10,000rpm, £354k Ford Escort is a car 'nobody else could build'

Boreham Motorworks is putting the finishing touches to its £354k Mk1 Ford Escort continuation ahead of deliveries starting early next year - and its creators pledge that the retro, sub-tonne two-door will be unlike anything else available at this price point.

The Mk1 RS, having now been revealed in its final production form, is the first in a series of continuation cars created with the official blessing of Ford by a crack team of industry design and engineering heavyweights.

Boreham has already confirmed a new take on the RS200 Group B rally car, and the entire Ford catalogue is open to the British firm as it carves out a niche in the performance car market.

With the first customer handovers just months away, a test mule is currently being run around British proving grounds in a bid to break Boreham's screaming, race-honed 'Ten-K' engine - an entirely bespoke development that, as its name suggests, redlines at 10,000rpm.

With roughly as much power as a Volkswagen Golf R and weighing at least 100kg less than a Mazda MX-5, the Mk1 RS promises to be the quickest and most extreme road-going Escort yet.

While Boreham has yet to reveal performance figures, it should keep pace with most modern supercars.

But beyond straight-line performance, Boreham is rigidly focused on ensuring its debut model is just as engaging to drive and usable day to day as similar-priced rivals from big-name manufacturers.

It will always be a more exclusive proposition, though. Production will ramp up slowly at first: only 10 cars are earmarked for production in 2027, to help isolate any potential hiccups early in the car's life cycle - and only 150 are planned in total.

Icon reinvented

"We didn't want a car that anybody would either consider or could capably build themselves," John Mitchell, Boreham's director of Ford Heritage (above, left), told Autocar.

A member of the original Ford Motorsport team responsible for all Escort RS models, as well as the Capri 2.8 Injection and the Sierra Cosworth, he added: "It just had to be different."

Stylist Wayne Burgess - previously a lead designer at JLR and Aston Martin - said his ambition was to build the Mk1 Escort he had always wanted, having previously owned five.

Its fundamental structure is based on that of the contemporary touring car campaigned by Alan Mann Racing - which Boreham is also now reproducing to its original specification.

This competition Escort had its front axle set 30mm further forward than the road-going car, which, explained Burgess, gives a better dash-to-axle ratio, improving its proportions.

"I'm going to sound like I'm describing a Jaguar E-Type here, but this car has all of those classical attributes," he said.

Burgess explained that he was "very concerned" with achieving the right relationship between the wheels and body.

At 15in, the alloys are larger than the original 13s, but they are still shod with thick-walled tyres, in order to preserve the Escort's signature look. Several designs of wheel will be offered, each paying tribute to those fitted in period, including Rostyles and Minilites.

Inside, concessions have been made to usability. There's now a Bluetooth stereo, air conditioning and backlit instruments. However, the rear seats have been removed.

The Escort's defining elements have been retained, though. While the six-dial instrument panel is "not the easiest thing to see through a steering wheel", according to Burgess, it had to remain in place as a signature element. "We fixed the crooked [offset] steering column but we kept the instruments," he said.

Likewise, there are Breitling rally timers and a five-speed dog-leg gearbox, stirred by a rally-style high-set lever, which was developed specifically by motorsport transmission specialist Holinger to give a precise, 'kerchunk' shift feel.

Of all the new elements on the Mk1 RS, Burgess highlighted the bonnet and boot hinges as among his favourites.

Having "never designed hinges in my life", he drew inspiration from the Spitfire model aircraft kits he made in his youth.

"The design content in this car - the design density - is way beyond a normal volume-production car," he added.

Under the skin

Chief technical officer Simon Goodliff said Boreham's ambition was to build a car with a "traditional approach but very modern technologies, materials and [methods]".

For example, there's electric power steering to assist with low-speed manoeuvring, but this is disengaged at higher speeds to allow greater feel.

The new car's basic formula mirrors that of the original, retaining a naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine, a manual gearbox and a live rear axle.

"We always wanted to have a live rear axle," said Goodliff. The independent-rear [suspension] Escorts are not the way to go."

Much work went into strengthening and lightening those components, however. The rear axle was completely redesigned. It now has a thin-walled casing for its Quaife torque-biasing limited-slip differential, with titanium tubes pressed into the casting, and gun-drilled driveshafts. The new axle saves 40kg alone.

Described as a "race engine" by Goodliff, the Ten-K produces 325bhp while weighing just 85kg. It's connected to a dry oil sump and breathes through individual throttle bodies, and a carbonfibre airbox is in development too.

"All in, with electric air conditioning and fully leathered, it weighs less than a tonne," said Goodliff. "Depending on the spec, we can build it down to 895kg."