The Right Stuff

There are many ways to build a Mk2, but for Jake Swann there’s only one...

- Simon Woolley

With so many well-modified Mk2 Escorts having been built in recent years, it’s hard to create something stand-out that isn’t just different for the sake of it. Yet Jake Swann has managed it in bucketloads with his latest project — this incredible BDG-powered two-door that caused more than a few open mouths at this year’s Great Unveiling — simply by building a car to suit his own particular set of requirements rather than ticking off a wishlist of parts.

You may be familiar with Jake. We featured his Machine Silver Mk5 Cortina in the April 2017 issue — a proper sleeper that just happens to run a full-race Pinto. But as much as he loves the Cortina, Jake’s always had an Escort-shaped itch just waiting to be scratched.

“Like with a lot of people, it’s all my Dad, Kevin’s fault. He used to race Escorts years ago, and still owns a Mk2 road and track car. I never thought I’d be able to afford one, but I decided to give up stock car racing a few years back as it was taking up every evening and most weekends, sold the race car, and the money from that went into helping to fund the build of this.”

‘This’ being one of the nicest, most-thought-through Mk2s we’ve featured for some time — thanks in part to Jake being particular about every aspect of the build. “I wanted the best possible base for the project,” he recalls. “I’d looked at a few for sale, then saw a beige one that Car Cave had available, so we went over with a trailer… and came home with this one instead! Car Cave’s Alan had only got it in that morning, and reckoned it was the cleanest one he’d ever had. He wasn’t wrong, as although it was a little beaten up, we couldn’t find a pinprick of rust.”

The left-hand-drive 1.1L had spent all its life in Croatia, and being silver, was the perfect colour for Jake, too.