Your Cars: Jamie Sutton’s Big Wing MK1 Ford Escort YB Cosworth

They say good things come to those who wait. Well, that was certainly the case when it came to seeing Jamie’s big wing MK1 Escort at one of our classic meets!

The car has been a labour of love for Jamie over many years and has seen a few incarnations in terms of engine and spec. It came onto my radar when he fitted a Cosworth engine to it and added pictures to the Oval Owners Facebook Group. I contacted Jamie soon after with a view to getting the car over to one of our meets, but it took a whole lot longer than expected before I finally saw it in the flesh!

Firstly, there were a few turbo problems with the new engine, due to the fact the existing turbo was, as Jamie put it, “made out of cheese!” A better solution was required and soon found in the shape of a Turbo Technics hybrid turbo. Excellent, so all running nicely we discussed getting it over to another meet only for disaster to strike again when the bonnet flipped up, so the car was taken off the road again whilst a new bonnet was found but this took longer than hoped as the first two bonnets sourced were not up to Jamies’s high standards when they were taken back to bare metal. Eventually a decent one was found, prepped and painted.

Happily, it was a case of third time lucky as Jamie managed to get over to our September meet in 2022. It is safe to say it was worth the wait! It is a ‘proper job’ as we like to say; an all-steel big-wing build using all new panels costing north of four and a half thousand pounds. Then there is the paint… just stunning! It is actually a GM colour called Cyber Grey, but my god it could have been purpose made for an Escort!
Under the bonnet there’s a Cosworth engine with a ported head, the above-mentioned turbo, and a three-inch exhaust system. The car sits perfectly on Ultralite alloys (9×15 rears, 7.5×15 fronts) shod with and Toyo Poxes TR1’s and finished with AP Racing brakes.

Jamie’s car went down a storm at the meet and towards the end of the evening we got Jamie’s car lined up with my big wing MK1 Mexico and Mark Doherty’s big wing MK1 RS2000 for a few shots. Just the job. A better line up you could not wish to see, and it ended up on the cover of Retro Ford Magazine the following month, which was nice!

I caught up with Jamie recently who tells me that sadly, due to ever-increasing work commitments, the car has not turned a wheel in a long time. So much so, that it might soon be going up for sale! All I can say is that if this happens, somebody is going to get one hell of a car!

Julian