Before the Mitsubishi Evo, before the Subaru Impreza, before the Audi Quattro there was the Ford Escort MkII. Now Kenneth H. Blockenstriker has one for some hectic Gymkhana action.
Yes, the MkII Escort was the last rear-drive car to win the World Rally Championship before AWD took over (excepting the oddball Lancia 037), and it is still amazingly capable and beloved today. These cars might be old, but they’re still beastly.
This is not the first time Kenny B has gotten down with this 1978 MkII Escort. This testing vid of him and fellow rally driver Chris Atkinson up at Team O’Neil Rally School is still one of his best.
This iteration of the Escort does take things kind of next level. Kids will eye the Rocket Bunny widebody kit, nerds will dig the remote-reservoir WRC tarmac-spec suspension (mmmm Reigers), and everyone else will geek out about the 333 horsepower Millington 2.5 liter straight four running out to 9,000 RPM. If I’m not mistaken the Millington engine is a bigger, all-aluminum version of Cosworth’s version of the old Ford Pinto engine.
You can read more about the car right here on Hoonigan, and Ken Block’s Instagram has some more shots of it.
I just can’t get over how relaxed Ken is. Maybe he’s just chilled out before the next Gymkhana vid drops.
Contact the author at raphael@jalopnik.com.