Lot details
Registration No: LVX945J
Chassis No: BB49LC59905
Mot Expiry: June 2005

We are delighted to be offering a genuine ex-Ford factory team 1971 Escort Twin Cam rally car which has the added provenance of having been driven in period by Hannu Mikkola, former World Champion and one of the greatest rally drivers of all time. Indeed, LVX 945J is Mikkola's actual 1971 Safari Rally Twin Cam.
More recently, and over a period of eight years, the works left hand drive Escort has been fully restored to the original specification as would have been achieved when it was handbuilt for the East African event by the factory team engineers and rally mechanics at the Ford Competition Department on the old Boreham Airfield in Essex.
The car still has the original ZF five-speed gearbox with tall gearing for the long and at times flat-out Safari sections. The correct Atlas axle has been equipped with 5.1:1 final drive ratio and a limited-slip differential for maximum traction. The beefed up suspension struts, heavy-duty springs and competition shock-absorbers should be able to soak up any UK forest stage tracks with ease. The twin-servo assisted disc brakes, all round, have an adjustable bias pedal box to accommodate the most demanding left-foot braker. Whilst the big-winged Escort is shod with claimed to be original spec Minilite magnesium alloys.
Inside, the fully roll-caged interior, there are all the usual rally goodies one would expect to find in a full house works Escort, including all the original instrumentation and switchgear, a Halda Twin Master to enable the co-driver to read off the trip distances between junctions and hazards from the pace notes, and period-correct Heuer watches to clock those potentially fastest stage time
The current condition of the bodyshell, which has been correctly painted in works white, is described as excellent as is the interior. The Lotus-Ford twin cam four-cylinder motor, much modified and of 1840cc capacity, is reportedly in excellent order and the same goes for the five-speed transmission and all the electrical equipment.
As presented at the auction today, apart from UK stage events, we are told by the vendor that the Post Historic category dated rally car would be eligible for FIVA road events. Most recently, LVX 945J has competed on the 2003 Circuit of Wales and was driven by the former British Champion Russell Brookes round the HRCR's special stage at Stoneleigh during the inaugural Historic Motor Sport Exhibition earlier in the year
The current MOT and tax disc are both valid until next June. A bonus for any works car history buff will be the knowledge that a set of original photographs, claimed to have been shot in period at Boreham, are included with this most important and very historic works Escort rally car.