Bridge Classic Cars have a history with the fabled Ford Escort RS2000. We have restored a couple of these amazing Fast Fords for customers and
This 33-year-old Ford Sierra Cosworth is set to fetch a cool £100k at auction because it’s claimed to be ‘the best one in the UK’
Our RS2000 returns to the workshops with a couple of issues to address. We have slight movement in the gearbox which needs to be looked
Today we said goodbye to our gorgeous 1977 Ford Escort RS2000. This lovely Ford came in for a complete restoration here with us at Bridge
It’s all in the finer details here at Bridge Classic Cars. Our Ford Escort RS2000 is now looking beautiful, we’ve applied pinstripe decals and badges.
Owner of this lovely Ford Escort RS2000, Paul, popped down to the Bridge Classic Cars Pettistree workshop last week. We’re so close now to completing
John has been busy working hard on our lovely RS2000. After a substantial restoration the vehicle is now going back together piece by piece. The
After it’s visit to the Bridge Classic Cars in-house paint shop, our Ford Escort RS2000 is now having it’s interior re-fitted. John has fitted the
Pete has continued work on our 1977 Ford Escort RS2000. He’s had to grind down the transmission mounting brackets. He’s also discovered a core plug
Our 1977 Ford Escort RS2000 is currently in the spray booth having been prepared and repainted in H Signal Orange. We will now look to
What a colour! H Signal Orange is so striking. Once paired with black sections of trim we think this will look incredible.
Our Ford Escort RS2000 is nearly ready for paint. She’s had all of her panels prepared for a total respray.
Our RS2000 is now in prime, a guide coat has been applied and we are ready for paint.
The body of our 1977 Ford Escort RS2000 is now prepared and a guide coat and primer has been applied. The colour has been matched
We have decided to re-paint our 1977 Ford RS2000 due to a few too many paint imperfections on the body. From a distance, the paint
Donna has stripped the existing seats and re-covered using brand new, age related material. The style is exactly the same as the original factory specification
The front and back seats of our 1977 Ford RS2000 have now been removed and are in the hands of Donna in the Trim Shop
We have now arrived home with our latest addition, our 1977 Ford Escort RS2000. Sourced specifically for a client, we now await his visit and
We left Shaw Hill Golf and Spa Hotel mid morning to continue with our journey up to Cumbria. As we climbed higher and higher up
Day 1 of our 3 day trip and it was a good start as we made our way up the M6, to Chorley, to view
Bridge Classic Cars have a history with the fabled Ford Escort RS2000. We have restored a couple of these amazing Fast Fords for customers and a pair of them have popped up on an enthusiast Facebook page.
The orange 1977 Ford Escort RS2000 featured in the first image was restored by our in-house team. And the white car is also a 1977 Ford Escort RS2000 which was sold at Auction by ourselves but cared for the car for its new owner. The top car in the 2nd photo is that 1977 RS2000 outside the turnstiles at the home of Ipswich Town Football Club, Portman Road.
This 33-year-old Ford Sierra Cosworth is set to fetch a cool £100k at auction because it’s claimed to be ‘the best one in the UK’ of only 500 ever made.
We only have to take a look into our archives and current competitions to see that Fords are becoming increasingly popular.
Earlier this year we ran a Ford Mustang competition where over four thousand tickets flew off the shelf and one lucky winner was handed the keys after spending just £7.50 on his ticket.
We also ran a draw to win a 1991 Ford Sierra Sapphire which only had just over 4,500 miles on the clock. Another incredibly popular competition prize.
Our latest competition Ford is our awesome 1979 Ford Escort RS2000. A similar low-mileage MKII Escort RS2000, also finished in Diamond White, sold at Silverstone Auctions in 2017 for a whopping £97,000!
So could this mean the estimation on this Ford Sierra Cosworth could well be accurate? We’ll have to wait and see..
If you don’t happen to have 100 grand burning a hole in your back pocket though, you could spend just £15 on a ticket for our 1979 Ford Escort RS2000 competition instead and join our many classic car winners. It could well be worth a small fortune if Fords continue to flourish!
Our RS2000 returns to the workshops with a couple of issues to address. We have slight movement in the gearbox which needs to be looked at but also something happening down below on heavy braking.
Upon closer inspection, a sudden pop has revealed that the front caliper piston seals have worn away. Once we rebuild the calipers we can get this back on the car and hopefully it’ll be ready to go home.
Today we said goodbye to our gorgeous 1977 Ford Escort RS2000. This lovely Ford came in for a complete restoration here with us at Bridge Classic Cars. The team here pulled out all the stops to ensure this RS200 was finished to the highest standards.
