Street Legal RS2000
After a few year of banging my head against the wall with my first Capri, I was starting to think about my next car. The Capri's 1600 kent engine was giving me grief and I was looking into replacing it with a trusty 2.0lt "pinto" for a Cortina.
What I really wanted was a Mk 3 Capri with a 2.0lt but since they were never imported into Australia the chances of finding one of those were pretty slim. Aside of a few personal imports that I would see at the annual Capri Club show, the closest thing that Ford ever put out in Australia was the late incarnation of the Escort RS2000 of 1979-80.
I liked the twin headlights of the droop-snoot Escort but even around this time in the late 90's the RS2000s were rare and showing their age. Rough ones were fetching $4000 still and most were thrashed, modified and missing a lot of the original parts like the Scheel seats and RS steering wheels that separated them from the shopping trolley models.
What made my search even harder was I preferred the 4dr door model, (unique to the Australian market) so I only had a production run of 800-1200 to choose from, most of which had been robbed of the RS parts. They were also looked on as inferior by the Escort gurus, the nosecone adding to the weight and having none of the Euro-spec RS2000 goodies or uprated engine. They were basically a droop-snoot version of an Escort with a standard Cortina engine, but I still wanted one.
It took me a while, having to endure a Ford Laser (Mazda 323) for a few years before I bought my first RS2000 Escort. It was a bog-standard Mondza Red 4 door perfect other than a minor scrape on the passenger side wing/guard inflicted by the previous owner trying to reverse up a steep driveway in bare feet and a worn clutch.
That all worked in my favour as I was able to get the car fairly cheap and he was after a quick sale. The seller was moving back to Adelaide after living in Melbourne and just wanted the car gone. I snapped his hand off and had bought my first RS2000 for a little over $4000.
Aside of the black painted Volante rims my first RS2000 was as close to standard as you could find. These cars were always modders favourites, it was almost impossible (and still is) to find one with its original matching number engine but mine was and I loved it.
It was my daily driver after that for many years, I would be distracted by other projects, Capris, Escorts and panel vans but I resisted the urge to modify this car and its stayed pretty much the same way until I stupidly sold it.
They always say you never get over your first love and this car is testiment to that fact. When I sold my house in Australia and received the funds from the sale, my first thought was to get in touch with the now owner and try to buy it back.
Unfortunately for me, the buyer refused to sell the car back to me despite that fact the car remained in the same condition as when I sold it some 10 years previous.
Of all the cars I've had over the years, this is the one I would buy back without a hint of hesitation.....Maybe when I win the lotto.
What I really wanted was a Mk 3 Capri with a 2.0lt but since they were never imported into Australia the chances of finding one of those were pretty slim. Aside of a few personal imports that I would see at the annual Capri Club show, the closest thing that Ford ever put out in Australia was the late incarnation of the Escort RS2000 of 1979-80.
I liked the twin headlights of the droop-snoot Escort but even around this time in the late 90's the RS2000s were rare and showing their age. Rough ones were fetching $4000 still and most were thrashed, modified and missing a lot of the original parts like the Scheel seats and RS steering wheels that separated them from the shopping trolley models.
What made my search even harder was I preferred the 4dr door model, (unique to the Australian market) so I only had a production run of 800-1200 to choose from, most of which had been robbed of the RS parts. They were also looked on as inferior by the Escort gurus, the nosecone adding to the weight and having none of the Euro-spec RS2000 goodies or uprated engine. They were basically a droop-snoot version of an Escort with a standard Cortina engine, but I still wanted one.
It took me a while, having to endure a Ford Laser (Mazda 323) for a few years before I bought my first RS2000 Escort. It was a bog-standard Mondza Red 4 door perfect other than a minor scrape on the passenger side wing/guard inflicted by the previous owner trying to reverse up a steep driveway in bare feet and a worn clutch.
That all worked in my favour as I was able to get the car fairly cheap and he was after a quick sale. The seller was moving back to Adelaide after living in Melbourne and just wanted the car gone. I snapped his hand off and had bought my first RS2000 for a little over $4000.
Aside of the black painted Volante rims my first RS2000 was as close to standard as you could find. These cars were always modders favourites, it was almost impossible (and still is) to find one with its original matching number engine but mine was and I loved it.
It was my daily driver after that for many years, I would be distracted by other projects, Capris, Escorts and panel vans but I resisted the urge to modify this car and its stayed pretty much the same way until I stupidly sold it.
They always say you never get over your first love and this car is testiment to that fact. When I sold my house in Australia and received the funds from the sale, my first thought was to get in touch with the now owner and try to buy it back.
Unfortunately for me, the buyer refused to sell the car back to me despite that fact the car remained in the same condition as when I sold it some 10 years previous.
Of all the cars I've had over the years, this is the one I would buy back without a hint of hesitation.....Maybe when I win the lotto.
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