Ford Escort MK1: A Father and Son's 450hp Cosworth-Powered Rally Build

A Father and Son's 450hp Cosworth-Powered Rally Build

Original story & photography by Peter Edenberg, Instagram: @thefascinatingcars, published on Fascinating Cars — reproduced here with reference and acknowledgement to the original source. Owner: Daniel Zettervall | Instagram: @dzettervall | Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Ten Years in the Making

It began as a joint project with his father a decade ago. Today, you'll find this olive-green Ford Escort MK1 — known to those around it as the Bulldog Machine — cruising the streets and circuits of Sweden, still eagerly awaiting the next outing.

Like a small green candy flecked with gold, yellow, and black, it rolls down the gravel road. It isn't large, but it's wide — and it commands attention the moment it comes into view. An original Escort MK1 might not turn heads on its own, but this one absolutely does.

The black stripe running along the sides frames the car's waist and gives it a sense of speed even standing still. The number 73 on the door nods to the model year and adds another layer of motorsport intent. The golden rims catch the morning sun, giving this English Ford a genuine bulldog stance — the kind that signals you should probably keep your distance, or there might be trouble.

It looks like it only wants to move forward. Rain, storm-force wind, deep snow — none of it matters. This car was built to go.

A Project Together With His Father

Daniel Zettervall, the owner, unfolds himself from the cabin after parking the car. On the door it reads "Mexico" — a tribute to Hannu Mikkola's win alongside Gunnar Palm in the 1970 London–Mexico World Cup Rally. The pair drove for over a month, from April 19th to May 27th, covering some 25,000km from London to Mexico City. Ford went on to build a road-going Escort Mexico model off the back of that win — quicker than the standard car, though nowhere near as capable as the works rally car itself. Buyers didn't seem to mind. The Mexico stripe has been a fixture of Escort culture ever since.

"The idea was to do something together with my dad," says Daniel.

After working in restaurants and bars and spending two years living in the Swedish mountains — where he also started a snowboard company — Daniel decided he wanted something different when he turned 25. He moved back to Stockholm with one idea in mind: build a car with his dad.

His father, Mats, has been involved with Fords his whole life and is a well-known name within the Swedish rally community. If you needed a question answered about Ford construction, Mats was the man with the answer.

From Anglia to Escort

The original plan was for Daniel to restore his mother's old Anglia. That idea didn't last — the car was too nice to start cutting into. Instead, he was handed an Anglia carcass that had been sitting outside the family garage in Södertälje.

"The Anglia began to be repaired for rust, and a Zetec engine was acquired, but then the Escort and the Cosworth engine came up around the same time. The switch was quite easy."

The Escort itself turned up on Tradera, the Swedish equivalent of eBay — a renovation project in the loosest possible sense. Daniel and Mats placed a bid of $300 with no other interest in sight, and the auction closed in their favour. The seller reached back out and asked if they'd bump it up to $350. Without hesitation, they agreed, and shortly after drove west across Sweden to trailer the car home.

70% New Metal

The year was 2013, and once the Escort arrived home, the project began to gather real momentum.

"70% of the car's bodywork has been replaced. The entire floor has been replaced. Inner panels and fenders have been replaced," Daniel recounts.

The golden 15x8 Minilite wheels came from a neighbour's garage — striking enough on sight that they became the purchase that ultimately decided the entire width of the car. Fibreglass fenders were sourced to make fitting easier, though the rear units arrived uneven and didn't sit right. Daniel and Mats got creative, cutting the wheel arches off the uneven rear fenders and off a spare pair of front fenders, then moulding the front arch profile onto the rear fender. Problem solved.

By the time the build was finished, almost nothing on the car remained original. Only the grille and lights, the rear end, the roof, and the doors survived the process untouched.

A Cabin Built to the Centimetre

Step inside and everything fits with a precision that borders on obsessive. The seats, notably, don't move — and there's a good reason for that.

"When we built the car, the roll cage became somewhat tight, which made me get new seats because the ones I had planned to use were a centimetre too wide."

Daniel found a pair of narrow, light brown Cobra FIA Historic racing seats online. They fit to the centimetre, bolted into position inside the 8-point Finess roll cage that Mats had welded together by hand.

At the pedal box sits a clean Tilton 600 set, practically built for heel-toe work, while a suede-wrapped Sparco steering wheel with a gold hub connects to an electric power steering system pulled from an Opel Corsa, paired with an Escort MK2 HD quick-ratio steering rack.

Everything in the cabin is tidy and considered. A red Sparco four-point harness adds the one real splash of colour against the seats, and Daniel — like most owners — apologises slightly for the wiring loom, though it looks every bit as professional as the rest of the build.

The car was finally finished in 2017, after nearly four years of work. The dashboard originally ran digital gauges, but after three years on the road, Daniel switched back to analogue. "Out with the new, in with the old!" as he put it on Instagram.

