The "Basketcase" RS2000
People (mainly women) will talk about middle aged men buying mid-life crisis cars to relive their youth. I can safely say, I've never really left my youth when it comes to cars because I've never really given up the cars of my youth.
However, I can admit to reflecting on the cars I've sold in the past, as the blog is testament to that fact. Although I don't tend to celebrate birthday's in general, I have made a point of celebrating milestone birthdays by buying a car, if not to distract me from getting older, but simply to acknowledge the milestone.
I purchased my first RS2000 when I turned 30. I bought another really nice one when I turned 40. And now as I rapidly approach 50, I'm seriously looking at buying, (or at least committing to one I already own) the car that I always wanted, a Mk 3 Capri....But more from that later.
The RS2000 Escort is a dream car for many men in my age bracket, however my feelings have always been torn by this particular model. On occasions, I've seen it as a compromised version of what the Escort represents, historically - A rally champion that essentially bared no resemblance to the road car whatsoever. The rally winning Escorts had a different drive-train, a flat front and heavily modified suspension that was never offered on any road going Escort, in Australia at any time.
Some time around 10 years ago, when I was about to turn 40 and was working in an incredibly stressful job and I was looking for a distraction for my weekends. I had thought about getting another RS2000 and had put the word out to all my contacts. There wasn't much on offer at the time but a call from a fellow "antique dealer" seemed to offer a possible candidate.
The car in questions was very much a project. An abandoned RS2000 race car that, although matching number, had been heavily modified. It was also suffering from serious rust, but it was mostly all there, relatively cheap and offered some sort of promise....despite not quite remembering what that promise, I was thinking of at the time.
I went to view the car and somehow I felt pity for it sitting out in the weather, freshly sand-blasted and looking perilously vulnerable to the elements. Surface rust was setting in and it was looking very much like an abandoned puppy.
Somehow I ended up buying it on the proviso the seller would tow it back to my place on the other side of town. I followed behind the trailer watching literally bag-fulls of sand blow out of every nook and cranny during the hour long trip back to my home. The longer the trip took, the more I regretted what I was about to take on. I surveyed the car in my driveway for a good couple of hours, taking many pics and thinking this is well beyond my skills, my wallet and my passion for the model. I needed a get out clause.
Fortunately for me that get-out clause came via another fellow "antique dealer" who took the project off my hands shortly afterward. It was also a blessing in disguise because it opened up a conversation that lead to the purchase of a very nice road-going RS2000 later that year.
That year, I turned 40, secured myself yet another RS2000 (more on that one later) and the realisation that I would never have the ability to fully restore a car on my own.
However, I can admit to reflecting on the cars I've sold in the past, as the blog is testament to that fact. Although I don't tend to celebrate birthday's in general, I have made a point of celebrating milestone birthdays by buying a car, if not to distract me from getting older, but simply to acknowledge the milestone.
I purchased my first RS2000 when I turned 30. I bought another really nice one when I turned 40. And now as I rapidly approach 50, I'm seriously looking at buying, (or at least committing to one I already own) the car that I always wanted, a Mk 3 Capri....But more from that later.
The RS2000 Escort is a dream car for many men in my age bracket, however my feelings have always been torn by this particular model. On occasions, I've seen it as a compromised version of what the Escort represents, historically - A rally champion that essentially bared no resemblance to the road car whatsoever. The rally winning Escorts had a different drive-train, a flat front and heavily modified suspension that was never offered on any road going Escort, in Australia at any time.
Some time around 10 years ago, when I was about to turn 40 and was working in an incredibly stressful job and I was looking for a distraction for my weekends. I had thought about getting another RS2000 and had put the word out to all my contacts. There wasn't much on offer at the time but a call from a fellow "antique dealer" seemed to offer a possible candidate.
The car in questions was very much a project. An abandoned RS2000 race car that, although matching number, had been heavily modified. It was also suffering from serious rust, but it was mostly all there, relatively cheap and offered some sort of promise....despite not quite remembering what that promise, I was thinking of at the time.
I went to view the car and somehow I felt pity for it sitting out in the weather, freshly sand-blasted and looking perilously vulnerable to the elements. Surface rust was setting in and it was looking very much like an abandoned puppy.
Somehow I ended up buying it on the proviso the seller would tow it back to my place on the other side of town. I followed behind the trailer watching literally bag-fulls of sand blow out of every nook and cranny during the hour long trip back to my home. The longer the trip took, the more I regretted what I was about to take on. I surveyed the car in my driveway for a good couple of hours, taking many pics and thinking this is well beyond my skills, my wallet and my passion for the model. I needed a get out clause.
Fortunately for me that get-out clause came via another fellow "antique dealer" who took the project off my hands shortly afterward. It was also a blessing in disguise because it opened up a conversation that lead to the purchase of a very nice road-going RS2000 later that year.
That year, I turned 40, secured myself yet another RS2000 (more on that one later) and the realisation that I would never have the ability to fully restore a car on my own.
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