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INSPIRATIONAL FORDS


RWL81P

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what was the ford from back in the day that you always remember as i kid or inspired a project that you created? i was always into old fords as a kid, mostly escorts, but anything ford and rear wheel drive as i grew up in the 80's with an uncle that was into rallying. for me one of the cars that always stood out and looked just perfect was darrens mk2 mex. the stance, the paint finish, and a well sorted pinto.IMG_5058.thumb.JPG.8e59a270e37c432e74c1262585dcff40.JPGIMG_5059.thumb.JPG.84048762734978b6951ce7576fbc1100.JPGIMG_5060.thumb.JPG.bcde439e2c3b1bf5976194aacfaba36b.JPG

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then came his second attempt to create the ultimate escort, that has inspired hundreds of escorts since it appeared on the classic ford scene. for me, a turbo on a mk2, and 15" wheels are a big no no. but somehow this just works and looks so right. so many one off parts in a time when you couldnt just buy crap off the shelf! a fantastic car in its own right! this car broke the usual saarf landon rules.IMG_5062.thumb.JPG.12a3890818593ebea45e3c8cc37cf5a6.JPGIMG_5064.thumb.JPG.c0bfb9bc0077aefb146b7cff4a81f6e1.JPGIMG_5063.thumb.JPG.62949ee2b6fda0d88aaeaea5bc3f55ba.JPG

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For me. There was a lad (would be in his late 40's now) from Hemel Hempstead.

Had a mk2 in Yellow and White with Tarmac arches. Yellow rear half. Was pinto powered.

Then a white Mk2 with Tiger stripes. Also pinto iirc

Both of his cars were stunning, well built and quick as hell.

That was enough for me. Went out and baught a  1100cc mk1 base model.

This was the early 90s

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1987, was only sixteen and not massively into cars yet, and driving with my dad just drove past a red mk1 2 door with bubble arches and chrome cyclone wheels. Looked proper smart and first real time a car had turned my head and just happened to be for sale....at £650. Twisted my dads arm, i had the money as had been working, we went back and car was bought, 6 months before i was even 17. That is where it started and have had a Ford from that era ever since. Needless to say that at 17, i blew the engine, which me and dad replaced and then over next 6 months proceeded to gradually smash the car to f4ck, ending with hitting a dustbin lorry up the arse and the car eventually catching fire....? If i can find a photo i post it up.

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14 minutes ago, Rich T said:

On minilites?

Yellow wheel at the back and white at the front?

Saying that, wheels can be changed.

Could be the same car.

Any pix?

Yep was diagonal yellow.

cant remember what wheels it had, used to drive around all the time. i actually went to buy it for 250 quid. had a look round it, was stripped out with buckets, dont think it had a cage. no pics and cant remember the reg. i missed out on it at the time my van packed up and a fireman bought it. possibly the same car, the guy drove it like an animal all the time.

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16 minutes ago, stephens_xpack said:

1987, was only sixteen and not massively into cars yet, and driving with my dad just drove past a red mk1 2 door with bubble arches and chrome cyclone wheels. Looked proper smart and first real time a car had turned my head and just happened to be for sale....at £650. Twisted my dads arm, i had the money as had been working, we went back and car was bought, 6 months before i was even 17. That is where it started and have had a Ford from that era ever since. Needless to say that at 17, i blew the engine, which me and dad replaced and then over next 6 months proceeded to gradually smash the car to f4ck, ending with hitting a dustbin lorry up the arse and the car eventually catching fire....? If i can find a photo i post it up.

interesting, old stories are great!

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there was a guy near us in the early 90s called henry eastwood. big into his old fords, always had a project, built it mint then sold and built another. remember me and my mate about 13year old riding passed on our bmxs he had the best mk1 escort parked on the drive. fresh built bright red mk1 mexico, bubbles, 4 cibies 8x13 minilights, caged, never forget it. we were looking round it on his drive and he came out showing us round it, he said genuine mex, show us the crossflow then, its a pinto, should be a crossflow though. dont think he liked 2 kids telling him that. had a stunning white mk2 after that.

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It was a black mk1 RS2000 with a half cage fitted and silver RS stripes (pretty sure that wasn't an option on black cars so must have been a dealer fit). It was for sale in my local garage and a guy from out village bought it. Man it looked fantastic. All curves in the age of the relatively newly introduced angular mk3. 8)

Sadly it was written off in a collision with a petrol tanker and his girlfriend at the time was killed in the accident. 

