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.....discover that your classic Ford is a works car, and I can tell you Gordon hasn't stopped smiling since.
The only problem Gordon had now was that his rare historical car was in a million and one pieces on his garage floor. Realising the significance of the Mkl, he started rebuilding the car to an unbelievable spec. Quality components and workmanship were top priority for Gordon, and his car is now one of the fastest naturally-aspirated track Fiestas in the country. Regularly punted around Scotland's home of motor-sport, Knockhill Raceway, the Mkl has yet to find a non-turbo, street-orientated opponent that it can't beat. The mechanical build spec-sheet for the Fiesta is incredible and its meaty exhaust rumble is an early warning to those who think this is just another cheap race car.
Based loosely on the 1.6-litre crossflow from an XR2, the Fiesta's engine is a mechanical work of art put together by local Fiesta performance king Kevin Tawes. Capacity is out to 1660cc and a balanced all-steel bottom-end with forged Cosworth pistons helps with reliability. A Group 2 spec dry-sump set-up handles lubrication, and the cool polished oil tub sits menacingly in the highly detailed engine bay. A Group A head gasket meets a ported and polished big valve head, and is tied down with a full ARP stud kit. Twin 45 Webers blast fuel and air in, which is quickly cooked and ejected out via a Maniflow four-branch manifold into a custom hi-flow Scorpion performance exhaust system. Scottish tuning gurus, AGRA engineering, have dyno-tested the engine to a tyre-smoking 175 bhp at 8000 rpm! Proof that a sorted XR2 motor can deliver the goods when needed.
Power is transferred through a tiny Half-Master flywheel and clutch. Swapping cogs is a job for the ultra-rare Hewland straight-cut four-speed gearbox, of which only.....
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Bottom-Left - The Fester's works dash sports huge red warning lights for oil and fan control. There's also a shift light to remind Gordon to change gear.
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