One to Buy: ex-works 1975 / '77 Ford Escort Mk2 Zakspeed Gr.2 / Gr.5
/
Like its forebear, the Mk2 Escort went on to have an enormously successful competition career, perhaps the highlight of which was Ari Vatanen’s 1981 World Rally Championship crown driving a Rothmans-backed RS 1800 in which the last of the model’s 20 WRC victories were achieved.
Elsewhere, the Mk2 also proved an extremely effective touring car racer, especially in the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) where Group 2 variants went up against the BMW 2002 from 1975.
That year, Hans Heyer pipped team-mate Klaus Ludwig to become DRM champion driving a Castrol-backed Mk2 prepared by Zakspeed in Niederzssen.
Heyer and Ludwig finished first and second again in 1976 when their Group 2 Zakspeed Escorts were campaigned with backing from Europa Mobel.
For 1977, the DRM was opened up to Group 5 cars and Zakspeed uprated its now Mampe-backed Escorts to take on the under two-litre Division 2 challenge from BMW’s Junior Team 320.
Currently on sale with High Performance Classics is the now Auckland-based Zakspeed Mk2 Escort, chassis Zak-E23/75 which started life as Hans Heyer’s 1975 DRM championship winning machine, after which it was handed over to team-mate Klaus Ludwig for the 1976 campaign.
Following its conversion to Group 5 trim for 1977, Zak-E23/75 did three early season races for Zakspeed, after which it was sold to Harvey Yap in Malaysia who continued the car’s successful racing career.
Subsequently discovered in 1999, Zakj-E23/75 was subject to an exacting nine year restoration and is today offered in superb condition throughout as the sole running Group 5 Zakspeed Escort extant.
