The term is thrown around quite loosely in the world of cars and motoring, and that term is Classic. Just about anyone with a pet car believes that their chosen machine is special and deserves unique recognition in the world of motoring. When it comes to small Australian cars of the 60’s and 70’s and 80’s there are a few contenders. The Mini Yep, a classic. The VW Beetle, arguably the same. The Corolla? Not really but popular and out there in droves. So what makes a classic car a classic. Is it strictly to do with it’s road going persona or is there something more, an intangible element brought into the equation of the vehicle by it sporting history. And that is the real determining factor of a classic car, its history, scale and record in motorsport. The line was that racing improves the breed and its racing rallying and all the sporting derivatives in between that sum up and make a classic car truly classic. The rear wheel drive Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts have the most exemplary sporting pedigree of any small car in the world, better than even the Mini which pretty much did it all. Whatever the form of competition, the RWD Escort thrived and scored many victories and awards and often beating cars that far our gunned it for sophistication and performance. Motorsport was the initial reason for existence of the Type 49 Escort. It set the boundaries and defined the Escort. Motorsport is what gave the Escort credibility and pedigree. Today the Escort is still used for competition from club level to full blown international historic competition. They say to race is to live and there is no doubt that the objective of being fit to race is what defined the Escort. It is its sporting prowess that makes it a true classic car. Here at Type 49 Racing we are interested in road going Escorts of all types and specifications. That is only to be expected. But we also follow closely the sporting endeavours here in Australia of those competitors running Escorts in rallies and in Tarmac events and races. Be it a club come and try day, a historic club level race meeting or a fully-fledged national rally if we can we will be there to cover the cars and report back about them and their specification and to also detail how the performed. It’s all part of the service and part of our support to keeping the reputation of the Escort as a premier classic car current and pertininent.