Congratulations Paul, we hope you enjoy this fabulous car for many miles to come!
It’s all in the finer details here at Bridge Classic Cars. Our Ford Escort RS2000 is now looking beautiful, we’ve applied pinstripe decals and badges. We’ll be sad to see this car leave us but we can’t wait to see it enjoyed by its owner once more.
Owner of this lovely Ford Escort RS2000, Paul, popped down to the Bridge Classic Cars Pettistree workshop last week. We’re so close now to completing work on this lovely car. We can’t wait to see it back on the road and being enjoyed once more. Was lovely to see you, Paul!
John has been busy working hard on our lovely RS2000. After a substantial restoration the vehicle is now going back together piece by piece. The door seals and cards have been refitted, as have the seats. John’s fitted sound deadening insulation underneath the floor carpets before re-installing the entire interior trim.
After it’s visit to the Bridge Classic Cars in-house paint shop, our Ford Escort RS2000 is now having it’s interior re-fitted. John has fitted the door seals, rear seats, door cards, sound deadening and insulation.
After much hard work, this lovely Ford is nearing completion.
Pete has continued work on our 1977 Ford Escort RS2000. He’s had to grind down the transmission mounting brackets. He’s also discovered a core plug leak behind the flywheel which will be a fairly straightforward fix.
Our 1977 Ford Escort RS2000 is currently in the spray booth having been prepared and repainted in H Signal Orange.
We will now look to re-fit using existing parts and replacements where necessary.
What a colour! H Signal Orange is so striking. Once paired with black sections of trim we think this will look incredible.
Our Ford Escort RS2000 is nearly ready for paint. She’s had all of her panels prepared for a total respray.
Our RS2000 is now in prime, a guide coat has been applied and we are ready for paint.
The body of our 1977 Ford Escort RS2000 is now prepared and a guide coat and primer has been applied. The colour has been matched using our camera systems and the car is now in our paint shops ready to be resprayed.
We have decided to re-paint our 1977 Ford RS2000 due to a few too many paint imperfections on the body.
From a distance, the paint looked beautiful but upon closer inspection there were a number of orange-peel effects which we wanted to tackle.
We have opted to repaint the entire car as we feel this would give the best results.
Donna has stripped the existing seats and re-covered using brand new, age related material. The style is exactly the same as the original factory specification but the seats are now tightened and looking beautiful once again.
The front and back seats of our 1977 Ford RS2000 have now been removed and are in the hands of Donna in the Trim Shop to be re-covered.
We have now arrived home with our latest addition, our 1977 Ford Escort RS2000. Sourced specifically for a client, we now await his visit and instruction as to what, if any, work he would like carried out.
Whilst on the road returning, we have received a wonderfully useful email from the previous owner:
“I hope the new owner gains as much enjoyment from the car as I have.
I’ve attached the scan of the original advert from when Geoff bought it.
Spec below:
When Geoff bought it, it was subjected to a full restoration, which included new genuine front wings and bonnet, and good second hand doors, some patches to the floor pan and round the heater assembly, and a full respray in signal orange.
New rear spoiler, and new roof gutter trims. All suspension parts were blasted and powder coated, new bilsteins and springs, and vented front discs with granada spaced calipers. Lowered 1″. He then used it for a while on and off, dry storing it in between use.
I bought it in 2012. Because it had been stood, it needed recommissioning, the extent of which included; new front discs and pads, new rear cylinders and shoes, new Janspeed exhaust ( on Mk1 rear bracket so it doesn’t dangle too low) new twin front down pipe, new heater motor, new 42mm core uprated radiator, new silicon coolant hoses, new heater matrix.
Underside cleaned and 3 coats of black stone chip. Since then it’s been treated to the following in my care; diff oil seal and Diff re adjusted. Alloys diamond cut and lacquered. new Uniroyal tyres, genuine series X group 1 down draughts and K+N panel filter (couldn’t source a group 1 air box) Vulcan ultimax unleaded stage 3 big valve head with FR32 cam and rolling road tune (the RR tune was done with the standard head and FR31 cam though so there’s potential for further power improvements) Xr4i 5 speed box with the RS short shift fitted. Period Britax twin tone air horns, which are essential for piping back at people when you’re out on the road.”
This car is already turning heads with a few people, online and in person, enquiring as to whether it is available for sale.
We left Shaw Hill Golf and Spa Hotel mid morning to continue with our journey up to Cumbria. As we climbed higher and higher up the hills we quickly begun to realise that our decision to pass the previous fuel station without stopping, thinking ‘we’ll go to the next one’, was not the best decision to have made.
The roads were getting smaller and smaller and gauge was getting lower and lower.
