I think they're different things. Binky is about the two guys running the channel, essentially what they work on; Binky or the Van is pretty irreverent, whereas Retropower is all about the engineering, it is after all an advert for them.
I prefer Binky for entertainment, as there's only so much info about dry sump tank welding I'm ultimately interested in (I know some folk could watch that stuff all day)
Choice; being a good thing since forever....
Should those numbers come up what kind of car would you have them build?
Oooo... Not an easy choice! 🙂 Stratos, GT40, RS1800, Stingray, Countach, Turbo 911, 512 - probably not that practical for daily use. This is dangerously uncool, but I have long had a soft spot for a Renault 5 Gordini Turbo, my cousin gave me a ride in one he was working on, like, 35 years ago (when it was a contemporary and early hot hatch), and in my head it was like hitching a ride on the Millenium Falcon. I'd have a Caterham or suchlike for track days, then the 5 for everyday use - small, retro but still pretty incognito, but sure you could fit a lump that would get decent poke. Teach it to stop and go round corners, job's a good 'un. 🙂
PS - I apologise for my Binky outburst and will not comment until I've watched an episode or two.
Mate, if you can't get passionate about cars what can you care about? The more viewpoints the better and they're all equally valid.
And to be clear I prefer Binky the show, I'm sure I'd prefer the Escort having had a few back in the day including a knackered Mexico. Someone told me what that bodyshell would be worth now!
They’ve started a new project:
Another episode of the Escort:
Dropped the same day as Binky too! It's Oasis v Blur all over again. The dramaaaaaaaaaa!
Very high quality build and probably a great car to drive but the finished result looks so understated it is actually dull. Could be the choice of colour.
It's what I love so much about it. No stripes, spotlights, big arches, anything like that. At a passing glance it just looks like a tidy but plain mk1. Hope Gordon Murray gets a lot of use out of it.
245 bhp & 175 ft/lb of torque is going shred those puny rear tyres and make it a handful in the wet 🙂 might need to add some ballast at the back or a dirty great big rear wing 😉
I really like how understated it looks. Enough subtle changes to make it unique if you look closely.
Be good to catch up with this.
They've got a wrinkle in that heat shield, can't see GM being happy with that? Looks like one of my invisiframe attempts.
I spoke to Nat a few years ago about prepping and painting the Shell of my Kadett C.
From a bare shell (All metalwork complete) to fully prepped, painted inside and out, he was talking £12-15k
People really have no idea how long this stuff takes to do properly until youve done it.
Ask Maxtorque how long his car has taken working solo...... 😉 (and its way ahead of anything on this escort, it really is in a different league)
My Kadett is similar in concept to this escort, Works 70's tarmac rally car, but think GT3RS trim level, with modern running gear and built to current WRC shell prep standards.
Its been in build for over 10 years now (With gaps in between due to work/family) and its not yet fully dry built - about 95% so far.
Thats the full build before it all comes apart again for plating / painting etc.
One day itll get finished
That is very pretty Escort.
Assuming the polishing guy charges around the £20 / hour sort of rate, that was a grand in polishing alone which puts the costs into perspective.
It's not what I'd ask them to make me (I think I just missed the Ford era, despite remembering going to primary school in a Mk1 Escort), but I really, really wouldn't mind a go - it's lovely. I really am in awe at the work involved.
Having a mate who runs his own detailing business (and another who runs a car bodywork/spray painting) i'd expect the bill for the detailing work done to be well upwards of £3k, that is not your average orange peel paintwork as you get on a mass market car from the car dealership, the quality and depth of mirror smooth finish would leave your jaw on the floor if you saw it in the flesh and the entire car was detailed, not just the paintwork.
Eg, got my new vw tiguan done by a mate who clay barred/depth test/compound polished/removed imperfections/ceramic coated everything and i paid £300 mates rates - took him 3 full/long days work on a brand new car and it should have cost twice as much.
Shirley it should be poo brown with a vinyl roof?
I admire the attention to detail, but it’s taken longer to build it than an Apollo space rocket 🤷♂️
my new vw tiguan done by a mate who clay barred/depth test/compound polished/removed imperfections/ceramic coated everything and i paid £300 mates rates – took him 3 full/long days work on a brand new car and it should have cost twice as much.
