1972 Ford Escort RS1600 expected to make OVER £60,000 at Silverstone Auctions

A 1972 Ford Escort RS1600 which has been subject to a full ground-up restoration is expected to fetch more than £60,000 in auction this month.

It’s only five minutes since you couldn’t give away 1970s, ’80s and ’90s Fords – even performance Fords – but things have changed massively in a very short time

Ford Sierra Cosworths are now routinely fetching more than £100,000, Escort Cosworths are in to the £90k range and a 1980 Escort RS2000 recently sold for just a smidge under the £100k mark.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise to see other classic fast Fords climbing inexorably towards unaffordable realms, and if this 1972 Ford Escort RS1600 – successor to the Escort Mexico – hits the levels Silverstone Auctions reckons then it could be heading up towards that £100k mark too.

Registered in 1972, it’s been the subject of an extensive ground-up restoration, is finished in period special order Le Mans Green and has done just 3,525 miles.

With fewer than 50 RS1600s thought to be left in the UK – and most of them probably sat in a shed waiting for the owners to get round to restoring them – this RS1600 is quite a rare car, and if prices continue to grow it could prove to be a sound (tax free) investment.

But it’s still hard to get your head round the idea that a 1972 Escort RS16000 could really be worth the £60-70k estimate Silverstone Auctions has put on it.