Eventually we stumbled across a small village called Alston and as we entered the village we were welcomed by the bright lights of a Spar fuel station.
High up in the North Pennines, Alston claims to be the highest market settlement in England, being about 1000 feet above sea level. It is also remote, about 20 miles from the nearest town. From every direction Alston is approached over a broad, heather-clad Pennine landscape which has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Set on the upper reaches of the River South Tyne, it lies within the Eden district of Cumbria.
Alston has a steep cobbled main street with a distinctive market cross, and many stone buildings dating from the 17th Century. Next to the entrance to the Church, is a building dated 1681. The Angel pub to its left is dated 1611, and the white building left of the pub is dated 1687. It is a bustling town, with a reputation for delicious locally made specialities such as Cumberland Mustard, and Alston Cheese.
Alston Moor grew as a lead mining community over four centuries ago, with Alston town serving the mining families. You can see the history of the lead mining industry in the area at the Nenthead Mines Heritage Centre, nearby.
Alston is the starting point for the South Tynedale Railway, England’s highest narrow gauge railway.
St Augustine’s Church was built in 1869, but records show a church has existed here as long as 1145 AD. Inside the church is an interesting clock, brought from Dilston Hall, the home of the Earl of Derwentwater.
The Gossipgate gallery, displaying regional arts and crafts, is housed in the former Congregational Church.
The A 686 from Penrith in Cumbria to Corbridge in Northumberland, which passes through Alston, was chosen by the AA Magazine as one of their ‘Ten Great Drives’. Between Alston and Melmerby, the road climbs the Hartside Pass to a height of 1904 ft, from where there are magnificent views across the Solway Firth to Scotland. This long and steep climb also forms part of the Sea to Sea Cycle Route.
Part of The Pennine Way long distance walk is through East Cumbria, from Alston, and Garrigill, over Cross Fell (which at 2930 feet is the highest point on the Pennine Way), Great Dun Fell, towards Dufton, then on to High Cup Nick and Cow Green Reservoir, on the border between Cumbria and County Durham.
Whilst filling up our truck we were approached by a very smartly dressed gentleman impressed by our trailer and intrigued by the logo as to what we may have inside.
The gentleman in question was Ian. After a brief conversation with Ian he invited us to take a look inside his workshops at his own collection of classics. Of course, we obliged.
Little did we know that Ian was in fact Ian Henderson from J.H Henderson and Sons and his collection of classics did not just stop at the 3 vehicles he had within his workshops. As he continued his tour with us into his own museum where he housed one of the most incredible collection of classic and vintage memorabilia we have ever seen.
If you are ever visiting the area on your holidays do be sure to pay a little visit to J.H Henderson’s Hub Museum and thank you so much to Ian and his team for welcoming us in with open arms.
On we went with our journey up the hill to visit the Jensen 541 convertible, the main reason for our journey…
Upon arrival, we were astounded to discover not 1 Jensen but 4 incredible Jensen’s to look around.
The main reason for our visit was to view a very rare Jensen 541 convertible. We are considering converting our Jensen 541R into a convertible and Mr Forster (owner) kindly invited us along to view his and talk through the options.
We can not thank Mr and Mrs Forster enough for their amazing hospitality. One of the nicest gentleman you could care to meet and his knowledge and passion for Jensens is an absolute credit to the Jensen brand. it was lovely to see his convertible and to discuss the options with him and we have walked away from the day almost certain that we will look to create the next 541 convertible.
Day 1 of our 3 day trip and it was a good start as we made our way up the M6, to Chorley, to view a lovely 1977 Ford Escort RS2000.
Our intention was to view 3 x RS2000’s during our trip. Working on behalf of our client, our objective was to source a good example within a budget. We were not looking for a show winning car and if work was required then this was also acceptable providing it stayed within the budget.
We had had several talks with the owner of our 1977 Ford Escort RS2000 and we were quietly confident that this was not going to let us down and it sure didn’t.
Yes, the paintwork could be improved in places and the original interior needed a little tidying but this car is an absolute stunner.
A successful first visit meant we did not need to view the other 2 vehicles. Now on to our hotel for the evening.
This trip brought back some great memories as we settled in to the Shaw Hill Golf and Spa Hotel for the evening. many years ago Gordon and Craig lived just 500 yards away from this hotel and Craig frequented the gym facilities there on a regular basis. We couldn’t help but visit our old home to look back at the fond memories.
Shaw Hill Golf and Spa Hotel is set in a beautiful location near Chorley in Lancashire, offering unrivalled Leisure Breaks, Golf Breaks, Weddings, Conference and Meeting Room facilities. This glorious stone mansion was built circa 1700 by the Crosse family and amazingly is still a family run business.
