Legacy Metrics

1973 Ford Escort Mk1 V8

BBATNR20394roadUnited Kingdom
Engine
V8

A Ford Escort Mk1 built to an extreme competition specification by Steve Howard, formerly responsible for vehicles used on the television programme Top Gear. The car is fitted with a TVR 4.5-litre AJP V8 producing a reported 500 bhp, managed by MBE electronics, and mounted in a fully rose-jointed, coilover-suspended shell. Road-legal with a V5, it was built either to Super Saloons or Castle Combe regulations, or simply as an exercise in maximising performance from the Mk1 platform.

Ownership

  1. 2017-02-24Auction sale
    Sold £15,000 (≈ $19K)

    Iconic Auctioneers catalogue lot →

  2. Date unknownAcquisition unknown
    Steve Howard
    partial documentation

    Built the car himself as a personal project; Howard was previously known for constructing vehicles for the Top Gear television team. A feature article in Fast Ford magazine documents the car's construction and history.

Competition

No competition history extracted from the catalogue.

Maintenance & restoration

  1. —Modification
    Steve Howard

    Ford Escort Mk1 shell converted to full competition specification, including installation of a TVR 4.5-litre AJP V8 with flat-plane billet crankshaft, steel connecting rods and billet camshafts, MBE engine management, TVR throttle bodies, Borg-Warner five-speed gearbox with straight-cut fifth gear and racing clutch, AP Racing four-pot brake calipers with 320mm vented and drilled front discs, Sierra Cosworth rear brake setup, Gaz Gold coilover front suspension, Gaz adjustable rear dampers, and full rose-jointed suspension geometry throughout.

    Car retained road-legal status with a V5. Finished in Ford Focus ST Orange with black Mexico stripes, riding on silver Minilite wheels.

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How this record is sourced

Each chassis record is compiled from public auction archives and links to its source material. Ownership, competition and maintenance entries are extracted from those catalogue listings by an LLM, which can make mistakes — please contact us with any corrections. The summary is Legacy Metrics’ own writing; we do not reproduce catalogue text.

“Full” and “partial” documentation labels indicate how well each entry is corroborated in the underlying sources, not an audit of the car’s physical paperwork. Names of recent or living owners are withheld for privacy.