RE: You had me at AVO: MST shows new Mk1 Sports

RE: You had me at AVO: MST shows new Mk1 Sports

Monday 7th July

You had me at AVO: MST shows new Mk1 Sports

Widebodied Mk1s a bit too extreme? MST goes back to basics with 180hp, a manual and 13-inch wheels 


Yes, it’s another MST build that very closely resembles an old Ford Escort. Nothing the company has announced about this new Mk1 Sports will likely come as a surprise. But you know what? That sounds absolutely brilliant. In a world where names are changed and then changed back again, where press releases are as long as a Hanya Yanagihara novel and Sierra RS500s are hundreds of thousands pounds, something that looks like (and is) a smart contemporary twist on a classic fast Ford seems like the perfect palette cleanser. Especially with a price to rival a BMW M3. 

This is the Mk1 Sports, a car described by MST as a project ‘going back to basics’ for them, with inspiration from the original narrow-bodied AVO and RS models. Think Mexico, RS1600, that sort of thing. In a modern context, it’ll mean everything you’d want from a classic Escort experience without going so full-on as the recent MST builds. ‘A pure analogue driving experience at a cost-effective price’, they reckon. Which sounds pretty damn good. 

Like all previous Mk1s and Mk2s, the Sports will use a brand new bodyshell and be brand new, UK-registered cars; right- and left-hand drive will be available. Power comes from a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder (MST hasn’t said exactly which one yet), with Jenvey throttle bodies and 180hp. A little less spicy than the 200hp 2.5 Duratecs, 230hp 2.0-litre BDGs and the Millington madness, then, if plenty enough to move such a tiny old car. A five-speed manual, Atlas axle and ATB diff are included. 

The rest of the chassis overhaul is as might be expected from a slightly tamer take on the MST formula: it’s all good stuff, just not quite as extreme as the top-tier models. So the Mk1 Sports gets what’s being called ‘Group 1 suspension’, with adjustable sport dampers and a Twin Cam ARB, plus four-pot calipers clamping vented discs.

Which is all well and good. But probably the most exciting part of the Mk1 Sports package will be the look, with the stripes, ‘period correct body colours’, Cibies up front and four-spoke wheels with the front flared arches. You can have Minilites if you really must, but the renders are so perfectly peak Escort that it’s hard to imagine changing a thing. The interior will be two-seat, with storage behind them. 

MST is planning to make 25 of these Mk1 Sports, which feels like a very achievable number, ahead of building the same number of Mk2 versions. The cost will be from £74,500 plus VAT - so let’s call it £90k. A serious sum of money, for sure, though on planet restomod (or whatever the MST cars should really be called) it’s seldom that anything is available for less than six figures. Orders are being accepted now with a £6k deposit, with production kicking off next year.




Author
Discussion

Neilbolts.

Original Poster:

1,222 posts

121 months

Looks bang on the money in my eyes , 180bhp would obviously seem feeble these days but it would be plenty in a little escort for some sideways action , price is not exactly cheap but resto mods generally a lot higher , it’s a yes from me in white please

RandomCarChat

986 posts

62 months

That'll do me nicely, give me a wet roundabout and i'll never be bored laugh

Lefty

18,150 posts

217 months

I thought the Atlas was too wide for narrow bodied cars? scratchchin

I wonder if these are in coilovers or leaf springs?

Be a lot of fun, whatever. Good luck to them. 180bhp, sub-tonne, rear drive, LSD, manual box. The antithesis of modern cars really. Love it.

J4CKO

44,360 posts

215 months

Yeah, that looks good, and 180 bhp I would think is plenty for normal road use, I think the temptation is to get as much as possible when you order, just in case, its a bit like food shopping when you are hungry.

You see light cars built with masses of turbo power, big globs of low down torque with a light rear, simple suspension and no electronic safety net always seems a bit like overkill, yeah its great but I do wonder how often people create stuff that is more intimidating and scary than enjoyable, like cooking a curry and banging loads of chilli and stuff in, easy to make things a bit spicier than you really wanted.

ChevronB19

7,782 posts

178 months

That’s more like it! I think they could sell a lot more than 25 of those. It wouldn’t cost much less than that to properly restore an original.

Looks perfect for weekend road use and the occasional track day. Am interested.

