HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Your projects: Andrew Dyer’s bringing the South London sleeper look to South Wales with his Escort project — only with a turbo twist.

- Simon Woolley

If you’ve had your sights set on Mk1 or Mk2 Escort ownership for some time, don’t be put off. Andrew Dyer was 18 when he clocked a couple of South Londonlook Escorts in this magazine and decided he wanted to get behind the wheel of his own Mk2 and now, some 15 years later, he’s tantalisingly close to achieving that goal.

Andrew’s route to rear-drive Escort ownership is a long and convoluted one — he’s the fi rst to admit he’s not your typical classic Ford loyalist, owning and building a variety of marques to date, with his 9-to-5 running a business specialising in VW T5 and T6 vans. But on two evenings a week, he likes to put the vans to one side metaphorically-speaking and work on something a decade or three older, defi nitely rustier — and often with a forcedinduction twist, just like his current project.

“I’ve owned and built a few Mk2 Fiestas in the past,” he recalls. “The last one had a Zetec turbo, and while it was quick, I didn’t use it much and sold it having probably only done 100 miles in it — I knew deep down that it was time for an Escort.”

That was for or fi ve years ago, and this is now Andrew’s second attempt at Escort evolution — the fi rst ended prematurely when the bodyshell of the imported Mk2 he bought came back from media blasting with signifi cantly more holes than he expected — but as you can see, now the distinctly off-thewall choice of powerplant is in and running well, this one is well on the way to prep, paint and completion. Turn the page to fi nd out Andrew’s plans for the project which cunningly mixes classic street sleeper looks with DIY turbo power.

What was the shell like when you got it?