Peter Glumac's Ford Escort RS2000 MK1
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This car started out as a standard two-door. It’s a 1972 model and I’ve brought it up to RS specs. There are a lot of differences, so there is quite a bit of work to get them to this stage.
It’s an Australian shell, with local features. Mechanically it’s a two litre – there’s not a lot of variation there. However the differential is different, as is the suspension.
The Mk1 RS came out with 13-inch wheels instead of the standard 12.
I’m a hoarder with these cars. I can’t help myself – I’ll say I have more than 10. My father worked at Ford for more than 30 years. Two of my sisters and I had Escorts as our first cars.
This one was bought as a shell and I did the majority of the prep work on it. It was probably the best shell I’ve ever seen, with the least rust. I tried to get as many original RS parts as I could. Back in the day it was expensive, but it’s much more so now.
I borrowed someone’s workshop and they helped with the welding. It took a long time.
People don’t seem to care how bad an Escort is these days, because there are so many parts available for them. You can even get complete floor pans. You can fix anything. I have a real RS as well, and ex Group C race car, which I’m rebuilding at the moment and will put on the road. It belonged to Michael Stillwell and Geoff Brabham.
As for the mechanicals, they’re really easy to work on. We did a big trip with the club recently and there were issues along the way, but everyone made it back.
Ford Escort RS1600/1800/2000 Specs
NUMBERS BUILT RS1600 – 947 RS1800 – 300 (est) RS2000 – 25
BODY 2-door sedan
ENGINE 1558/1835/1993cc OHC inline 4-cylinder
POWER & TORQUE RS1800 – 90kW @ 5500rpm, 180Nm @ 4000rpm
PERFORMANCE RS1600 – 0-100 9.3s, 0-400m: 16.9s
TRANSMISSION 4 or 5-speed
SUSPENSION Front: indep, with struts, coils & anti-roll bar. Rear: live axle with semi-elliptic springs, tele shocks & control arms
BRAKES disc/drum