In the pits, Henry assures me the Group 5 car will bear scant relationship to the upcoming road car, not least as it is devoid of vibration damping and, to be period correct, has unservoed brakes.
It’s simply you, the deeply dished steering wheel and just over 200bhp flowing to the 172mm-wide rear Dunlop crossply tyres through an English axle. Details on the road-going Escort RS remain vague, but we know it will attempt to meld engagement with modern drivability and grip.
Think Quaife diff, coilovers, trick ECU and 225-section rear tyres of a modern compound. No ABS, traction control or power steering, mind you.
For our racing car today, the coup de grâce lurks in the details. The Tillett buckets and pedal layout are set to Frank’s preferred positions (let me tell you, the great man worked hard for his rev-matched downshifts), while the little Bakelite gearknob, which you grasp to fling the H-pattern ’box through its four speeds with surprising ease and accuracy, is from his very car, XOO 349F.
Henry admits this continuation effort, while objectively more exciting to drive than the original, doesn’t have the same aura as 349F (how could it?), though it still feels very evocative to me.
It helps when the big oil light ahead of you on the dash is purloined from a GT40, as it would have in period.