Estimated Price: £100,000 - £120,000

Ford had, for a number of years, used active participation in motorsport as a means of getting their showroom doors swinging on a Monday morning, and the new Escort (introduced in January 1968) was to prove no exception. Popular at club level in every discipline of the sport, it was at an international level that the name Escort became synonymous with winning. The Ford Works team was practically unbeatable in the late 1960s/early 1970s, and arguably, the Escort's greatest victory was in the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally being driven by Finnish legend Hannu Mikkola. This result and the ensuing acclaim prompted Ford to produce the famous Escort Mexico (1.6-litre Kent engine) road version in honour of the rally car.

Definitely a step-up from the Mexico, the Escort RS1600 was developed using an engine that was essentially a FVA Formula 2 unit, designated BDA (Belt Drive A-Series), that produced 115bhp and 112lb/ft of torque and allowed the RS1600 to accelerate from 0-60mph in 8.5 seconds, rather impressive in 1970.

Comfortable with their success in rallying, in late 1970 Ford decided to focus on circuit racing and in early 1971 FoMoCo commissioned Ralph Broad's Broadspeed Engineering to build a competitive Escort race car for John Fitzpatrick's assault on the 1971 British Saloon Car Championship. Fitz had already enjoyed some success with the Escort in previous years, finishing third in the Championship in 1970, but that was in Broadspeed’s own car. Ford sourced a new RS1600 road car which was despatched to Broadspeed in early 1971 to be prepared as a full race car in accordance with Group 2 regulations. The car was road-registered as MEV 34J on 5th April 1971 - despite having been with Broadspeed for some months – its first race was at Brands Hatch on the 21st of March.

The RS was race-prepared by Broadspeed to their traditionally high standards with the Cosworth BDA 16-valve engine bored out to 1,701cc, converted to dry-sump lubrication and Lucas mechanical fuel injection and fitted with a ZF five-speed dog-leg gearbox. Sponsored by Castrol Motor Oils and entered by Team Broadspeed Castrol, the Escort carried the 'registration' number 'RS1600' and was finished in Ermine White with those classic red and green Castrol stripes.

The opening round of the 1971 RAC Saloon Car Championship, the Hepolite-Glacier Trophy, was divided into two parts with the overall result based on aggregate performance. Fitz finished first overall with a class win in the first part and second overall - to Brian Muir in the Z28 Camaro - and a class win in Part 2, meaning that 'RS1600', soon to be 'MEV 34J', won overall, a dream debut. A further six class wins would follow that season meaning that MEV finished first in Class C and fourth overall on 67 points. Fitzpatrick was contracted to race a German entered-RS1600 rather than MEV for the Spa 24-hour race in July 1971, so drivers Mike Crabtree and Trevor Taylor stepped up and shared the drive. The latter is pictured in action in Graham Robson's book, The Works Escorts (1977/1984), on page 109. The final race of 1971 - at the BRSCC Brands Hatch Motor Show meeting - saw Fitz crash the Escort heavily when contesting the lead with Gardner's Camaro. Unfortunately, the Escort had been pre-sold and was bound for New Zealand to be raced by Jim Richards, so that particular deal that had to be 'unpicked'.

It is assumed that Ralph Broad sold the remains of the 'Fitzpatrick' car after Brands Hatch (there is an advertisement offering it for sale with or without engine in the history file) and later in the 1970s rally entry lists and period rally photographs show MEV 34J on rally stages in private hands. A succession of owners and various modifications followed, including a 1990s entry in Thunder Saloons.

In 2015, the car's current owner was hoping to acquire a Broadspeed or possibly 'works' Escort to race and narrowly missed the opportunity of owning the 1970 Ford works car EVX 256H, fortunately the vendor of EVX happened to know where MEV 34J could be found and, in 2016, a deal was done. It transpired that Roger King of GPRM Ltd (now Stellar Motorsport) had been the purchaser of EVX. He had been a young engineer at Broadspeed during the Ford years and was now starting the full restoration of the recently purchased EVX at his workshops. When approached by our vendor, he readily agreed to take on the restoration of MEV 34J alongside his own car.

Extensive bodyshell and sheet metal work to exacting original detail was carried out, often referencing EVX and a library of shell only photographs of MEV 34J from Ford's own archive. All the period suspension was either restored or machined freshly from billet. A new 1,800cc, correct-specification, fuel-injected BDA engine was built by Alan Sherwood and dynamometer tested at nearly 275bhp. Martin Jones built a new ZF five-speed gearbox, a bespoke motorsport wiring loom was put together, Bilstein springs and dampers were fitted as were AP Racing brake, and the wheels shod with Dunlop racing tyres, all as it should be. The car was finished in Ermine White to a 'showroom' standard by XK Engineering (Coventry), hand-painted graphics applied, and the car was road and track ready by early 2022.

A successful outing in the 2024 Circuit des Remparts at Angoulême has been the car's only post-rebuild competitive event and, as can be seen from our images, it remains in superb condition throughout with the odometer indicating just 202 miles since completion. Further details on the build-specification can be provided to interested parties. It's eligible for a variety of top class motorsport events such as Motor Racing Legends, Peter Auto and any number of other Historic race series globally and also offers versatility for events such as the Modena Cento Ore as it remains road registered with its works Ford plate MEV 34J. The FIA Historic Technical Passport is valid until 31st December 2035. 

It's supplied with four full lever-arch files of in-period and rebuild history and copies of numerous publications and reference books featuring the car and its racing career, both in-period and post rebuild. By way of providing more info on the car's story, our vendor produced a book telling the story of MEV in pictures, and a large-format printed copy will accompany the car.

For most of us, the Mk 1 Escort has been at the centre of British motorsport 'forever' and MEV 34J, with continuous history for nearly 55 years, has been part of that story. It would be impossible to replicate this fastidiously rebuilt example at today's guide price and we invite and encourage your close inspection at our BRDC sale.