In our MST Cars overview we looked at a Welsh firm that builds new Mk1-style cars without Ford’s involvement. Boreham Motorworks takes the opposite route. Its Ford Escort Mk1 RS is officially licensed by Ford Motor Company, built new from the ground up and limited to 150 cars. Here’s what Boreham has announced, what’s changed since the car was first shown, what the press says it costs and when the first cars are due.
Who Boreham Motorworks is
Boreham in Essex was home to Ford’s competition department, and Boreham Motorworks’ 2024 launch release points to the “Boreham built” Escort Twin Cam as part of the car’s heritage. The firm describes itself as an official brand licence partner of Ford. Media for the company is handled by DRVN Automotive Group. Autocar (20 August 2026) reports that the team includes John Mitchell, Boreham’s director of Ford Heritage and a member of the original Ford Motorsport team behind the Escort RS models, designer Wayne Burgess (formerly of JLR and Aston Martin) and chief technical officer Simon Goodliff.
Boreham calls the car a “Continumod”: not a restoration of a donor car and not a replica, but a new car with a Ford-approved chassis number. Its own page puts it bluntly: “Not a replica. Not a recreation. Not a tribute.”
Licence, numbers and chassis number
Boreham’s Mk1 RS page states:
- Ford licence: the car “exists through an official licence agreement with Ford Motor Company”.
- 150 commissions worldwide, in a mix of left- and right-hand drive.
- Chassis number: built “entirely ground up from new with a Ford certified chassis number”. In certain territories it will be delivered as a restomod with a Ford certified heritage chassis number.
- Warranty: two years or 20,000 miles, “subject to final market and purchase documentation”.
That licence and chassis number are the real difference from MST, whose cars are not affiliated with Ford and are registered on MST’s own shells. We’ll put the two side by side in a comparison post that’s coming soon.
Body and chassis
Boreham says the programme started from original Ford blueprints, turned into a digital master shell and built on precision jigs. The shell is steel, with a carbonfibre bonnet, boot and interior substrates, and Boreham claims 50% more torsional stiffness than the period shell. Autocar (9 June 2026) says the body is based on the two-door RS shells built at Ford’s Advanced Vehicle Operations in Aveley, with extra bracing and wider arches.
The wheelbase is 30mm longer than a standard Escort, which Boreham says matches the Alan Mann Racing car that won the 1968 British Saloon Car Championship. Up front there’s a bespoke tubular subframe with MacPherson struts. At the back, Boreham kept a live axle, now an aluminium and titanium fully floating unit located by four radius arms and a Watt’s linkage, with a torque-biasing diff and a 5.125 final drive. Boreham claims a 50% cut in rear unsprung mass compared with period competition Escorts, and Autocar says the new axle alone saves 40kg. “We always wanted to have a live rear axle,” Goodliff told Autocar, which is a clear contrast with the independent rear on Gordon Murray’s Retropower car.
Other published specs: 300mm vented front discs with four-pot calipers, 260mm solid rear discs with two-pot calipers, 7x15 and 8x15 wheels on Yokohama A052 tyres, and a target weight of 895kg. Boreham lists the car at 3,780mm long, 1,703mm wide and 1,335mm high.
Two engines: Ten-K and Twin Cam
Boreham’s page lists two engines.
Ten-K: 330PS at 10,000rpm. This is a bespoke four-cylinder engine. Boreham says it weighs 85kg and has belt-driven camshafts, individual throttle bodies, a carbonfibre airbox, forged conrods and a twin-plate clutch. Autocar reported 326bhp and 155lb ft in June and 325bhp in August, driving through a five-speed dog-leg gearbox that it says Holinger developed. Sources differ on capacity: Autocar says 2.2 litres, while Car and Driver and Boreham’s 2024 launch release say 2.1. Boreham’s current page doesn’t give a figure.
Twin Cam: 185PS at 8,500rpm. This is a reworked Twin Cam, enlarged from 1558cc to 1845cc, with fuel injection in place of the twin Webers (Autocar quotes 182bhp). According to Autocar, it uses the original four-speed gearbox with straight-cut, close-ratio gears.
Video: Boreham Motorworks on YouTube · watch “Introducing the TEN-K | 10,000 RPM, 330 PS, 85 KG | Ford Escort Mk1 RS” on YouTube
In this four-minute video from January 2026, Boreham’s head of powertrain, Laine Martin, introduces the Ten-K. The channel also has short films on the engine’s design and an Alan Mann 68 Edition.
There’s no traction control, ABS or driving modes. The car does have some modern touches, though: Autocar reports air conditioning, a Bluetooth stereo, backlit dials and electric power steering that only assists at low speeds and switches off at higher speeds. The rear seats are gone, and the six-dial instrument panel stays.
What’s changed since 2024
Boreham first announced the car on 12 December 2024. Its launch press release promised 150 cars with continuation chassis numbers, pricing from £295,000, a two-year, 20,000-mile warranty and production from Q3 2025. It quoted a 2.1-litre engine with 300PS and a target weight of 800kg, and said there would be no power steering.
Autocar reported that the production car was revealed at the London Concours in June 2026. Compared with the 2024 release, power has gone up, the target weight has gone up to 895kg, power steering has been added for low speeds and the timetable has slipped by more than a year.
Price and handovers
Boreham’s site doesn’t publish a price, so these figures are as reported:
- Autocar, 9 June 2026: from £295,000 before options and taxes, or £354,000 in the UK.
- Car and Driver, 9 June 2026: from $400,000.
On timing, Autocar (20 August 2026) reported that a test mule was being run at British proving grounds, with first customer handovers due early in 2027. It added that only 10 cars are earmarked for production in 2027, ramping up slowly to the 150 planned.
How commissioning works
Boreham says each commission “begins with dialogue”. Clients work with a dedicated liaison and the DRVN Design Team, led by Wayne Burgess, to choose the specification, materials and finishes before the build. Autocar says several wheel designs will be offered, inspired by period Rostyles and Minilites. Enquiries go through the contact details on Boreham’s site.
Related
- MST Cars’ new-build Mk1 Escort: Mk1 Sports, Mk1 EVO and ordering
- Retropower × Gordon Murray Mk1: all episodes, including Episode 5: the Cosworth visit
- Mk1 Escort rally preparation: body shell and rear suspension
- The RS2000 and the complete history of the Mk1 Ford Escort
- Coming soon: MST vs Boreham, compared
Sources
All checked 22 October 2026. Boreham’s site doesn’t list prices, so every price above comes from the named source.
- Boreham Motorworks: Ford Escort Mk1 RS
- DRVN Automotive Group (Boreham’s media site), 12 December 2024: Boreham Motorworks Reveal New Continumod Ford Escort Mk1 RS
- Autocar, Charlie Martin, 9 June 2026: Boreham reveals new Ford Escort RS for £300k – with 10,000rpm redline
- Autocar, Charlie Martin, 20 August 2026: 10,000rpm, £354k Ford Escort is a car ’nobody else could build’
- Car and Driver, Jack Fitzgerald, 9 June 2026: Boreham Motorworks Ford Escort Mk1 RS Revealed with 10K-RPM Redline
- Boreham Motorworks on YouTube: channel and Introducing the TEN-K (27 January 2026)
mk1escort.org is an independent enthusiast site and isn’t connected with Boreham Motorworks or Ford. Prices, specs and dates change, so confirm them with Boreham before you commit.