A thrash through a forest in an RS1800 Escort has always been an exciting spectacle. Just ask Ken Block, Ford's latest recruit for its 2011 WRC effort in the Fiesta (pictured). The star of his own 'gymkhana' videos on YouTube recently took a 1970s vintage Escort for a run through a forest in New York state, recreating history in the process.
Not since the late Roger Clark or Australia's own Greg Carr campaigned the cars in the late 1970s and early 80s have we seen a BDA-engined Escort thrown around with the sort of abandon shown in this video.
Whether it was the road or the car's dampers we don't know, but Block's car looks a lot less composed than BDA Escorts from the past. The Mk II Escort, which pre-dated the Group B rally cars of the 1980s, lacked all the electronic nannies and driving aids fitted to the current crop of 4WD turbo rally cars, but could be devastatingly quick in the hands of an experienced driver.
British driver Clark used to say about rallying the Escort: "If we are still looking out the SIDE window it's under control".
Nothing's changed, as Block proves here.
And by way of comparison, here's some footage of the BDA Escort in action in its heyday.
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