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StarLight Garage presents Zakspeed Ford Escort Mk2 Gr5 from 1977. A car that his life began as a Group 2 car and later rebuilt to a Group5. An interesting mighty car by Zakspeed, with a little from Ford.
Idea for this thread provided by CostasDrifter.
This box-arched Escort has an interesting back story, which in this particular case started in back in 1975. Beginning with a brand new MK2 shell, Zakspeed originally built the car for Group 2 racing; and in that specification it was driven to overall victory in the DRM (German Touring Car Championship) by Hans Heyer in both ’75 and ’76.
In 1977 the Escort went back into Zakspeed’s skunkworks facility and was converted to the Group 5 specification that it still maintains today. Under the hood is a 1975cc Cosworth BDG twin cam engine running 12.0:1 compression and breathing through Lucas fuel injection. Output is rated at 296hp at 9000rpm and 176lbs/ft at 7000rpm.
Given that the whole package tips the scales at just 1620lbs (735kg), performance is impressive, even by modern standards. Let’s not forget that this thing is almost 40 years old! These car were apparently good for 155mph (250km/h), hence the aggressive aero package; and helping put the power down is massive 13″ tall and 16″ wide rear wheels wrapped in equally wide slicks.
The car competed in the DRM in both ’77 and ’78 in Group 5 spec, before being purchased by a Ford dealership in Hong Kong after an international race in Macau. It continued to be raced around the region during the ’80s and ’90s and won the South East Asia Super Car Championship in ’91. The current Kiwi owner purchased the Escort in 2001, and three years later embarked on a restoration project to bring it back to it’s original DRM guise. Spectacular doesn't begin to describe this machine!
Whole interior stripped. Detachable panels made of Kevlar used for wings, bonner and boot.
Instruments: Oil pressure and temp., water pressure and temp., 0-10.000 rev. counter. Disconnect speedo.
Interior equipment: Alpina steerimng wheel, brake balance valve, 5-way fuse box. Push-button for extra petrol for extra petrol feed. Standard washer/wiper controls.
Steering: Standard Escort competition rack but with shorter steering arms. 2.2 turns lock to lock.
Engine: Type Ford BDG No and configuration cyls: 4 in line.
Camshaft type and position: Zakspeed (TOHC)
Cam timing: Undisclosed
Carburation/injection: Lucas injection
Inlet manifolding: None
Exhasut manifolding: Special Zakspeed 4 into 1
Exhaust system: Pipes straight to side of car
Electrical: Zakspeed designed using aircraft cable. Bosh ignition.
Transmission: ZF racing gearbox with 8,5" single plate dry clutch operated hydraulically.
Gearbox ratios: 1-2.30, 2-1.80, 3-1.36, 4-1.14, 5-1.00
Final drive ratio: varies from 3.75 to 5.14.
LSD: ZF
Suspension: Bilstein struts at front with magnesium front hubs, track control arms and compression strut, all rose-jointe and adjustabel. Live axle with F1-type deamper/spring units.
Brakes: ATE ventilated discs all round with water injection for cooling and 4-pot aluminium caliper at front and 2-pot at rear. Aluminium pedal box and balance bar for dual circuit system with bias valve.
Cooling: Dry sump with twin 15-row oil coolers mounted in rear wheel arches. Zakspeed aluminium radiator mounted at front of car's engine bay.
Specifications
Engine: Ford, 4 cylinder in line
Displacement: 1995 cc
Compression ratio: 12:1
Bore: 90,3 mm
Stroke: 76,6 mm
Power: 280 HP
Torque: 294 Nm by 7600 rpm/min
Max. speed: 270 km/h
Spring rate front: 160 lb/in
Spring rate rear: 160 lb/in
Weight: 735 kg
Wheels front: BBS Alloy 11x16
Wheels rear: BBS Alloy 13x16
Tyres: Goodyear
Wheelbase: 2407 mm
Length: 4570 mm
Width: 1850 mm
High: 1284 mm
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