Fast Ford

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE! Happy new year fellow Ford fans. As the first issue to land in 2023, let me start by wishing you all a very prosperous new year. I’m confident this year will be yet another awesome year for the Blue Oval fan, and there’s certainly some big changes coming in next 12 months for Fast Ford readers to enjoy, but more on that next month. For now, with the festive period behind us and the days and evenings starting to draw out again, we can start looking ahead to getting out in our cars again. In fact, our show dates diary (page 18) is already starting to fill up quite nicely, and has recently been bolstered by the announcement that Ford Fair once again returns to Silverstone on…

When we first spotted Adrian Till’s 1985 RS Turbo, we had a feeling it would be hiding something a little out-of-the-ordinary under the bonnet: the wider track, semi-slick tyres, big brakes and roll cage told us this is no average Series One. What we weren’t expecting was a Cosworth YB with 450bhp sent to the rear wheels. Yes, this is still a Mk3 Escort, but not as you know it. Adrian has been a huge fan of the Blue Oval for as long as he can remember. Aged 21 he was cruising around in a Mk2 Escort RS2000, and soon he’d progressed to Sierra Cosworths, including a lairy three-door. By then, Adrian had become a regular at RSOC track days, and was well-and-truly hooked. “I had an E46 BMW M3…

You may have thought you’d seen the last of this mid-2010s supercar, but now it’s back, and wilder than ever before. Introducing the Ford GT Mk IV. Extreme track-only supercars have emerged as a slightly bonkers consumer trend for the world’s ultra-wealthy petrolheads. Cars such as the Aston Martin Vulcan AMR Pro, McLaren Senna GTR, and De Tomaso P900 are becoming more common as time goes by. Now, it’s Ford’s turn to get in on the act. The result of their efforts is this: the Ford GT Mk IV. It’s a name that’ll be familiar to Blue Oval aficionados, having first been used on an evolution of the original Ford GT in 1967. That car was a masterclass in how to unleash a vehicle’s potential, which is fitting, considering that Multimatic…

Prices for sought-after classic fast Fords are continuing to climb, despite the current economic situation the country faces. A 1983 Escort RS1600i sold for a record £40,250 at a recent Car & Classic auction, which comes after a handful of fast Fiestas all commanded premium prices in 2021 and 2022. Furthermore, Car & Classic says that the Ford Escort was the second most searched-for model in Q3 of 2022, proving that despite the current cost-of-living crisis, the demand for fast Fords is still very much alive.…

Texas-based tuning specialist Hennessey is well versed in making fast Fords even faster. In most cases, much faster! And the company’s latest tuning upgrade for the already bonkers Raptor R pick-up boosts the power output of the 5.2-litre truck by a further 40 per cent. That’s pretty crazy when you consider the Raptor R already comes with 700bhp thanks to a supercharged V8 in place of the twin-turbo EcoBoost found in the regular F-150 Raptor. Only, the VelociRaptor 1000 package replaces the 2.65-litre blower with a larger 3.8-litre supercharger, complemented with a higher flowing induction kit, larger injectors, and a revised ECU tune. Based on its work with the same Predator V8 engine in the Mustang GT500 (which Hennessey already has reliably tuned beyond 1200bhp), Hennessey says the VelociRaptor 1000…

BURTON POWER FIESTA ST REAR NEGATIVE CAMBER PLATE KIT £101.95 Sometimes the simplest upgrades are the most effective, and that certainly appears to be the case with Burton’s new rear camber plate kit for the Mk7 Fiesta ST. Fitted between the rear wheel hub and rear beam, these plates give an extra 1.5 degrees of negative camber, which helps optimise the tyre’s contact patch during hard cornering. Burton says this simple upgrade will improve the handling and steering response, as well as giving you more confidence in the corners, especially on track. For more details, speak to Burton Power. www.burtonpower.com WEBCON TWIN WEBER IDF INLET MANIFOLD FOR PINTO £390.20 Webcon has just released its own production manifolds for fitting twin Weber IDF carbs to a Pinto engine. Fully cast and…