1973 Ford Escort Mk 1 RS 2000 'Prototype' Sedan

With interest in early competition-oriented Escorts at record levels, this is a rare opportunity to acquire an important piece of Ford AVO history - one of the prototype Mark I RS2000s and the former Earls Court Motor Show car. Ford developed the RS2000 as both a more powerful replacement for the Escort Mexico and a more civilised, practical road car than the peaky BDA-powered RS1600. Using the 2-litre Pinto SOHC four-cylinder engine, displacing 1993cc with a bore and stroke of 90.8mm by 77mm, the RS2000 had a quick-shift Type E German box. With a compression ratio of 9.2:1, the RS2000 developed 100 bhp at 5750 rpm and breathed through a twin-choke Weber carburettor. Weighing in at 915 kgs, the RS2000 was certainly a quick little car and in regular production form, did 0-100 km/h in nine seconds, with a top speed of 180 km/h. The RS2000 was offered by Ford between 1973 and 1974 and production figures are usually quoted somewhere between 3,500 and 5,000, with the earliest cars all built in Germany to left-hand drive specification. Just four prototypes were made by AVO for the RS2000, three of these in lhd guise with only one, this very car, in rhd. Being a show car, the unique rhd prototype was given the custom interior pack with special 'Beta' cloth trim, a centre console, woodgrain dashboard, Ford radio, clock and full instrumentation. The paintwork was also the first time the Olympic Blue colour was used. With the history extensively researched and carefully documented by the owner, this is certainly one of the most historically important Escorts in Australia.