporary F2 rally heroics of the age, and trebuchets it firmly into 2024 with its thoughtful and intelligent approach to using the latest technological solutions. And yes, it has been built to be hard-driven, of course it has. “I intend to use it as a race and track car,” says Brian. “We’ve had a couple of snagging things to do, then it’ll be good to go.” And when it does go, we’d all better stand back. After all, motorsport mayhem is where Escorts have always thrived, and Brian and the lads have spawned a real animal here.
Words: Daniel Bevis. Photos: Ade Brannan.
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Modified Ford Escort Mk6 RS200 images
