A Ford Escort MK1 Continuation as Beastly as the Original

When Bill Ford, executive chairman of the Ford Motor Company, and Jim Farley, the marque’s race-driver CEO, wanted a European equivalent of the restomod Mustangs and Broncos offered in the U.S., they turned to Boreham Motorworks. The result, however, is no reimagined tribute act, but a brand-new Ford Escort Mk1—reborn exactly 50 years after the original ceased production. 

While its North American namesake was a front-driven, entirely forgettable subcompact first sold in 1981, the Escort offered across the Atlantic was a very different proposition: an agile, rear-driven sedan. Launched in 1968, it succeeded the Ford Anglia (a.k.a. the flying car in the Harry Potter movies) and quickly topped the U.K. sales chart while slaying all-comers on racetracks and rally stages.

The Escort’s reputation as a motorsport hero was cemented by Alan Mann Racing (AMR). Described as “the Shelby of Europe” by Simon Goodliff, chief technical officer at Boreham Motorworks, AMR is best known to stateside enthusiasts for its lightweight, aluminum-bodied versions of the Ford GT40. As Ford U.K.’s official works team, it won the British Saloon Car Championship in 1968, with former Formula 1 driver Frank Gardner in a car almost identical to this one. Now, with the late Alan Mann’s son Henry watching from the pit lane, it’s my turn to get behind the wheel. 

Boreham Motorworks—named after the location of Ford’s former race and rally headquarters in Essex, England—is part of DRVN Automotive, a collection of engineering firms united behind a mission to create “peak analog” cars. The restomod Ferrari 355 by Evoluto, for instance, is being assembled in the facility next door.   

Goodliff and his team have ambitious plans to tap into Blue Oval heritage, including a radical reinvention of the 1980s RS200 Group B rally car. Their first project, though, is the Escort Mk1: an officially sanctioned continuation, each stamped with a Ford chassis number that follows on consecutively from where the digits stopped in 1975. 

Design

It’s important to reiterate that these cars aren’t made up from existing or leftover shells. These are brand-new vehicles hand-built from scratch. In the case of the Alan Mann Racing 68 Edition, that meant taking apart and laser scanning every component of Ford’s 1968 championship winner—still looked after by Henry Mann—then creating a CAD model to reverse engineer an exact replica. The car is made to modern tolerances and many of the materials are upgraded for improved strength and durability. Nonetheless, from its “bubble” fender flares to its evocative red-and-gold livery, this race-ready Ford is the real deal. 

The AMR Escort isn’t a street-legal vehicle, but opt for the Modern Race spec—which adds an FIA-approved roll cage, hard-shell Tillett seats, four-point harnesses, and a plumbed-in fire extinguisher—and the car is eligible for historic motorsport events, including SCCA meetings in the U.S. and the Peter Auto series in Europe. On top of a base price of around $400,000, Boreham Motorworks offers additional packages that include driver coaching, exclusive track days, and even a support crew from AMR on race weekends.

Power Train and Hardware

Two AMR mechanics are making final adjustments as I arrive at the test track. I peer underneath the hood at the 1.8-liter, Lotus twin-cam four-cylinder engine. Fueled by two Weber 45 carburetors, it sends drive rearwards via a Ford Bullet manual gearbox with straight-cut cogs. Peak output is 205 hp at 8,000 rpm, which seems ample in a car with “classic” brakes and a dry weight of just 1,793 pounds. 

For the first few laps, I’m strapped in as a passenger alongside Karl Jones, a seasoned pro who raced a Ford Sierra RS500 in that car’s heyday. The Escort’s interior is starkly functional, with four white-on-black Smiths dials ahead of the driver, plus two rows of toggle switches and warning lights on a central panel. There are wind-up windows, a ball-topped shift lever, and a spindly manual handbrake—and that’s about it.

Performance

Jones prods the start button and the four-cylinder power plant coughs grumpily into life, then settles to a fretful idle. He takes the first couple of laps slowly, talking me through braking points and cornering lines. Then he gradually builds speed, working the wheel and leaning on the tires as the car finds its flow. Pretty soon, the whine of the gears, the shriek of the diff, and the sheer cacophony of combustion make conversation all but impossible. All I can do is hold tight and enjoy the ride. 

After a masterclass in how it’s done properly, Jones pulls into the pit garage and we swap seats. The detachable steering wheel is deeply dished, so I sit with elbows bent and legs outstretched, my view ahead bisected by a vertical windshield wiper. The bored-out engine bogs down easily at low speed and its racing twin-plate clutch feels abrupt, so I lurch away with a clumsy flare of revs. Even at a cautious pace, the Escort feels raw and uncouth. Like a shaken-up can of soda, it seems to fizz with impatient energy. 

Lift the metaphorical ring-pull and suddenly this classic Ford truly comes alive. Its engine thrives on revs, only coming onto the cam beyond 4,000 rpm, then racing towards its 8,200 rpm limiter with a hard-edged metallic snarl that echoes around the bare-metal cabin. Wow, this is intense.

I’d worried that the straight-cut transmission, which requires some rev-matching to avoid graunching the gears, would expose my lack of driving talent. But take your time, particularly when reintroducing the snappy clutch to the rear wheels, and it’s soon possible to achieve smooth, rapid progress. The H-pattern four-speed shift feels light, if slightly vague, while perfectly spaced pedals—set up as Frank Gardner operated them in 1968—make it easy to heel-and-toe the throttle on downshifts. 

As the Girling disc brakes have no servo assist, they also demand you think ahead and make measured, deliberate inputs, while the lightly treaded Dunlop tires feel more inclined to slip than grip. Downforce? Forget it. This is a classic Ford Escort, remember, and whether they were doing battle in the BSCC or romping to victory in international rallies, these cars rarely seemed to travel in a straight line. 

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Built to Group 5 regulations (“almost a silhouette formula,” says Henry Mann), the original Ford Escort Mk1 had more sophisticated suspension than its showroom siblings, incorporating elements from the GT40 program, such as sliding-joint MacPherson struts and two-way adjustable Koni coilover dampers. This was cutting-edge stuff in 1968, and it still works brilliantly. Every aspect of the car’s attitude is controlled via your right foot.

Is It Worth It?

Absolutely. Get past the initial body roll and you feel the car dance upon—and occasionally drift beyond—the limit of adhesion. Rather than being intimidating, it tries to work with you, getting better the faster you go. It’s totally absorbing and utterly joyous—”peak analog,” indeed. Racing one would surely be about the most fun you could have on four wheels. 

AMR built six original Group 5 Escorts in the 1960s, and only three survive today. Boreham Motorworks will make more: 24 cars in total, with the first deliveries expected in the fall of 2025. 

Most of the build slots have now been allocated, but for those who miss out, the company’s next project—a road-legal Mk1 Escort RS restomod, with a 300 hp engine that revs to 10,000 rpm—will make its debut later this year. When the time comes, we’ll be among the first to drive it.   

Specifications

Vehicle Type 

In Production Since

Power Train

Performance

Price As Tested

Click here for more photos of this Boreham Motorworks Alan Mann 68 Edition.