Gecko1978

11,373 posts

172 months

While £90k is still a huge amount of money this is maybe the perfect fun car for many people. If it has bit of space in the back an long 5th gear...le man's Nurburg road trips and track days etc seems like a good idea

Code Black

137 posts

64 months

If I could…. I would! In white please.

redroadster

1,860 posts

247 months

Wonder if it will have a lowering effect on classic ford prices as this prices seems almost value compared to what’s been asked .

Lefty

18,150 posts

217 months

Intrigued what engine it is. Don’t think you can still get crate 2.0 duratecs?

ChevronB19

7,782 posts

178 months

Code Black said:
If I could . I would! In white please.
Ditto, with the RS stripes, not the Mexico ones. And 4 cibies. And definitely the 4 spokes, not the minilites. That would be perfect for me now I ve stopped racing.

Hairymonster

1,626 posts

120 months

Bloomin' gorgeous. White with red stripes please.

ChevronB19

7,782 posts

178 months

Lefty said:
Intrigued what engine it is. Don t think you can still get crate 2.0 duratecs?
I have a mate with 5 all in crates, but I’m not telling you anything more smile

Debaser

7,123 posts

276 months

Very appealing. If only I had the money, and space.

Slippydiff

15,488 posts

238 months

All The B*llocks LSD, and traction control courtesy of SRF ?
Count me in.
180 gee gees ? More than enough to keep things interesting.
I'll take mine in Sebring red please. 4 Cibies, arches rolled to within an inch of their life and a set of these (7x13) fitted shoehorned in please :



(Oh, and a quick rack too please)

cerb4.5lee

37,190 posts

195 months

I do really like the idea of one of these as well. driving

pycraft

1,101 posts

199 months

I'm glad there are people making money putting these things together, and I'm glad there is a market (judging by the comments).

But it's not for me; I just do not get this whole thing. I mean I get restomods more generally, but charging this much money for a restored Escort feels like someone charging 2025 Rolex money for an impeccably restored 1970s Sekonda.

Maccmike8

1,343 posts

69 months

Low weight. Modest power. RWD. Perfection.

Slippydiff

15,488 posts

238 months

pycraft said:
I'm glad there are people making money putting these things together, and I'm glad there is a market (judging by the comments).

But it's not for me; I just do not get this whole thing. I mean I get restomods more generally, but charging this much money for a restored Escort feels like someone charging 2025 Rolex money for an impeccably restored 1970s Sekonda.
It's not a restored Escort, it's completely new car from the ground up.
I don't know how many they build a year, but if they do build one a week, that's still a tiny quantity annually.

Building anything in small numbers means you can't amortise the development and tooling costs over several thousand (or indeed several hundred thousand) units. Hence the increased cost.

Remember too, they've had to pay for the press tooling for EVERY panel on the car, not just the bonnet, boot and doors, every single panel from the floorpan to the roof. Ford would have amortised those tooling costs over 2M cars and 6 years. MST may build/supply 1000 cars over the next 10 years.

Each MST shell is meticulously handbuilt on a jig and the various apertures - front windscreen, rear screen, boot, bonnet and doors are all jigged, checked and re-checked to ensure the various components fit perfectly into them. This all takes many man hours. The equivalent bodyshell would have most likely been built on Fords production line in under 2 hours from start to finish :





The end result is this : https://motorsport-tools.com/catalog/product/view/...

For reference, I bought a new 205 GTi shell from Peugeot in 1987, the cost was £960 inc VAT.
So it's safe to assume a new Mk1 Escort shell would've most likely cost £150 (or less) back in 1970.

That a new handbuilt MST shell costs £23,400 in 2025, some fifty five years later, tells you that labour is a massive part of the cost, and the panels the shell is formed from cost multiples of what Ford would have paid for the 2 million bonnets, front wings, floorpans, inner flitches, headlamp and slam panels back in the late 60's and early 70's.







LexiconUK

69 posts

170 months

pycraft said:
I'm glad there are people making money putting these things together, and I'm glad there is a market (judging by the comments).

But it's not for me; I just do not get this whole thing. I mean I get restomods more generally, but charging this much money for a restored Escort feels like someone charging 2025 Rolex money for an impeccably restored 1970s Sekonda.
These aren't restorations.

Wab1974uk

1,153 posts

42 months

Far more appealing than any of the latest batch of Supercar / Hypercars.