Copy of Article Text Below
Monday 09:00 - Escort Mkll, 1980,1.6, four-door Ghia, beige, rebuilt engine, anti-tramp bars, Panhard rod, bucket seats, firewall kit, anti-dive kit, lowered, Ashley exhaust, RS spoilers, excellent condition, loads spent, £1500 ovno
This car really appeals for two reasons: firstly, just look at that spec. Everything we'd need to do to turn it into an effective track car has been done already. It's even got a Panhard rod for goodness sake. Just bolt in a cage and we're away.
Secondly, it's a beige, four-door Ghia. Not everyone's first choice of weapon, granted, but that's why I like it. Picture the scene: busy track session, Ghia gets blown away by old puffer in a TVR on the straights, only to get to the first corner where the Escort out-brakes and out-corners the TVR in fine stylee. End of the session and irate TVR owner comes over and exclaims, "What have you done to that thing?". Casually exiting the brown cloth interior you simply reply, "It's stock, mate". Catch my drift?
This car's had a lot of money thrown at it. I mean, all that suspension kit adds up. Fortunately the shell's sound. Unfortunately, it's had a bump: the nearside front wing is creased and so is the bumper. The door bottoms are starting to go off too, but the floor's very solid and so are the strut tops.
The price is at the upper end for a four-door Ghia, but then look at all the extras. It'd save me a lot of time and effort fitting up the necessary parts, but then again...
Good
It's a track-ready, four-door ghia
Bad
It's a track-ready, four-door ghia
Decision Time
Time to sit down with a brew, a cool head, and weigh up the choices - fast. Do I go for the nimbleness of the Fester, the comedy value of the Ghia, the pose potential of the 1300E, or the sheer muscle of the Capri?
I like the Fiesta a lot, in fact if had the money and the space, I would be tempted to buy it for myself. Maybe I'm getting old, but it's just too nice to muck about with. It needs someone with time to sort the loose ends, not me, who'll simply rip out the interior and engine. No, I can't do it.
One down, three to go. The MK1 Escort's getting there, but I reakon its future lies as a wicked street car for someone. Somehow, gold paint, buckets and a cage don't really go together.
The Ghia really appeals to my sense of humour - I'm tempted to reach for the phone. Or is it just too sorted? With hardly anything left to modify I'd have nothing to bolt on, which is half the fun, plus that wing needs replacing.
So the Capri it is then. On paper it's the worst of the bunch: it needs work, it's not a Special, but it is cheap, it's got potential to be an awesome track or strip mule and I know we can have some real fun with it. And I plan to get it even cheaper.
I go back to Big Al with a figure of £650 in my head. Pitching in at £600 snoots to allow for the bartering factor, I reel off a list of urgent work that needs doing. "Tell you what," he replies, "you can have it for 500 quid." Done. Or have I just been?
Next Month
Project Injector (for that is what it shall be known as) gets its orifices probed to find out what we've really bought, plus a spanking new interior.
|
