Our regular readers will recognize the name Crash Corrigan from his regular comments here in The Garage and the odd bit of event coverage. Like most of our readers (us too) Crash is a certified gearhead. Growing up in the UK, he has had a hankering for an old school British style rally car: a MK1 Ford Escort. Finally able to obtain this goal, Crash sought out the perfect car.
Once the perfect car presented itself, it turned out to be somewhat of a hybrid. No, there aren’t any giant battery packs hiding under this pumpkin, rather a rising sun. Somewhere along this 1971 Escort’s timeline, the Ford engine was replaced by a Honda S2000 engine and transmission. The swap was done in a professional manner, with none of the dodgey wiring and what not that goes along with the engine swaps of many tuner cars.
For those of you who want all the gory details, Crash has put together a bit of Escort history along with the specific details of this particular car over at CarKeys.
The opportunity presented itself for a bunch of us journo types to visit Toronto Motorsports Park today and seeing as Crash’s new toy just came off a boat a couple of weeks ago it seemed like the perfect time to see what it has to offer. Not surprisingly, there is a heck of a lot on offer!
Firing up the beast, there is no question that this is a full on rally car, not a road car or even race car. In a real rally car, absolutely everything is solid, engine mounts, exhaust hangers, cage mounts, skid plates, you name it. This collective solidity amounts to a cacaphony of vibration. The inside of the great pumpkin is deafening, like any other rally car I’ve driven or ridden shotgun.
Thanks to short rear end gears, the shifts through the Honda gearbox come rapidly as the little beast rockets down the track. The interesting thing is that this car is so capable that Crash & I were able to discuss some curious handling issues on track while he got comfortable with his new ride. The first thing I noticed was the absolutely incredible turn in. This car just begs to be tossed into a corner, so much so that I would bet there is a degree or more of toe out on the front wheels. Surprisingly, the back end feels squishy and there is tons of body roll. Before we think about stiffening it up, there is going to be some research. I have a feeling these cars are set up that way so the quick turn in…..blah blah blah…you don’t want to know all that techie crap.
Suffice it to say that this is the wickedest pumpkin on this side of the pond!
I took a bit of video from trackside, which I’m sure Crash will post at some point. For now, you’ll have to make due with a few photos I snapped of the complete Car Keys rig.
Yes, that is a right hand drive VW Camper tow vehicle!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Any chance Crash will drive this to Test Days next year?
Oh, I think we can be sure this will be at Test Days next year – then Targa Newfoundland a couple of weeks later!
Very cool. Snoopy would be proud.
Awesome ride.
I love looking at car setups lately. Gives me a lot of ideas for jobs I need to do this winter.
Sweet machine.
I’m hoping to have it at the IMPA Test Days next year, although the car will be on a trailer as I’ll be heading off to Newfoundland straight after.
I still have a few tweaks to make to the car. One thing has to be some 15 inch wheels as 13″ high performance tires are like dodo doodoo to find on this side of the pond (BTW: I’m still looking for a tire sponsor…Nudge nudge, wink wink!!)
In fact, after blowing all my cash on purchasing the car, saving up for Targa might be a little tricky, so if anyone has any suggestions for possible sponsors, I’m all ears.
Gary has already offered his services as Team Manager, although I don’t think he’s realized yet that it will involve sleeping in a tent, collecting charitable donations for gas, and paying for all the coffee and donuts out of his own pocket