The Ford Escort may not be much of a looker these days, but looks don’t win races. Power does. YouTube personality ThatDudeInBlue (aka David) recently featured a sleeper Escort on his channel, and it’s one fascinating, race-ready machine.
This Ford Escort belongs to Stovall of Stovall’s Garage on YouTube. David says when Stovall invited him to drive the souped-up Escort, he saw the photos and immediately cleared his schedule to make room for the quirky coupe. Stovall says that he picked up the unassuming Escort to have some fun with it, but to his surprised, it pulled a 10-second quarter mile.
Under the hood, the Ford Escort is powered by the Mazda-built turbocharged 1.8L I4 engine, the same one that is found in the Mazda Miata. The dual heritage is denoted by a mashup “Fazda” badge on the front. Stovall took that small but mighty engine and transformed it into a 600 horsepower monster. The interior is all but gutted, too, making it light on its feet.
Stovall notes that his ride with David is the first time he’s been in the passenger’s seat of his unique build – and it makes it feel a hell of a lot faster. One of the more unique aspects of the Ford Escort is the fact that it’s front-wheel-drive, which can actually help protect the drivetrain in the long run.
“I love how ‘sleeper’ this thing is,” David says. “It’s so sick… [people] probably just think some guy was naïve and said, ‘This is gonna be my project car.’ Then they see the drag seats in it, and go, ‘Well…'”
Stovall says he enjoys taking the Escort to the drag strip because people often underestimate it. It has some trouble getting off the line, but once it gets going, it’s damn near unstoppable.
“It’s funny going to the track and seeing something like a Fox Body run a 10.6 at 120 and this things goes 10.6 at 133,” Stovall says.
Stovall isn’t the only one to upgrade a Ford Escort for the drag strip. A few years ago, a 1992 model year coupe popped up for sale, another example of the ultimate sleeper built machine.
No Comments yet