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My step dad had a petrol station on the southchurch road in Southend,  numerous fords I can remember,  Norman Wilding in "pieces of eight" was a frequent user......He would be with a massive v8 and guaranteed burnouts! Savage and lotus cortina,  anglia and escorts........The "white heat" capri.......cruise nights were always interesting! Can't think how all of those memories got me interested in ford's. ..........and the experience of driving my stepdad's daytona yellow 3000e mk1 capri as a seventeen year old is something I can always remember so easily! Happy days

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14 hours ago, RWL81P said:

interesting, old stories are great!

I do look back with fond memories, and like most on here wish I could have kept hold of a couple more of them. But I do still have the Capri from when I was 21 so that is pretty cool I suppose as it has literally been in storage for 20 years until this year it was put back on the road.

After the fire in the red mk1 i then had a mk2 4 door, with the plastic/chrome GL trim along the sides, was lowered with RS 4 spokes and went like stink. I really wanted a 2 door but once the bloke selling took me out in it, I was sold and stupid at still 17. It had the square front lights and to this day I still prefer them to the round on a mk2. If I can find photos i will post, but they will be few and far between.

Then proceeded to a 3 litre ghia Capri in dark Blue with a great bright red contrasting ghia interior. 

Then another mk1 bubble arched RS2000 in blue with a full webasto sun roof, I was about 20 now, and I still cringe to this day how I managed to kill a very nice authentic, original RS2000.......:sad: What a twat!

Have spoken to the parents, and any photos they can dig out i will post. I have one of the RS, I will dig that out tonight and post it up tomorrow.

So to answer your original question, not so much inspiration, more love at first sight I Suppose, and I have never looked at another badge in the same way.

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that sounds a bit like me. used to pass an orange mk2 mexico when i was at school. parked inthe same place every week 2 days a week. every time me and my mate walked passed it i'd be saying i want that car. my mate saying but were only 14. then one day i saw the bloke getting out of it. turns out it was my mums step brother that we hadn't seen in a few years. got chatting and kept in touch, he just laughed and kept saying you cant afford with your dinner money. he got banned from driving and the car was layed up. soon as i was working a few years later i kept pestering him to sell me the escort. when i was 17 18 ish i bought if off him for £250 quid. still own it and still havent  got it finished. at the time i had that on the drive i also bought a yellow mk2 rs2000. the only 19 yo with both. then like a complete twat we rallied the arse off the rs2 every weekend down a local quarry that we could get onto. a great way to learn to drive propperly! 

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the mex when we dragged it off the yard.  IMG_5071.thumb.JPG.7ded2828360dd193a525b392e11fe43c.JPG went to have a look at it to buy it, was gonna buy it anyway no matter what! was green and black with tree sap and moss and had been parked in grass under a tree for 4yrs. the grass was as high as the bonnet, not been started since it was parked there. opened the door with a good pull, hinges seizing, lifted the bonnet put a battery on, some juice in the tank and a bit down the weber. cracked straight up! never forget the sound of that 2.1 pinto with a single box janspeed on!IMG_5072.thumb.JPG.b5574d89740d745c8ba8a70369ba352a.JPGIMG_5074.thumb.JPG.40f0d1d8de1286c1c77717aa909ffed5.JPGIMG_5076.thumb.JPG.d8294ae90eeb6f9d655c4908e30ad40e.JPGIMG_5078.thumb.JPG.60b768f10a59642d04b3dc0fb0d3ecf6.JPGonce a hooligan always a hooligan! 

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and its goodyear not castrol! this was a car local to me, built around 92/93. i always saw this driving around and loved it. low, smooth, 5 spokes, saph cossie black leather, and back in 1994 it had a cossie yb turbo running just over 300hp. this was probably the first old ford i saw with a cossie in.IMG_5067.thumb.JPG.3c7b37b5446c527d099ac7bc7beaa65a.JPGIMG_5068.thumb.JPG.55c0ee4dcd9342790dd0f21b408d8265.JPGIMG_5066.thumb.JPG.9939e79599fe95e74815d1f439256701.JPGmk4 with mk5 rear pannel and orion mk1 rear lights.

