HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT BESPOKE FORD ESCORT BUILT FOR HENRY FORD II HEADS COLLECTION OF FIVE FORDS AT ICONIC AUCTIONEERS
‘FOCUS ON FORD COLLECTION’ an historically important bespoke ford ESCORT built for Henry Ford II when he Lived in the UK in the 1970S heads up a Unique nbsp;Ford Collection INCLUDING FOUR SHOWROOM FORD FOCUS’ WITH DELIVERY MILEAGE. 1976 Ford Escort RS2000 Automatic, One of One, ex-Henry Ford II. Estimate ￡50,000 - ￡60,000 nbsp; FOR SALE WITH ICONIC AUCTIONS AT THE SILVERSTONE FESTIVAL On 24th AUGUST 2024.
A collection of no fewer than five very special Fords will be ‘focussing’ buyer’s attention when they come to sale with Iconic Auctioneers at the Silverstone Festival on 24th August. In effect they are all showroom cars with a few delivery miles on the clock. Sleeping princesses awaiting a prince!
1976 Ford Escort RS2000 Automatic, One of One, ex-Henry Ford II. ￡50,000-￡60,000
But the eye of the Collection is not a Focus but a 1976 Ford Escortnbsp;RSnbsp;2000 which was a bespoke and unique build for Henry Ford II when he toured Europe and the UK in the 1970s. It has a unique leather interior and is in a one-off colour to the Ford Escort range, but its also an automaticnbsp;which was never made for the Ford Escort RS2000 model. Its been under the radar for about 20 yearsnbsp;although we believe it was displayed at the Ford heritage centre for some time. This special car has done just 44,000 miles.
1976 Ford Escort RS2000 Automatic, One of One, ex-Henry Ford II. Long believed to have disappeared, Henry Ford IIs own Ford Escort RS2000, unique in Roman Bronze Metallic, with a Cream Leather interior and Automatic Transmission. GUIDE PRICE: ￡50,000 - ￡60,000.
Gary Dunne of Iconic Auctioneers comments: “To own the Ford that was the personal car of Henry Ford II while he was living in the UK is case of driving living history. This is such a one off vehicle that it just adds to its potential collectability and value. The guy who collected all five cars in this collection was a huge Ford aficionado and so was hell bent in acquiring the Escort given its Ford connection and history of ownership by Henry Ford II, the oldest grandson of the founder of the Ford brand.”
Henry Ford II, sometimes known as “Hank the Deuce”, was the eldest son of Edsel Ford I and the eldest grandson of Henry Ford. Head of Ford Motor Company for 34 years (1945-79), he is generally credited with reviving the firm’s fortunes.
Following the unexpected death of his father, he was released from Naval duty, immediately becoming a Ford Vice President and, after what amounted to a crash course in industrial management, he succeeded to the Presidency of the ailing company in 1945. He promptly set about modernising the Company, introducing many successful models, including the Mustang and the Thunderbird, and by the mid-1950s Henry II had restored FoMoCo to rude financial health, becoming part of the bedrock of the modern auto‐industrial age.
Henry Ford II was an ebullient, larger than life, character who was CEO of the Ford Motor Company from 1945 to 1979. Often regarded as a tycoon in the mould of Rockefeller and Howard Hughes, he fitted well into British Society with his beautiful wives, country estate and noted generosity yet, when whizzing down to Turville Heath in NUF 617P to pick up the newspapers or have a pint at the Bull and Butcher, he was often described as modest, polite and kind.
With his own involvement with Ford of Europe, HF II found himself spending increasing amounts of time in the UK and, in 1974, decided to buy a property over here. Married to his second wife, Maria Cristina Vettore, they fell in love with and bought Turville Grange, a stunning Grade II listed property in Buckinghamshire. The estate was the former home of the younger sister of Jackie Kennedy, Lee Radziwill, who lived at the property with her European husband, HSH Prince Stanislas Radziwill in the 1960s. Whilst living at Turville, if HF II had to make longer trips, he would borrow something from the local Ford dealer or would be collected by a chauffeur, however, he liked to be independent and to be able to pop into the village occasionally on his own, so contacted his good friend, Walter Hayes (at this point Vice President, Ford of Europe) and asked him to find him “something special, a bit unusual.”
Although, Henry was able to handle a ‘stick-shift’, he preferred an automatic gearbox and whilst, Ford’s new RS2000 powered by the 2-litre, SOHC, four-cylinder Pinto engine was powerful, and its looks distinctive with a droop snoot polyurethane nose and shiny RS badge, it wasn’t available with an automatic gearbox. After some thought, Walter decided to instruct SVE to create a bespoke, one-off, RS2000 for HF II who, after all, was one of the most influential people in the history of Ford. The car was duly built with an automatic box, luxuriously trimmed in Cream Leather with deep carpets, de-badged and meticulously finished in Roman Bronze Metallic, prior to being registered to Henry Ford for his sole use on 8/06/1976 as NUF 617P.
