First registered on 19th September 1972 and finished in Ermine White, this 1972 Ford Escort RS1600 is set up for endurance and historic rallying.

With an RS1600 AVO body plate, it was prepared for the 1993 Lombard London to Sydney Marathon, an event for which the entry fee was £12,900 - and with the engine alone reputed to have cost £30,000, money-no-object preparation would have been the name of the game.

Driven by John Redding and Sarah Perris navigating, MLP 770L dropped out on Day 25 after being late for a checkpoint.

The car has since been driven in the 2008 Classic Marathon and many other stage rallies plus a Land End to John O’Groats charity run by the seller in 2022.

Ideal for either fast road or competition use (or both!) it’s been a while since we’ve seen a more purposeful and beautifully prepared example of a rallying legend.

Modifying a “genuine RS1600 BFAT original AVO Shell (you can still find the original Le Mans green paint)” for the rigours it was about to face me...