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Used to do a lot of motocross and off road riding when I was a teen. Some of the older lads I used to ride with started getting Escorts and Capris when they were old enough to drive and I started helping them work on them. Loved Fords from that day. 

Joined the Army as an Apprentice at 16 and started saving to set my sights on a Mk2 for when I was 17.

Bought a 1300 Sport from Farnham for £500 and thought I was the Kiddy when I would go back home to see my mates.

Ended up putting a 1750 Crossflow in it that I bought from Bracknell Autosport and had it arched with Compomotives. Never got a pic of it finished. Eventually sold it to a Mate to get a Capri 2.0S and he smashed it within a week.

I remember I used to use it tow my RM250 to tracks and thought I was living the dream at 17/18 years old. 

 

FB_IMG_1508274617955.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 16/10/2017 at 17:17, RWL81P said:

what was the ford from back in the day that you always remember as i kid or inspired a project that you created? i was always into old fords as a kid, mostly escorts, but anything ford and rear wheel drive as i grew up in the 80's with an uncle that was into rallying. for me one of the cars that always stood out and looked just perfect was darrens mk2 mex. the stance, the paint finish, and a well sorted pinto.IMG_5058.thumb.JPG.8e59a270e37c432e74c1262585dcff40.JPGIMG_5059.thumb.JPG.84048762734978b6951ce7576fbc1100.JPGIMG_5060.thumb.JPG.bcde439e2c3b1bf5976194aacfaba36b.JPG

 

On 16/10/2017 at 17:25, RWL81P said:

then came his second attempt to create the ultimate escort, that has inspired hundreds of escorts since it appeared on the classic ford scene. for me, a turbo on a mk2, and 15" wheels are a big no no. but somehow this just works and looks so right. so many one off parts in a time when you couldnt just buy crap off the shelf! a fantastic car in its own right! this car broke the usual saarf landon rules.IMG_5062.thumb.JPG.12a3890818593ebea45e3c8cc37cf5a6.JPGIMG_5064.thumb.JPG.c0bfb9bc0077aefb146b7cff4a81f6e1.JPGIMG_5063.thumb.JPG.62949ee2b6fda0d88aaeaea5bc3f55ba.JPG

Funnily enough I remember visiting where Darran and Mark worked back in the day , it was a body shop in Chessington that did a lot of high end stuff called George ray's . And on Darrans wall of fame  at the time was the fast car pics of my tina , lol.

Puddy  :)

Ps. Most inspirational car at the time for me was Paul Bailey's vecta  race car a cossie powered x pack , what a weapon .

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Similar story here.

Mates had Mk1 Escorts but I was a dyed in the wool Mini man (boy). Then was dragged by my mate to Mike Youngs garage in Ilford (anyone remember them). It would have been around 1982-3 so Mk2 Rs was still a fairly modern car.

Finished my apprentaship and plonked down a deposit on a Base model RS2000 , spent the next three years modding and paying for the Insurance.

Sold it eventually to buy a house.

30+ yrs later House paid for and there's a Mk2 RS2000 in the garage once more.

So full circle really appart from the fact I paid more for the current Mk2 RS than I did for the house back then.!

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/17/2017 at 22:22, dt36 said:

Used to do a lot of motocross and off road riding when I was a teen. Some of the older lads I used to ride with started getting Escorts and Capris when they were old enough to drive and I started helping them work on them. Loved Fords from that day. 

Joined the Army as an Apprentice at 16 and started saving to set my sights on a Mk2 for when I was 17.

Bought a 1300 Sport from Farnham for £500 and thought I was the Kiddy when I would go back home to see my mates.

Ended up putting a 1750 Crossflow in it that I bought from Bracknell Autosport and had it arched with Compomotives. Never got a pic of it finished. Eventually sold it to a Mate to get a Capri 2.0S and he smashed it within a week.

I remember I used to use it tow my RM250 to tracks and thought I was living the dream at 17/18 years old. 

 

FB_IMG_1508274617955.jpg

found a couple of my rs2000.rs2k.thumb.jpg.36f899d66a329d1a5b08e92b50bf644c.jpgrs2k2.thumb.jpg.cbd2065086744bbaf72063ede61ea6ab.jpgrs2k1.thumb.jpg.7946140ebec6282d83fb1e1a5e71ce95.jpg

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