2003 Ford Focus RS Mk1 Delivery Mileage. Estimate: ￡60,000 -￡70,000
The rest of this Collection consists of four ‘as new’ Ford Focus’, many of which still have their original delivery plastic sheeting and all display delivery milage. Stored since purchase, all the cars in the Collection are being recommissioned by a Ford specialist before coming to auction. They will not have a current MOT as our vendor has chosen not to register any of the cars on the MOT system, leaving that decision to the new owners.
First up is this 2003 Ford Focus RS Mk1 in exceptional condition guided at ￡60,000 - ￡70,000. Ford launched the Focus RS in 2002, returning those famous letters to one of its cars for the first time since the Ford Escort RS Cosworth. The new Focus RS was inspired by Colin McRaes WRC rally exploits and featured a 2-litre Duratec RS engine with an advanced turbocharging system and oil-spray cooled pistons to achieve more power - which eventually peaked at 215bhp and 0-60mph in 6.4 seconds.
The chassis was developed and a Quaife torque-biasing differential (when you turned into a corner and applied the power, it dug in like no other front-drive car to make the Focus remarkably quick across country) fitted to ensure optimal front-wheel drive tractability. Suspension was by uprated offset coil springs with Sachs Racing dampers whilst stopping power was provided by Brembo brakes. The cabin was competition-inspired and featured leather and Alcantara Sparco seats. Only sold in Imperial Blue, the exterior shared many styling cues with its rally sibling and even used custom 18 O.Z. Racing alloy wheels. Making the Focus RS this good on back roads meant changing almost every component. In the end, the roof, doors and bonnet remained the same as any other three-door Focus, but the rest of the exterior bodywork was new. In all, 521 parts were created just for the Focus RS, from the Sparco seats and handbrake lever, unique dials and starter button to the suspension and brakes. Ford built 4,501 Focus RS Mk1s, all individually numbered, and all thought to have been sold at a ￡4,000 loss to the company. Out of that total, 2,147 RS Mk1s were sold in the UK, making it by far the biggest single market, and although the car may still split drivers views, what isn’t in doubt is that this is now a prized modern classic. The sparkling, Imperial Blue, RS on offer here has been cherished since new and will come to our sale fully recommissioned and ready to drive away should the buyer wish. The odometer reading when the car was consigned indicated 12 miles from new although this may go up slightly as the car is moved around prior to sale.
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2010 Ford Focus RS Mk2. Estimate: ￡40,000 - ￡50,000 There are two Mk2 Focus’ in the Collection, first up is this 2010 Focus RS Mk2 estimated at ￡40,000 - ￡50,000.
The second-generation Focus RS is the Focus that Ford originally claimed they would never build - a limited run 300bhp super-hatch - but were delighted they did and make no apology for being enthusiastic about this remarkable little car with its huge twin-blade spoiler at the back, aggressive body kit and ballistic performance from the turbocharged 2.5-litre, five-cylinder engine. Only 11,500 examples were built in a production run that lasted a little over three years, with just 4,000 finding homes in the UK. The RS may not have had four-wheel drive, but a combination of Fords trick Revo-Knuckle front suspension, a Quaife limited-slip differential and well-judged ESP did a great job of putting the power down and managing the torque-steer while still providing plenty of involvement. The chassis was stiffened by about 30% and bigger drive shafts, a wider track, lower ride height and a faster steering rack translated into remarkably civilised road manners. With 301bhp and a massive 324lbs/ft available, the RS could hit 60mph in under six seconds and topped 160mph, all accompanied by a distinctive five-cylinder warble, plenty of turbo chatter and even the occasional pop and bang from the exhausts. And when you werent on a charge, the RS was a polite and practical hatchback capable of returning 25-30mpg, easy to park, offering plenty of boot space and reasonably quiet at a constant speed. However, with its gaping grille, 19 wheels, flared arches, deep diffuser and a wing that would embarrass a Porsche Turbo, the RS left you in no doubt about its intentions.
