1974 Ford Escort Mexico MkI

Sympathetically restored to its original specification. Good period detail

Bare metal strip and respray in Modena Green. Photographic record

Interior refurbished. Retrimmed RS seats

Upgraded to a five-speed gearbox. Refurbed RS alloys

Freshly MOT'd and good to go

The Ford Escort Mexico was introduced in November 1970 and was so named because of Ford Motor Company's hard-fought victory in the World Cup Rally that had started in London on the 19th April 1970 and finished some 16,000 miles later in Mexico. Originally Ford intended to use Escorts with the Twin Cam or BDA engine, but after reconnaissance work, it was decided that high speeds and high power were less important than reliability and ease of servicing, and therefore the 'Kent' pushrod engine was used in the Escort shell.

It seems likely that Ford already had plans to produce a high-performance Escort to fit in the range between the 1300GT and the Twin Cam / RS1600, but their victory in Mexico provided an ideal platform to launch such a model. The engineers at the newly formed A.V.O. (Advanced Vehicles Operations) quickly developed the 'Mexico', marrying the Type 49 bodyshell as used in the Twin Cam and RS1600 with the 1600cc Kent 'crossflow' engine and 2000E gearbox. So, effectively, the Mexico was basically a re-engined Twin Cam / RS1600.

This 1974 Mexico has been sympathetically restored to its original specification and finished in the wonderfully evocative period colour of Modena Green. As with all proper restorations the car was fully stripped, taken back to bare metal, prepared, and carefully primed and painted, and there are supporting photographic images in the history file. Attention to period detail was important and this '74 car has the battery in the boot and a stone guard under the boot floor.The interior also received attention with a new roof lining and retrimmed front 'RS' seats. During reassembly, the decision was taken to upgrade the Mexico with a 5-speed gearbox and a set of refurbished RS alloys The indicated mileage is 65800 which the vendor believes to be correct, but cannot verify and the car will have a fresh MOT for the sale.

The Mexico was AVO's most successful and numerous of the 'Rally Sport Escorts,' and it had a number of advantages on the road, in that it had good performance, was easy to maintain, relatively easy to insure, and above all it was great fun to drive, something which is still very true today.

If you are seeking a Mk1 Escort Mexico in excellent condition, your search may well be over…