MANN ALIVE!

Just six Alan Mann touring car Escorts were made in period Now, as Adam Towler reveals, 24 continuations are to be built, but which would you like - Period Correct or Modern Race?

- Adam Towler

Four classical Smiths dials are positioned in my line of sight. Large ones for revs and miles-per-hour to the sides, smaller ones for oil and coolant temps in the centre. The seat may be bolted to the floor but fortuitously it could be no better positioned to allow for heel and toe work down at the pedals, while the minimalist dished steering wheel is positioned at a perfect 'bent-elbow' angle and distance.

Frank Gardner would have recognised this view, out over a gold bonnet that gently slopes away. In fact, the whole car would have felt like coming home, inside and out, bar the rigid embrace of the ultralight, modern bucket seat, the sturdy rollcage and the associated safety equipment; after all, when Gardner drove his Alan Mann Racing Ford Escort Mk1 to British Saloon Car Championship glory in 1968 (and a class title and third overall in 1969), the only concession to safety was a single, thin reinforcing strip in the roof above his head.

The famously blunt Aussie would also have recognised the raucous bark of the Lotus twin-cam engine, now I've flicked the ignition switch and thumbed the starter button, because in 1969 the championship rules forced Alan Mann to relinquish the 1600cc Cosworth FVA with its 16v head, and use a bored-out version of the twin cam instead. Given this highly stressed, 201bhp, 1840cc 'four' is fixed directly to a bare shell - that altogether has a dry weight of just 795kg - you can probably close your eyes and imagine the granite-hard, vibratory assault that my ears and insides are being subjected to. Ah... bliss!

"Frank Gardner would have recognised this view, out over a gold bonnet that gently slopes away"