It's been a while since we've seen a new Gymkhana car come out of the Hoonigan stables, but today Ken Block finally pulled the wraps off his 1978 Ford Escort Mk2 RS.
Block first purchased the car in 2008 as a tarmac rally car, one of the first Fords to grace his garage.
“This Escort Mk2 is special to me, it’s actually my first Ford rally car,” says Block in the hoonigan.com blog.
“I purchased it in 2008. It was designed to compete in tarmac events, but unfortunately those are quite lacking now stateside, so instead of converting it into a gravel machine, I had my team at Hoonigan Racing Division extend on its tarmac capabilities and develop it into the ultimate rear wheel-drive Gymkhana car.
Since conception the Escort has undergone a complete WRC-spec build, but with a few modifications specifically done to enable Block to use the car for his signature Gymkana videos.
Unlike the Hoonicorn, a 1965 Ford Mustang, the Escort retains rear-wheel-drive as its means of putting power to the ground, albeit with some serious changes to the engine and driveline.
The original engine is long gone and in its place now resides a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder that screams its way up to 9,000rpm to produce an impressive 248kW - without the aid of forced induction.
“This car has been something I’ve been working on slowly for a long time now,” said Block.
“I’m stoked with how the whole thing turned out. My team and Graham Quick at Quick Motorsport in the U.K. did a great job on the build of the car, Rocket Bunny did an awesome job with the exterior styling and I absolutely love how The Hoonigans took something I really love—the American flag—and remixed it into a badass graphic for the livery of this car. I’ve only been able to test this car for two days, but I’m looking forward to slaying some more tires in this thing really soon. The car absolutely rips, especially at 9,000 rpm.”
