Ford Escort Mk II (1975-1980)

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Ford Escort RS2000

The square-edged Mk II version appeared in early 1975. The first production models of which rolled off the production lines 2 December 1974.

Unlike the first Escort (which was solely a British effort), the second generation was developed along with Ford of Germany. Codenamed "Brenda" during its development, it used the same mechanicals as the Mk I, although the unpopular 950 cc engine was dropped. The station wagon and van versions used the same panelwork as the Mk I, but with the Mk II front end and interior - giving the car a slight "identity crisis". The car used a revised underbody, which incidentially was introduced as a running change during the last six months of the Mk1's life.

This car made a point, just with its four bodystyles, of competing in many different niches of the market, which rival manufacturers either had multiple models ranges, or simply none at all. "L" and "GL" models (2-door, 4-door, estate) were in the mainstream private sector, the "Sport", "Mexico", and "RS2000" in the performance market, the "Ghia" (2-door, 4-door) for an untapped small car luxury market, and "Base/Popular" models for the bottom end. Panel-van versions catered to the commercial sector.

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1980 Ford Escort Ghia

During the second half of the 1970s, the Escort continued to prove hugely popular with buyers in Britain and other parts of Europe. A cosmetic update was given in 1978, with most models gaining the square headlights (previously exclusive to the GL and Ghia variants), some models gaining the Escort Sport wheels, and an upgrade in interior spec - the 'L' in particular gaining a glovebox and centre console. Underneath a wider front track was given.

Production, after an incredibly popular model run, ended in Britain in August 1980, other countries following soon after.

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Rallying

As with its predecessor, the Mk II had a successful rallying career. All models of the Mk I were carried over to the Mk II, though the Mexico had its engine changed to a 1.6 ohc 'Pinto' instead of the ohv for the UK market. Other markets continued with the 1.6L 'Kent' in the mk 2 and called it the 'Sport' model. Also a new and potent model was released, the RS1800, which had an 1800 version of the BDA engine. It was essentially a special created for racing, and surviving road versions are very rare and collectible today. There has been a longstanding debate regarding how the RS1800 was homologated for international motorsport, as Ford are rumoured to have built only fifty or so road cars out of the four hundred required for homologation.

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Ford Escort Mk2 Rally car with raised wheel arches

The 'works' rally cars were highly specialised machines. Bodyshells were heavily strengthened. They were characterised by the wide wheel arch extensions (pictured above), and often by the fitment of four large spotlights for night stages. The BDA engine was bored to 2000cc and gave up to 270bhp by 1979. It was complemented by a strengthened transmission, five-speed straight-cut ZF gearbox, five-linked suspension and a host of more minor modifications. In this form, the Escort was perhaps not the most sophisticated of the rear-drive saloon cars that dominated rallying in the late 1970s, but it was reliable and powerful, and good enough to win in the hands of some of the best drivers of its day.

The late 1970s were Ford's most successful period in Rallying. The Mk II Escort continued its predecessor's unbeaten run on the RAC Rally, winning every year from 1975-9 and winning a variety of other events around the world as well. In the 1979 World Rally Championship, Björn Waldegård took the drivers' title, Hannu Mikkola was runner-up and Ari Vatanen finished the year in 5th place, all driving Escort RS1800's. These drivers' successes throughout the year gave Ford the Manufacturers' title, the only time the company had achieved this until the 2006 season, when Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen won title for Ford in Ford Focus RS.

The 1.6 L (1598 cc/97 in³) engine in the 1975 1.6 Ghia produced 84 hp (63 kW) with 125 N·m (92 ft·lbf) torque and weighed 955 kg (2105 lb). For rally use, this can be compared to the 1974 Toyota Corolla which output 75 hp (56 kW) and weighed 948 kg (2090 lb).

The 2.0 L RS2000 version, which featured the Pinto engine from the Cortina, was available with a top speed of 110 mph (177 km/h). The 2.0 L engine was also easily retro-fitted into the Mk I, and this became a popular modification, along with the Ford Sierra's 5-speed gearbox, for rallying and other sports, especially given the Pinto's tunability.

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Ford Escort MkII

The RS2000 was more distinctive, having a slanting plastic nose housing four round headlamps.

Australia and New Zealand

Ford Australia also built Mk II Escorts. The majority of Escorts (regular and performance models) sold there utilized the 1.6 OHV Kent and the Cortina's 2.0L Pinto engine (in a lower tune than European units, due to Australian emission laws). The bodyshells were 2-door, 4-door and van, the wagon models being unavailable to the Australian market. The slant-nose RS2000 was sold as a regular production model in 1979 and 1980, in both 2-door and - unique to Australia - 4-door variants. The Escort, like the Cortina, was never popular on the Australian market, due to the competing Japanese imports. It was an underrated car throughout its production life.

In New Zealand, MKII Escorts were built from CKD kits at the Ford plant in Wiri, South Auckland. Unlike Australia, Escorts and Cortinas always topped the monthly sales lists, and all body styles including the wagon were sold. Based on the British models (aside from using metric speedometers), the cars were sold in 1.1 (base), 1.3 (L, GL, 1300 Sport, estate and van variants) and 1.6 (Ghia, 1600 Sport) variants - the 1.3 being the most common.

The Escort was replaced in the Australian and New Zealand markets by the Ford Laser in 1981 which were locally built Mazda 323s with different panels. Deregulation allowing imported used cars eventually destroyed NZ's automotive assembly industry but the Escort returned briefly to NZ in the late 1990s before being replaced by the Focus.

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