Just a quick story with photographic evidence, in their own words, about a barn find that one of the members here at cmsporsche.co.uk has just uncovered and purchased, about: an 80’s iconic, very low mileage, genuine, one previous family owned, rare D registration series 1 Escort RS Turbo (non-custom variant). 

"Over many years I have heard rumours of a low mileage D Reg Series 1 Escort RS Turbo being stored off the road somewhere on the outskirts of Telford. I have made enquires on numerous occasions to see if this rumour was true and where the car was, but I have always drawn a blank on pinpointing the ownership or the exact whereabouts of where this car was being stored; if only just to satisfy my curiosity to see if such rumours were true, and if true, to see if this car was possibly available for purchase. 

By sheer luck at the start of April 2016 a friend of mine was asked to organise the removal of an RS Turbo from a barn on the south side of Telford by a family who had owned the car for many years. He mentioned this to me as although I actually work on Porsches and various Italian Supercars for a living, I have always had a soft spot for early Ford RS models, and being an avid sport car enthusiast and collector I do already own a couple of 80s & 90's RS Fords (3 Sierra 3dr RS cosworth, Escort RS 1600i, Saphire Cosworth, Escort Cosworth and a Fiesta RS 1800i) amongst my sports car collection, and he thought this might be an opportunity for me to purchase another. 

The vehicle they said needed to be moved in order to assess its condition, with the view of sending it to a major classic car auction house, to be sold on due to its rarity and low mileage. My curiosity now aroused, it made me wonder if this could be the famous illusive Series 1 Turbo I have so often heard rumours of or was it yet another slightly less desirable Series 2 Turbo. 

My friend was advised that as part of the recovery he would need to bring along some chain saws and tools to cut down trees, hedgerow and bushes that had grown up in front of the barn/shed door, over an extensive period of time. This again intrigued me, as it implied the car had not moved for a considerable number of years. 

After being introduced to the family by my friend, it was clear to me that this was the illusive D Reg Series 1 RS Turbo I had heard about and they confirmed they had owned it from 4 months old, having bought it from a Bristol Ford dealership. I was informed that it had only done 8 miles since 1994 and a genuine 27,409 miles only in total. They had spoken to other sources and had a reasonable idea as to the car’s considerable worth when in road going restored condition. I advised them that I would be interested in seeing the car before it was sent anywhere else, as I would be prepared to pay a considerable sum of money for it also, even in it’s un-roadworthy condition and I also offered to organise the removal of the car myself. 

Quite excited on the morning of Friday 8th April 2016, a friend and I attended the address we were given to see the car and if happy, complete the deal. They were not joking as you can see from the photos included, this car truly was buried in a lean to/ shed/ barn, and of which to be honest I’m amazed that the building had never fallen over in the wind, as parts of it were rotten and actually had branches growing through the walls and roof. We entered the building through a side door (which then fell off the hinges) and clambered our way through to the main space.

 

There she sat.

Covered in dust and dirt sitting on 4 flat, rotted tyres, looking a bit sorry for herself but all complete. Apart from a retro fit sunroof and a little bit of 80s tasteless colour coding to the wiper blade arms, mirror cases and spotlight backings and some non-genuine stickers she was indeed the, low mileage car I had heard about. 

Inside is still in fantastic condition with no damage to the interior and no cracks in the dashboard. 

On the outside she has minor rust blisters creeping under the paint on the edges of panels but she is definitely not rotten. She has all her original Ford stamped factory body panels still present and production body stickers with no evidence of accident damage or body repairs. 

I completed the deal and soon after began the recovery process, pulling her out of the shed that had accommodated her over the last 20 years. Once I had removed her, she was taken to a local tyre firm to have 4 period style Dunlop’s fitted and then taken to the local Ford RS dealership to discuss booking it in for recommissioning work, in order to get her running and driving again. This will be done in the very near future. Subject to the above work being completed she will then be put into heated storage until next year, at which point she will undergo a complete nut and bolt rebuild and bare shell photographic respray which will be done here in house at: cmsporsche.co.uk."

We hope this story might be of interest to you and we thank you for taking the time to look at it and read it. Please feel free to get in touch if you wish to discuss or have any questions.  We have included some photos to illustrate the recovery and the car as is, up to today’s date.