EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING

This official continuation actually improves on the greatest Ford Escort ever made. Both their stories are as unlikely as they are fascinating

- David Lillywhite

I think he'd be happy with it,' says Henry Mann thoughtfully, as the first official continuation of his father's famous Mk1 Escort flies round the private test track behind us. 'I've thought a lot about that and yes, he would have liked the car and the association with the Ford Motor Company again.

This is the first media outing of the Alan Mann 68 Edition, a Ford-sanctioned recreation of the revolutionary Alan Mann Racing Ford Escort that won the 1968 British Saloon Car Championship in the hands of Australian Frank Gardner. The success of the original in the launch year of the Escort did much to cement the early success of the new model, and its bubble 'arches became one of the most replicated features of any fast Ford.

The car, registration XOO 349F, was no ordinary racing Escort - but just how special it was had been forgotten over the course of the previous five decades, until it was fully stripped back for every part to be laser-scanned and examined. We're jumping the gun, but consider that its front suspension uses GT40 parts while the rear is on torsion bars rather than the standard Escort's leaf springs or even the rally cars' coil-over-damper units.

Perhaps you're expecting to read that the recreation, of which 24 will be made, has stuck to now more tried and tested Escort set-ups - but that's not the case. Instead, the Alan Mann 68 Edition continuations are almost inch-perfect copies of the original, using the identical mechanical layout. The only differences in the new car you see here are modern-spec roll-cage, seats, harnesses and fire extinguisher to enable it to compete in historic racing (it comes with an FIA Historic Passport). For those who don't want to race it, there's the option to buy a more period-correct version without the safety gear.