The original FTW47H was one of the seven Ford Works Team cars which competed on the 1970 World Cup Rally from London to Mexico. The route was some 16000 miles long, starting from Wembley Stadium and travelling around Europe as far as Portugal. From there the cars were shipped to Brazil with the event continuing around South America to the finish in Mexico City, six weeks after leaving London. The rally was won by Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm in the Escort FEV1H, which remains with Ford to this day. FTW47H was crewed by Colin Malkin and Richard Hudson-Evans but unfortunately did not make it further than Yugoslavia after being hit by a lorry.

It was subsequently repaired and used by Ford as a publicity car after being decaled to look like Mikkolas winning car and was even driven by him at an autocross event.

After being sold by Ford it passed through Roger Clark, Graham Lepley and then Withers of Winsford. Lots of rally cars were broken up at Winsford and many parts were sold from the car. The shell and some parts were sold to David Malone from Bristol who then built it back up and rallied the car with a Lotus engine. It stayed around the Bristol area for many years until the remains were tracked down by the late Terry Nicholas, a local rally driver and Ford enthusiast.

The car today has been reconstructed within the spirit of the original specification but with allowances such that it can be used in Historic marathon type events. It is eligible for the East African Safari Historic, 2012 London-Cape Town World Cup Rally and New York-Alaska Trans-America.

Specification

Bodyshell: Gartrac Marathon type with roof bars down to front suspension, triangulated back to cage, lowered boot floor for two spare wheels.

Engine: 1700cc X-flow, twin 40DCOE Weber carbs, dry sump lubrication, World Cup exhaust manifold, spare 1800cc block.

Gearbox: 5-speed ZF overdrive top, rebuilt by Brian Wileman.

Axle: New Gartrac fully floating historic spec, 5.1:1 ZF LSD.

Front suspension: New Gartrac 4 inch adjustable platform struts with Bilstein inserts, large bearing alloy hubs.

Rear suspension: Angled 45degree two link, five leaf springs, turret Bilstein shock absorbers, Panhard rod.

Brakes: Front - AP four pot callipers and vented discs. Rear - twin AP callipers with cable/hydraulic handbrake. Gartrac bias pedal-box.

Fuel system: Large capacity Gartrac alloy tank, twin Facet pumps.

Wheels and tyres: Gp4 6 inch magnesium Minilites with original Good Year Rally Specials.