Sweet, I was looking earlier on yt to see if the next episode had been posted. It has now!
It is getting there.
Bonnet catch. Nice.
The Stratos is looking good as well.
Bonnet catch? I haven't seen the vid but do know that RS Escorts should only ever have bonnet pins.
It’s not an RS replica/restoration. It’s not a replica/restoration of anything, not even a MK1 escort. It’s a completely bespoke uniquely engineered car that happens to resemble a MK1 Escort. It’s a fantastic project and that company seems to knock out some amazing cars. The video’s are hard to watch though. I don’t thinkni’ve Got through one without falling asleep yet! Looking forward to see it completed though and would be great to see it being put through it’s paces.
If I won the lottery
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/a13069340/icon-derelict-1958-rolls-royce-jay-lenos-garage/
It’s a fantastic project
The more I see the more I fail to see the point. I drove a proper Escort, Graham Hickman's TUM (he of Jordan F1 hill climb fame). It was objectively horrible, impossibly heavy steering, no brakes, awful clutch, recalcitrant engine, deafening, until... when everything was properly warmed up (which required going a lot quicker than reasonable) and it was revved to the point where it stayed on the cam after changes, it all made sense. The weight of the driver on the brake pedal at 1g deceleration was about what was needed to get close to lock up, the gear changes barely needed the clutch (which when dumped bit instantly), the steering was still heavy but super fast and precise - RWD rally perfection. Just briefly I enjoyed driving it, then realised it wasn't mine, represented several years of salery and it was time to give it back in one piece. Thanks, Graham, if ever Googling your name brings you to this.
So what is this project to be? A road sanitised Escort that will never drive like a proper G4 at full chat, a vanity project, something to park in a hangar under a cover that will hardly ever turn a wheel.
I fail to see the point.
What's wrong with liking the mk1 Escort but not being fussed about originality/heritage or wanting a full-on race or rally car? Why not want a fast light RWD car that turns and stops well and fits a tall person properly, and happens to be in a mk1 Escort shell? And if you've got the money, why not commission a company to build the very nicest example of that?
it's interesting (the car not the video presentation of the building of the car) and the attention to detail is exemplary . Think I would have "road" tested that prototype rear suspension somehow first though if it needs major modification now it will be very costly.
I like the idea, but am too in a quandary why Gordon has built a car around such a restrictive body shell/design.
Why not build a car up from scratch, wouldn’t have taken much more effort and he’s a bit of a dab hand at designing cars isn’t he.
Why not build a car up from scratch
Probably because that wasn't what he wanted.
wouldn’t have taken much more effort
Yes it would. I would guess to take a something from idea to road legal, driving car would take a team of people about a decade. Prodrive once build a one-off car it took about 4 years, and in and it was an existing chassis and drivetrain (from two different cars) with a bespoke body.
Anyway, it would be a bit of a waste of his talent to spend that long to just build a one-off toy for himself.
Why?
Because Gordon Murray clearly likes the look of a mk1 Escort, but also likes modern kit like brakes, suspension and engines.
Like those E-Types you can buy with modern gear fitted to modern E-Type panels. And he's got the money to pay someone else to do it.
it upsets my that a rare Mk1 shell is used for another different car. I like it when owners change the engine for a pinto or a cosworth but should not rebuild the car. There's been one on ebay built from a honda s2000. I do not mind if a car is improved from original using modern parts but not a total rebuild, new car.
S’pose all I’m really interested in, if I’m honest, is will it have Carlos Fandango stripes and a sun visor that reads “ Gordon loves his Julie innit”
Still, great engineering concept. Still think he’s better off making a McClaren into an EV.. 🤷♂️🥴
Part 13
Another great episode (that most would find quite boring) proudly sponsored by Dynamat 😉
PS I do really love this build, the attention to detail is unreal, but I'm not sure I could watch it from start to Finnish in one or two sittings.
So many really nice touches. What do you think it's going to cost when it's all done?
Cost ? Not a clue but it’s a big number and if I had the money I’d gladly have one. And if you think it’s take a while check out project binky
I caught on to Binky at about episode 2 - can't even remember how many years ago that was. This Escort is like Binky with more money. I used to think that it was disappointing, considering that they clearly had more money, time and resources, but some of the details in this latest episode are really nice, worthy of Binky.
So what is this project to be? A road sanitised Escort that will never drive like a proper G4 at full chat, a vanity project
That’s a fair point. I had the pleasure of nav’ing an ex-works GpIV Escort some years ago (OLD421P if anyone’s sad enough to recognise it). An utter joy in terms of performance, responsiveness and agility, flicking from turn to turn. A pig on the road, naturally. You wouldn’t choose to drive it to the shops.
