Boreham Motorworks Remade A Basic Race Automotive
Tucked away at a pub close to the 2025 Goodwood Competition of Velocity had been a pair of Mk1 Ford Escorts, one carrying the basic red-and-gold livery of Alan Mann Racing. They’re meticulous recreations from Boreham Motorworks, which is constructing a sequence of Escort continuation vehicles with Ford’s blessing, the primary of which is because of be delivered in August.
The Purple-and-gold automotive and its black-and-yellow companion (nicknamed “Bumblebee” by its builders) are pre-production variations of the Alan Mann 68 Version, constructed to the identical FIA Group 5 specs as the unique Alan Mann Racing vehicles, and restricted to simply 24 buyer vehicles.
A Legendary Identify Returns
Based in 1964, Alan Mann Racing has lengthy been intently related to Ford. Founder Alan Mann raced quite a few the Blue Oval’s merchandise—together with the Lotus Cortina, Mustang, and Falcon—however the Escort is probably going essentially the most well-known automotive to put on the staff’s distinctive livery, due to its 1968 British Saloon Automotive Championship win.
Through the staff’s heyday, which coincided with Ford’s “Complete Efficiency” marketing campaign to make use of motorsports success as a advertising software, Alan Mann’s lineup as a digital racing corridor of fame. Jackie Stewart, Jacky Ickx, Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, and Mario Andretti all drove for the staff at one time or one other.
Nonetheless, Ford’s downsizing of its motorsports efforts additionally marked the top of Alan Mann Racing’s time on the entrance of the grid. The identify returned in 2004 as a preparer of historic race vehicles, and in late 2024 Boreham Motorworks introduced that it was taking up stewardship of the venerable identify.
A Trustworthy Copy
Probably the most seen product of that association up to now is the Alan Mann 68 Version Escort. Whereas Boreham Motorworks additionally plans to construct modernized Escort street vehicles, this model is meant to be equivalent to the vehicles raced by Alan Mann in 1968.
Boreham replicated Alan Mann’s distinctive sliding-joint MacPherson strut entrance suspension, and the devotion to interval correctness means the 68 Version has a stable rear axle with Watts linkage. It additionally rolls on 8.5-inch entrance and 10-inch rear wheels that appear absurdly tiny by fashionable requirements.
A 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine offers 201 horsepower, which is distributed to the rear wheels by means of a four-speed handbook transmission. That ought to be a lot for the Escort’s 1,752-pound dry curb weight, which Boreham Motorworks claims is according to that of the unique vehicles.
The Alan Mann 68 Version is essentially the most unique of the Escort continuation vehicles Boreham Motorworks plans to supply. The corporate additionally plans to promote street and observe variations that do not hew as intently to interval specification, with considerably bigger manufacturing runs. And the corporate plans to revive one other Ford basic—the RS200 rally automotive.