2010 Ford Focus RS500 Mk2. Estimate: ￡50,000 - ￡60,000
The Focus Mk2 is this stunning, delivery mileage example of the final evocation of the eponymous MK2 Focus RS500. The Ford Focus RS500 made its global debut at the Leipzig Motor Show on 9th Aprilnbsp;2010 and marked the final swansong for production of the remarkable second-generation Focus RS. The new and more powerful limited-edition Focus RS500 model was launched as the ultimate performance Ford to provide the definitive driving experience for serious performance car enthusiasts. The new model was given the RS500 designation to highlight its strictly limited production run of 500 individually numbered vehicles and featured a muscular 345bhp, 2.5-litre, five-cylinder engine, which generated 15% more power than the standard Focus RS and delivered truly exhilarating performance. In the raw, the RS looked a touch menacing with its gaping grille, 19 wheels, flared arches, deep diffuser, large rear wing and left you in no doubt about its intentions. However, the limited edition RS500 is even more dramatic, sporting a unique matt black finish with matching alloy wheels and delivering a powerful visual impact unmatched by any other production Ford. The last of these remarkable vehicles left Fords Assembly Plant in Germany during September 2010. Still adorned with much of its internal delivery coverings, the car is accompanied by a copy of its original Bill of Sale and like the others will come to sale fully recommissioned and ready to drive, just awaiting an MOT. https://www.iconicauctioneers.com/2010-ford-focus-rec13232-3-silverston-0824?pn=1amp;el=23064amp;pp=100
2018 Ford Focus RS Edition AWD Mk3. Estimate: ￡40,000 - ￡50,000
Lastly on offer from the Focus on Ford Collection is a final edition Focus RS Mk 3 with All Wheel Drive, delivery mileage (12 miles when consigned) and single ownership, it is estimated at ￡40,000 - ￡50,000. The Edition delivers drive modes that include the industry-first Drift Mode for controlled oversteer drifts under circuit conditions and Launch Control for ultimate performance off the start-line – accelerating from 0-62mph in just 4.7 seconds. Renowned as the final iteration of the traditional Fast Fords, this Mk3nbsp;Focus RS Edition was developed by Ford Performance engineers and evaluated at locations across the globe to further enhance the high-performance hatchback’s class-leading traction and responsiveness using a Quaife LSD for the front axle. The mechanical LSD limited the engine torque delivered to a wheel that has reduced traction on the road surface, and redistributed torque to the wheel with more traction to counteract the wheelspin that can hamper acceleration and stability. By controlling the torque delivered to each front wheel, the Focus RS Edition’s Quaife LSD enabled drivers to exploit the 350PS delivered by its 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine in high-performance driving situations even more. https://www.iconicauctioneers.com/2018-ford-focus-rs-edition-awd-rec13232-4-silverston-0824?pn=1amp;el=23065amp;pp=100
This will be the 14th sale for Iconic Auctioneers (formerly Silverstone Auctions) at the Silverstone Festival. The event attracts some 70,000 visitors and is one of the biggest historic motorsport weekends of the year. More details about the ‘Focus on Ford Collection’ along with the other cars, motorcycles and collectibles in the Silverstone Festival Sale on the weekend of 23rd - 25th August can be found on the Iconic Auctioneers website
www.iconicauctioneers.com . In person viewing of all the lots is available on Friday the 23rd August at the auction venue, The Wing at Silverstone Circuit. Further quality entries of cars, motorcycles, automobilia and collectibles are also invited for this flagship sale.
For further details visit the website, contact [email protected] or call +44 (0) 1926 691 141. For more information please contact Gary Dunne +44(0)1926 640 888 [email protected]
IMAGES For further high-resolution images please contact: nbsp; Penny Tyler, Marketing Manager [email protected] +44 (0) 1926 691 141
ABOUT ICONIC AUCTIONEERS Iconic Auctioneers, formerly known as Silverstone Auctions, started in 2011 and rebranded in August 2023. Confirmed as UK Live Auction Market Leaders for 2023, they are a world-class, specialist auction house for the sale of classic cars, competition cars, modern supercars and all types of collectors’ cars, as well as modern and historic motorcycles and items of automobilia. As one of the UKs leading auction houses they hold the exclusive automotive auction rights for some of Europes biggest motoring events such as The NEC Classic Motor Show, The Silverstone Festival, Supercar Fest, Race Retro and more. The team are passionate about seeking out the finest cars, motorcycles and collectibles and connecting them with right buyers from around the world, which has helped them achieve a number of record-breaking auction prices on behalf of vendors (17 Auction World records in 2023). The company has achieved the following impressive statistics: Held 88+ auctionsnbsp;(as of December 2023) Sold 5,700+ cars and motorcycles (as of December 2023) Total sales in excess of ￡286m (as of December 2023) ·nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Customers in over 30 countries
No seller’s commission charged on vehicles entered with no reserve More about Iconic Auctioneers can be found on their website iconicauctioneers.com , by emailing [email protected] or by callingnbsp; +44(0)1926 691 141. Head Office and Registered Address: Iconic Auctioneers Ltd. The Forge, Harwoods House, Banbury Road, Ashorne, Warwickshire, CV35 0AA.