History The Car Ford Mexico MK1

During the 60’s and 70’s Ford were practically unbeaten in rallying.

The key to this success can be put down to one of the most successful rally car cars ever. The MK1 Escort. In 1970 Hannu Mikkola won the London to Mexico World Cup Rally in a MK1 Escort along with Codriver Gunnar Palm.

This event gave birth to the Escort Mexico, Originally intended to be powered by the BDA Twin Cam engine however this was dropped in favour of the much more reliable Kent 1.6 litre OHV engine which produced a respectable 98 BHP from the factory allowing for a 0-60 time of 10.5 seconds and a top speed of 100MPH.

From new the car could be bought in one of three colours white, maize yellow and sunset red along with the unmistakable sides stripes that stretched the length of the car with Mexico emblazoned on the doors, In later years the Mexico became available in all AVO colours.

The Mexico came fitted with front quarter bumpers to make it instantly recognizable from other models, as well as wide rim steel wheels fitted with 165/13 tyres.

The interior was not as luxurious as the RS1600 or Twin Cam Escorts, to keep cost lower the carpets were replaced with rubber mats. The dashboard was the taken from the Escort GT and the seats were changed for deluxe seats which didn’t offer the support of the higher spec cars seats.

The engine the Kent Crossflow was the same as used in the Cortina GT’s and Capri GT’s which was placed into the Escort in standard form, However over the years the engine has proven to be very durable and easy to tune with companies able to achieve 135-145 BHP without too much trouble.

The car was an instant success for Ford providing a cheap sporty family car for around £1100 the options list was nearly endless with quad lamps being a favourite.

In total 10,352 cars were produced how many survived over the years we can only guess. The Escorts were always prone to rust and nowadays a decent example can set you back around £12,000 which is a lot less than what people are asking for a RS2000 with prices around £20,000

Source : www.classiccarlink.com

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