The end of the latest video where he says that with a bit of luck they will be in a position to fire it up in another 2 months or so.....Gordon Murray is 72 - there is a fair to middling chance he'll never get to drive it!
I think it's great (the build, not the videos).
If I had the money I would certainly want to do something like this - a retro car, but with modern engineering.
Top of my list would be a delorean probably - would seem to fit in the window of being retro/cool, but not so much to be sacrilege to modify it (etype, db5 etc).
What do you think it’s going to cost when it’s all done?
I would guess it will be around £500K
I think it was Gordon Murray who once said an item should always have at least two functions. Which maybe explains the foot rest/washer fluid tank.
cost thing seems irrelevant these days. uprated e-types selling for near on half a million and mini's going for £100k. He probably said try and keep it under £250k.
I would guess it will be around £500K
I’d have scoffed at that, but Singer Porsches are that sort of money and whilst they’re 911s and this is ‘only’ an Escourt they’re both simple cars and the doner car is a small part of the cost.
If you really want to mad, there are 10 original 911 Turbos being built at the moment that will cost between £1.1m and £1.4m depending on where you register them. They’re using original 1980s F1 1500cc V6 TAG-Porsche engines, detuned to a mere 530bhp. They’re water cooled of course which is tricky in a classic 911.
A Singer Porsche I think would be the car I would have chosen if I had tried a bit (a lot) harder at school and was in a position to spend silly money on one.
its going to be be one hell of a nice car when its finished but its no Binky
it upsets my that a rare Mk1 shell is used for another different car. I like it when owners change the engine for a pinto or a cosworth but should not rebuild the car.
Not sure this is any better or worse than a weekend warrior boy racer with delusions of grandieur suddenly deciding they want to do rallying and snap up MK1 body shells to build rally cars with which they'll just wrap around a tree in their first rally.
I'm all for modernising older cars...but there is a line to be drawn from which it no longer makes sense. You want to retain the traits (and imperfections) of the original and capture the character, but tune out some of the limitations to extract the maximum from the original design...Singer Porsche do this well, retaining the same suspension and engine whilst improving it and focus on things like re-engineering the body panels from CF, uprating brakes and engine etc. But to rip out the old MK1 suspension and replace with a double wishbone set up this thing will not resemble a MK1 Escort in any way shape or form so what's the point? It's a Triggers Broom job but starting off with a broom and ending up with a Dyson. If he likes the MK1 shape then it would have been better to space frame it and wrap it with a MK1 look-alike shell. But each to their own...it's his cash and his car...it will be a hoot whatever and will look spectacular.
I thought the rear suspension looked a bit Heath Robinson. How often do those bushes wear out? But what Mr Murray doesn't know about cars isn't worth knowing so I guess it's kosher
I remember reading in CCC many years back that Robin Herd of March F1 fame did loads of modifications to his rally escort around mass centralization, things like moving the engine back and relocating the fuel tank battery forward only to completely screw up the once legendary handling of the thing.
So it might be that some of the modifications aren't as successful as one would hope though I can't see having independent rear suspension being in any way a disadvantage over a live axle so long as the geometry isn't too funky and I'm sure GM has given it the once over to check before signing it off.
I can't wait to see it finished and I'd love to see a proper road test done on it as it'd be really interesting to hear what modern finishing does to an old car like that.
It lives. New episode out this evening
Sweeeeeet! The thrill and relief when an engine fires up for the first time!
I used to feel slightly out of control when using a fully programmable engine management system (albeit in the early days some 25 years ago), I knew where I was with distributors and points! An ecu with the complexity of all the various inputs made initial fault finding tricky and it looks like that hasn’t changed!
don't like the interior/dash :/
don’t like the interior/dash :/
I love it looks pretty simple and classy. Those vents are something else. :o)
That gear stick whatever ergonomic/practical needs it serves looks terrible.
Id love to see more of the Stratos..
Gordon Murray is about 9ft tall*. When it showed the seat and steering wheel fitting he was sat where the back seat would normally be. I guess the gear lever has to be cranked over so that he can reach it.
I like the dash. Very clean.
* an exageration.
Aye right enough. I remember now, when hes checking his RHS blind spot he's looking into the B pillar...
Aye right enough. I remember now, when hes checking his RHS blind spot he’s looking into the B pillar…
I drove a Hyundai Tucson with a similar arrangement once was very dangerous on the motorway.
Mega. These are not films for general consumption, they are labours of love that reflect the work on the car - if the lottery numbers come good, they're getting a call from me.
Nope, still prefer Binky.
A ****ing pimped Mini?!? You can have it! 🙂
Nope, still prefer Binky.
Given the glacial speed that they each release episodes, I've got enough room in my life for both 😉
