2016 Ford meet : Rolling out
Sometimes we tend to forget just how rich this country is with car culture. I mostly spend my time these days around Japanese metal, but that wasn’t always the case. Before the Internet and instant access to basically whatever we want, the cars you were into were the cars that you would see or hear of from friends or in magazines or on the street in front of you.
For such a small population Ireland has a rich love affair with the automobile. I’ve always been a Ford fan, growing up I had obsessed over the Sierra Cosworth, the MK2 escort and the Escort Cosworth, these were the original bad boys, in rallying, touring cars or on the street seeing spotting one brought instant joy.
These Cars as a young kid that just looked larger than life, they stood out against the mundane and this really was the car scene in the eighties and nineties long before the Japanese invasion. Ford was one of those companies taking a more or less relatively practical car and creating something special.
They have always been very successful with their homologations and have a seriously strong rally heritage here in Ireland so I think most genuine car enthusiasts have a soft spot for at least one Ford.
I wish companies put out decals like this on cars again. This was such a great little example of some of that eighties goodness the company was putting out.
You know you are pushing on in the years when you think back to a time when the Cortina was a dime a dozen on the road. I cant remember the last time I seen one. Ireland + rust + scrappage schemes took most of these out of the picture.
My affection for the four door stemmed from the Sapphire Cosworth. Absolutely love the OZ racing wheels against that colour. Always used to enjoy seeing these parading the streets as a kid especially because my Dad had a standard one for years. The four door is an O.G. “boy racer” car…. Christ I hate that term, but you get what I mean.
Another car that Ford nailed is the MK 1 Focus RS. The Focus as a standard has always blended into the scenery, but some subtle aggression and it changed everything.
I made it to the event just toward the end of the day when everyone was packing up and rolling out. The sporadic Irish weather decided it was time for everyone to go home and dumped a torrential Amazonian downfall on everyone.
You simply cannot get sick of this RS, from factory ford nailed it. We tend to forget what else is in the country sometimes, its one of the main reasons I love making my way to things like this.
The same has to be said about the next generation, such an aggressive looking car right out of the box. White is the best colour on these.
It has been awhile since I laid my eyes on Kevin’s immaculate RS Turbo. The black paint is like something out of a video game, not a single imperfection, swirl, not even a mark. On an Island where nature is trying to destroy your car it’s almost scary to see just how clean this car is kept. Awesome.
I was looking at this van for a minute wondering what was going on with the writing on the side, it was an unusually clean Escort van with funky looking wheels, and something looked suspicious.
This was Kevin’s latest purchase! He picked this up from a Museum in the UK and apparently there are only four left of these in the world. The Van is fully electric, yeah you read it right, fully electric is pretty crazy.
Its mad what companies were doing back then, apparently these cost Ford a quarter of a million to make. The trip down to the meet was worth seeing this crazy van alone. I had no idea such a van existed. I wonder if this would have caught on today, Ford seemed to be ahead of the times back then.
I made my way back outside to grab a few snaps of the remaining Escort Cosworths which were making their way out of the car park. I still think this is my all time favorite car from Ford.
You have to love the fact the company took the most generic econobox of the 90’s and created such a monster with it. The extended arches, that iconic wing, I can never get enough of these.
Jamies one does it for me. The WRC kit and those wheels, I lusted over this car for many years in this exact state, it just looks so tough.
I simply cannot get enough of that rear end. The car has a very interesting story which I’m sure many of you already know, if not check out Paddy’s feature on this car over on Speedhunters: click here!!!
With mostly an older crowd attracted to the Ford scene, due to the fact its what these guys grew up with, I cant help but think that many of us enthusiasts are going to be like this some day. It will be very interesting to see a bunch of guys in their forties and fifties rolling up to car meets in the stuff that we cherish from today. I can’t wait to be the old guy driving around in something similar to this illuminated Mexico long passed the expiration date. These guys give me hope.
Hope you enjoyed this look into the world of the blue Oval; stay tuned for more features coming very soon.