The droop-snoot RS2000 has become something of a legend in Ford circles and, with rallying heritage, was the Seventies equivalent of Subaru's WRX and Mitsubishi's Evo. Announced in 1979, the Australian RS2000 differed from its English counterpart in a number of ways and was available in both two and four-door guises, with a two-litre engine and short-shift four-speed gearbox (although automatic transmission was available to order). Developing 70 kW and 148 Nm of torque, the RS2000 was certainly a potent little car this, combined with the sports handling pack, the Escort's famously sharp steering and excellent handling characteristics, made for a great driving experience. With a kerb weight of just on 1,000 kilograms, the RS2000 was capable of reaching a top speed of nearly 170 km/h, with acceleration to match. The sloping quad quartz halogen headlamps, black-outs and rear spoiler combined to give the RS2000 a purposeful look, along with cloth trimmed Scheel sports seats, sports steering wheel and full instrumentation. The RS2000 was well received by the press, with Modern Motor commenting "The Escort RS2000 is a way of putting fun back into driving. It's the kind of car we should all be driving - responsive, accurate, economical, and fast". Although Australian production figures for the RS2000 aren't well documented, there were approximately 2,400 turned out and relatively few of these survive. With interest in the RS Escorts coming up all the time, it won't be long before values on the Aussie RS2000s begin to climb rapidly and now is definitely the time to start looking hard for good, low mileage examples.

A genuine one-owner car, this matching numbers RS2000 was built in August 1979 and delivered through Swan Motors of Narrabeen (with the decals deleted at the owner's request) on the 11th of September, 1979 and retains the original New South Wales plates. Although the original logbook is missing the cover containing the owner's purchase details, all the servicing records remain intact and the owner has provided proof of ownership from the RTA confirming he was the first and only registered owner of the vehicle, which has 65,630 kilometres on the clock. The car has recently been taken back to the bare metal and some rust removed (the steel plenum chamber was replaced with a fibreglass item to eliminate the rust problems inherent in the Escort shells), then resprayed in Audi yellow. At the same time the engine was freshened up, the gearbox seals were replaced, new springs and fully adjustable shocks (including fully adjustable front suspension) and is now lowered 25mm. A set of Performance 15-6in. alloy wheels are fitted, with a spare included. Inside the Escort retains the original AM radio, Scheel seats and the interior and boot have been re-upholstered. The car has a floor mounted fire extinguisher and built-in ignition immobiliser. Some spares are included in the sale, for example a spare set of tail light housings and new exhaust gasket, along with the original owner's manual/service book, an RAC (UK) badge on the grille and six rare Sports Car Club of America dash plaques (including what is thought to be the only surviving plaque from the 1964 Sebring 12-Hour race, a unique piece designed by the owner). To be sold registered in New South Wales.