Ford · 1970
Escort RS1600
Manual · RWD · Europe
AutoIndex value · good UK car
£60,000
Researched from UK sold prices and auction results. How we value cars
Estimated price by condition
Project
£36,000
Restoration candidate
Driver
£60,000
Good usable example
Concours
£90,000
Show standard
Indicative condition bands · not a valuation of a particular car
Price check
Looking at a Escort RS1600 for sale? Is it a good price?
Buyer’s notes
About the Ford Escort RS1600
The RS1600 of 1970 was the first car to wear Ford’s RS badge. It was the Escort’s homologation special, with a Cosworth BDA engine (a 16-valve, belt-driven twin-cam head on a Ford crossflow block), and it was the car the works team rallied: Roger Clark won the 1972 RAC Rally in one. It was built by Advanced Vehicle Operations at Aveley on a strengthened bodyshell.
What moves the price
- Proof of identity: it is the most-copied car the Fast Fords guide covers, and a genuine car’s value rests on documentation that it is what it claims to be.
- The bodyshell: the strengthened AVO shell is part of a genuine car’s identity. A re-shelled car, common after competition use, needs records of when and how the work was done, and the market discounts it.
- Originality: genuine, unmodified, documented cars sit well above re-shelled and recreated ones.
Before you buy, check
- Identity and history paperwork, checked against the car itself before anything else.
- Rust in the sills, floors, inner wings, suspension turrets and around the rear spring hangers.
- The condition of the BDA engine, which needs specialist attention, and who has looked after it.
From our research for Fast Fords · Lotus Cortina to Escort Cosworth, which covers it in full.
Vehicle data
Specifications
From 1970
Performance
Production
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Fast Fords · Lotus Cortina to Escort Cosworth — 48 pages of history, production data, ownership economics and the market view, car by car.
Ford Escort RS1600: value questions answered
- How much is a Ford Escort RS1600 worth?
- A good, usable UK example of the Ford Escort RS1600 is worth around £60,000 on the AutoIndex index. A project car that needs restoration is nearer £36,000, and a concours-quality example around £90,000. Condition moves the price more than anything else.
- What makes one Escort RS1600 worth more than another?
- Service history and paperwork — complete, stamped, explained
- Mileage against the norm for the model
- Originality — matching numbers, original paint and trim
- Specification — gearbox, colour, factory options
- UK-supplied versus imported
- Is the Escort RS1600 I'm looking at fairly priced?
- Enter its asking price and condition in the price check above. It compares the price with the index for that condition and tells you what to ask the seller about.
- How many Escort RS1600 cars were built?
- Around 1,145 were built, by our production records.
- Is there a buyer's guide to the Escort RS1600?
- Yes: Fast Fords · Lotus Cortina to Escort Cosworth, a 48-page collector’s guide. You can read a complete dossier free before you buy it.
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