The Smallest Cog's 1979 Mark II Ford Escort RS2000: A Restoration Story

Before we dive into the story of this car, I'd like to give credit to our foreign team and all the hard work they put into restoring this beautiful machine. If you've seen the latest episode of The Smallest Cog on Discovery+, you might already be familiar with this 1979 Mark II Ford Escort RS2000.

This car has had quite a life, originally being supplied to the UK before spending 33 years in the Isle of Man. We're not entirely sure if it's true, but we do know that it was involved in some road rallying and racing, and we discovered signs of its past adventures - handbrake cables and pipes that had been re-rooted inside the car to protect them from damage.

As we cut away rust or aged metal, we uncovered another dent or misshapen horror underneath. It was an immense effort to renew the front end, with weeks turning into months before we could even think about painting. The rear end wasn't as bad, but it still required a lot of work. We wanted to maintain an original paint finish that would make the car look like it left the factory.

To achieve this, our team worked extra hard to give the car a halfway point between its current state and how it was originally finished. They didn't want to end up with a completely flat finish, but rather something that still looked like it had been well-cared for. We're pleased with the results, which allowed us to send the car off to auction.

To our surprise, the RS2000 Mark II sold at 33 pounds foreign - not a very high price, but we were thrilled nonetheless. However, just a few weeks later, we heard from the buyer that he was in a bit of a pickle. The car wasn't registered on its original UK plate, which had been left behind after it traveled to southern Ireland. He couldn't face the prospect of re-registering it, and eventually wanted to sell it.

Luckily, I was able to buy the car back from him, giving us another chance to restore it and make it something we can be proud of. There are still some niggles with the car, but that's what makes it special. One major issue is the interior - oh, how I love it in here! For me, this is one of the most evocative parts of the car.

When we came to restore the car, original paint color was a key priority. We decoded the code on the body to determine the correct color and went on to discover that the interior was black. We fitted a brand-new, professionally-made interior, which looks stunning against the midnight blue exterior. However, I have to admit that I'm not entirely convinced it works - perhaps I should have chosen a different color.

The interior's beauty is matched only by its challenges. Fitting new trim can be tricky unless you're an expert in the field. We learned this the hard way when our first attempt didn't quite work out as planned. We'll be going back to the Midlands to get it right, and we're confident that the end result will be worth it.

Last but not least, there's one more thing to note - the wheels. These are not original RS2000 wheels; they're reproduction models that cost a fortune. While authentic originals would have been ideal, these still hold their value well. In fact, they've become quite valuable in their own right. We decided it was worth spending the money to get them, and we know that when the car is finished with its new black interior, it won't be going up for sale anytime soon.

The story of this Mark II RS2000 is one of restoration, rebirth, and a healthy dose of luck. After I'd sold it and bought it back from the guard, who didn't want to re-register it, we broke the news to our guys at The Smallest Cog. We thought that car was gone for good, but then it magically turned up again.

It's been a wild ride, and I have to admit that I'll miss this car dearly when it's finally finished. But for now, it's back in our hands, and we're excited to see where the future takes us.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enforeign Ed in the past before the latest episode of the smallest Cog dropped on Discovery plus you may already have seen it in which case this will be familiar if you haven't already seen that episode there is a link in description watch it now and then come back because this car you'll by now have seen it is a 1979 Mark II Ford Escort rs2000 that I bought and I bought it for the smallest Cog so that we could restore it sell it and hopefully make some money on it story of the car well we discovered it's had a bit of a life it was originally a UK supplied car then it spent 33 years in the Isle of Man where we're pretty sure no we're not pretty sure we are entirely sure it did some Road rallying and racing and we know that because it had every sign the handbrake cables and some of the pipes had been re-rooted inside the car to protect them on the underside and it had had the absolute proverb you were kicked out of it in every corner at the front end every time we cut away another bit a rust or forward aged metal we discovered another dent a misshapen horror underneath it went on and on and on basically front end we had to renew entirely there were weeks if not months of fabrication before we got near paint the rear end wasn't so bad but it was an immense effort and then the pain this was its original color they were quite rare in this dark blue and it is a beautiful deep color and the guys worked extra extra hard to give it an original paint finish what they didn't want to do having done all of that fabrication was end up with it completely flat because they never were they wanted something halfway between that and how it left the factory as a rather more work a day Paint finish and we were really pleased with the results so as planned we sent it off to the auction lo and behold it sold RS 2000 Mark II selling at 33. the pounds foreign not brilliantly not a very high price on the day but it's sold and then I heard from the bloke that had bought it a few weeks later and he was in a bit of a pickle because I hadn't taken the time to re-register it on its original UK plate it was still registered in southern Ireland where it had gone after the Isle of Man it's traveled and he couldn't face that Prospect he wanted many off he wanted to reduce the basically I said I'll buy it back so I have so the iOS 2000 is once again mine which is good because it gives us a chance to address a few things with this car to really make it something we can be proud of there are some niggles there are some bits and pieces that aren't quite right then there's one major bit that isn't quite right that I do want to put right the interior oh I love it in here this for me is one of the most evocative bits of the car and I know if you're of a similar age and if you are I'm sorry bad luck um it'll be the bit that resonates with you and that of course is these headrests we had them remade they are fabulous they were unique to this car pretty much and very special lightweight yeah but how much weight did it really save not a lot but did it look really cool and distinctive even if you were following it from behind yeah an impressive haircut at me my next neighbor had one and a little semi in Birmingham 100 years ago and it was simply the coolest thing and I used to sit in the garden just to look at the car it was red and I adored it and hated the next door neighbor anyway the interior of this particular one it's beautiful it's brand new made by professionals and it's a gorgeous thing thing is when we came to restore the car original paint color we decoded the code on the body to work out what color it left the factory in and what color the interior was and it was black and I said and I can't deny this because I said it on camera on the TV show you might have seen that episode from series one that looks really good it's gonna look gorgeous against that midnight blue not gonna lie I'm wondering if I should have gone black rather than beige but it's too late we should do it in that it'll look beautiful against the dark blue so we did and it doesn't I don't know why it doesn't quite work I thought it would look a million dollars but it's not right and the other slight issue we had the interior made by absolute Pros I'm going to go back to the same people to have a new one done in black but we fitted it and if you've ever done any work on interior trimming on a car unless you are an interior trimmer it just doesn't work it's like have you tried Plastering it's like that if you're a plasterer it's fine if you're not just don't bother so this is going back up to the Midlands to have a black interior put back in it and there'll be more bits to do as well there are some areas of the paint that perhaps we might have another look at one key thing well four key things the wheels these are not original RS 2000 wheels these are reproduction they cost a fortune but the authentic Originals cost a double Fortune but then that doesn't really matter because these well they were a sporting version of a humble family or shopping cart are becoming very valuable so it's worth spending the money on it and it will be eventually because then it'll go up for sale again I know what's going to happen will it hackers like go up for sale I'm gonna see it when it's done with its black interior and I'm not going to want to sell it so that is the story of the Mark II rs2000 that I bought there's a smallest Cog restored sold bought again restored again and then won't want to sell obviously all of that meant after I'd sold it and I bought it back from the guard sold it too because he didn't want to re-register it meant I had to break it to the guys at our only successful sale I had bought back and if you want to see how that went down there's a link in the description below to go and have a look at the show in which I broke that news to the guys hey you know that car we thought had gone it's back and I don't think it'll be going away for a while I'll miss it too much foreign\n"