A black Motamec lever operates the hydraulic handbrake, with a Coolerworx gear lever ahead of it controlling the 6-speed Getrag/BMW gearbox. The one slightly excessive touch in an otherwise minimal cabin is the dedicated helmet box — though it fits so naturally into the design that it's hard to call it out of place.

"We Can Get More Than the Existing 450hp"

This car was built entirely around how Daniel wanted it to look and feel — but the engineering behind it belongs largely to his father. Mats's experience with Fords and chassis construction reads like an encyclopedia.

"The only thing was that he sighed loudly when I said I wanted a turbo in the car. Because he wasn't used to building those," Daniel says with a smile.

Standing over the engine bay, the Cosworth-based motor sits waiting, the Garrett GT3067 turbocharger positioned and ready. It's as clean here as it is in the cabin — the gear-driven overhead camshaft setup looks every bit as sharp as the rest of the build.

"The engine is based on a 200 block bored to 92mm with JE pistons and ZPR connecting rods and crankshafts."

Dyno-tested to 450hp running on E85, Daniel is quick to point out — with a knowing smile — that there's more available if they want to chase it. The firewall was moved back 5cm to make room for everything, with engine mounts fabricated from old Ford leaf spring mounts.

Every detail under the bonnet has been thought through well past what's strictly necessary. A ported head, Enem camshafts, dual valve springs, adjustable cam gears, a Tial 44mm wastegate, a NUKE boost and fuel rail, a Group 4 fuel tank in the boot with a catch tank and an 044 Bosch pump — all of it tied together and managed by a MaxxECU Street control system.

Spec Sheet

Engine

• Cosworth-based 200 block, bored to 92mm
• JE pistons, ZPR connecting rods and crankshaft
• Garrett GT3067 turbocharger
• Ported cylinder head
• Enem camshafts
• Dual valve springs
• Adjustable cam gears
• Tial 44mm wastegate
• NUKE boost/fuel rail
• Group 4 fuel tank with catch tank — boot mounted
• 044 Bosch fuel pump
• MaxxECU Street engine management
• Dyno-tested at 450hp, running E85

Drivetrain

• 6-speed Getrag/BMW gearbox
• Coolerworx gear lever
• Dual-disc Sachs clutch with hydraulic release bearing

Suspension

• Ford Capri struts
• Bilstein dampers
• GAZ coilovers

Chassis & Safety

• 8-point Finess roll cage — handbuilt by Mats Zettervall
• Cobra FIA Historic racing seats
• Sparco four-point harness

Interior

• Sparco suede steering wheel, gold hub
• Tilton 600 pedal box
• Electric power steering — Opel Corsa system
• Escort MK2 HD quick-ratio steering rack
• Motamec hydraulic handbrake lever
• Analogue dashboard gauges

Exterior

• Golden 15x8 Minilite wheels
• Custom fibreglass front and rear fenders
• Mexico stripe livery

Less Than a Metre From the Turbo

Naturally, a build like this needs to be experienced rather than just photographed. Settling into the Cobra seat takes a moment of careful manoeuvring — fit is millimetre-precise, and the dual-disc Sachs clutch makes its presence known immediately as something Daniel is still working to perfect.

Every sound in the cabin is audible: a creak here, a rattle there, the bumps of Stockholm's suburban roadworks finding their way through. But the Capri struts, Bilsteins, and GAZ coilovers absorb the worst of it without complaint. Less than a metre ahead, the turbo winds up and down — whoosh, whoosh — as Daniel presses the throttle and the car surges forward. It hugs the ground, and the noise rises with the revs in a way that's hard not to grin at.

Catching the reflection of the olive-green paintwork in a passing bus shelter, it's clear just how well that colour suits an Escort MK1.

"This Is What I Like"

A build with this much history doesn't come without its scars.

"The car has been through a few accidents too. Most recently, it caught fire at Gelleråsen when the oil return to the turbo was leaking. I've had a complete engine failure with the previous engine. My dad backed into it right after it was done with the paint, and then I lost the right rear wheel, one of the first times I drove it."

"But all of that is just part of owning and building a classic car."

Across the time spent talking and photographing the car, five or six passers-by stop, walk over, or call out — "nice car!" — pointing out what a standout it is. Daniel lights up every time, thanking each one in turn.

"This is what I like. The appreciation for all the hours and all the work that has been put into this car over all these years."

Ten years, two builders, and a car that still draws strangers across the street to take a closer look. That's a project worth every one of those hours.

If you meet Daniel and his Ford Escort MK1, give him a cheer — or better yet, find him on Instagram and follow along. He's earned it.

This feature is based on original reporting and photography by Peter Edenberg, first published at Fascinating Cars. Reproduced here with reference and acknowledgement to the original source and author.

For more build features and stories from across the automotive world, visit Stance Auto Magazine.