He may have made his name flogging modern AWD, turbocharged rally-prepped machinery around gymkhana courses, but even Ken Block couldn’t resist leaving his AWD 600+hp rally-spec Ford Fiesta at home to hoon about in a classic Ford Escort Mk II with a Cosworth mill under the hood in the woods of upstate New York.
The Escort was introduced to Europe back in 1968, and although it looked as good as celery dipped in peanut butter, it had a number of potent powertrain combos that brought out the driver’s inner hoon when pushed to the limits.
While the first gen Escorts came with a Lotus-sourced 1.6-liter twin cam engine, the second gen Mk II had a bump in power courtesy of a Cosworth BDA 1.8-liter mill under the hood. Having driven one a while back, Block was so impressed with it that he bought one of his own and had it shipped to the USA for his own personal hoonage.
It’s a beautiful video that showcases Block behind the wheel his Escort with all the furious revving of the Cosworth engine at the limit and plenty of sideways slinging, just as we’ve come to expect from the man. Personally though, there’s just something so much more appealing about his Escort than the Fiesta he drives for his 9-5.
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Source: Youtube via Autoblog