That's a lot of money to spend on washing a bog ordinary car.....did a bird crap on it next day !
Ha!, but yeah.......I have to agree with you it’s a bog ordinary suv 🚙 and sooooo wouldn’t be my vehicle of choice. Mobility lease vehicle unfortunately due to secondary progressive ms (progressing rather ****ing rapidly) and compared to my previous cars... 200bhp+ mk2 ABT built golf/190bhp twin webber mk2 scirocco and a year of driving a mates ABT tuned B7 RS4 etc I have to admit the Tiguan bores me to absolute tears but needs/must these end of days and i figure it’s the last vehicle I’ll manage to drive so I may as well make it as easy as possible to keep clean and presentable, obviously having the mates I have the engine and DSG gearbox have been remapped and forge intercooled/miltek exhaust so in a straight line it picks up ok (220bhp/430nm), it certainly ain’t no fully sorted mk2 golf rocket on bilstein B12s to throw about but I guess it keeps me mobile for now 😐
I have to agree that the looks are just a little too understated - not looking for giant stickers or bonnet scoops or anything, but its a bit too much like a full-on "sleeper" build for me.
Would like to see some more shots of the interior, and the engine compartment was absolutely beautiful
Some nice black four-spokes would set it off.
I love it but agree that white wouldn't be my first choice of colour for it. They did a brown one that looked magnificent.
A different take on RestoMod from America
And NZ style, which in many ways is even cooler
Here’s an Escort that has taken longer to build and costs more
If anyone is still wondering why some of us cringed when the Guy at Retro Power was debating suspension design with Gordon Murray, this is what he's been up to for the last couple of years.
£2.8m each, only 100 and 75 of them sold before anyone anything but of sketch of one.
People who really know and understand cars said it couldn't be done (sub 1000Kgs, N/A V12 that would pass emissions etc etc) and more than even McLaren, he puts as much effort into stuff that most supercar makers really don't care about (luggage space, comfort, visibility etc). I mean it's got more cabin storage than my Skoda Superb, why?
The sad part is aside from on TV I'll never see one on the road.
Harrys Garage had a good episode on the details, i imagine this car will wipe the floor with regard to every other hypercar out there
It was interesting listening to GM talk about the F1, saying how rubbish some of it was (air con, lights, downforce) and how the new one is better everywhere. I would guess he's sold enough to know that it will happen, so any sold after 70or so is profit.
Cools story - I actually saw an F1 driving around last Sunday. Said to my wife that the car was worth £8 million but seems I was out of date according to the Harry's garage video where they seem to now be going for £25million. Suppose that is what happens when you make one of the worlds best cars and make less than 100. Surprised all 100 of the T50 haven't already sold as easy money for the very rich.
It was interesting listening to GM talk about the F1, saying how rubbish some of it was (air con, lights, downforce) and how the new one is better everywhere. I would guess he’s sold enough to know that it will happen, so any sold after 70or so is profit.
It was wasn't it!
I think pretty much everyone else on earth who is interested in Cars will put the F1 on this pedestal of being 'perfection' and how it was made without compromise, gold this, titanium that etc, but 30 years later it seems like every other car it was made to a budget and to a deadline.
I don't know who true this is, but if you're really very anoraky you could argue that the F1 isn't 100% road legal. The rear lights famously came off a Lorry, McLaren needed rear lights and were searching around for off-the-shelf options when they found the IVECO ones which worked for them - but lorry lights don't go through the same type approval as car lights, "but wait, it's okay because TVR had already used them so they must be approved for cars!" Only years later did they realise that TVR, being TVR, didn't worry about stuff like rules and regulations and just stuck them on.
That was really good and so much more interesting than the RestMod ones
I used to work in the industrial estate where they polished up the F1s before delivery.
The sound was incredible as it echoed around.
There are jobs that you look at and think, yeah, I could do that with enough time and training. And then there’s Gordon Murray on car design and you realise there’s not a chance...
He has some very definite views on, for example, wheel sizes. And don't mention silly indicators that ripple or odd shaped daylight running lights. He doesn't like carbon wheels either.
