If you want a Mk1 Escort that’s new rather than restored, there are now two serious UK options. MST Cars in North Wales builds its own new Mk1-style cars and is not connected with Ford. Boreham Motorworks builds the Ford Escort Mk1 RS under an official Ford licence, in a run of 150. They look alike from a distance, but they are very different propositions. This post puts them side by side using only what the companies and the motoring press have published.
The short version
- Choose MST if you want a car you can spec for road, tarmac rally or track, at a far lower starting price, from a firm that also restores originals and sells every part it uses.
- Choose Boreham if you want the Ford name and a Ford-certified chassis number, a limited and numbered car, and a bespoke 10,000rpm engine, and you can wait and pay for it.
Neither firm publishes prices on its own site, so every price here is as reported by the press, with the date.
Philosophy: new-build versus licensed continuation
MST makes its own bodyshells in Wales and registers each car as new, on a DVLA-registered VIN stamped into that shell. The footer of every page on its site says MST Cars Ltd and Motorsport Tools UK Ltd “are not authorized or otherwise affiliated with Ford Motor Company”, and it calls its cars the MST Mk1 and Mk2 rather than Escorts. Because a new road car has to pass today’s IVA tests, MST says it can’t build an exact 1970s replica, though it will restore an original Escort as a historic car if that’s what you want.
Boreham calls its car a “Continumod”. Its page says the car “exists through an official licence agreement with Ford Motor Company” and is built “entirely ground up from new with a Ford certified chassis number”. The shell starts from original Ford blueprints, turned into a digital master and built on jigs, with a carbonfibre bonnet and boot. Boreham claims 50% more torsional stiffness than the period shell.
In practice, the licence is what you pay the premium for: the Ford name on the car, a chassis number Ford recognises and a numbered production run.
The cars side by side
Each cell gives its source in brackets. MST builds two main Mk1 models, so both are shown. “Not published” means we found no figure in the sources listed at the end.
| MST Mk1 Sports | MST Mk1 EVO | Boreham Mk1 RS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford licence | No (MST site footer) | No (MST site footer) | Yes (Boreham) |
| Reported price | From £79,500 + VAT, “just over £95,000” (Auto Express, Mar 2026) | From £195,000 + VAT, about £234k (Auto Express, Jul 2026) | From £295,000 before options and taxes, £354,000 in the UK (Autocar, Jun 2026) |
| Engine | 2.0 16v twin cam, about 180bhp (MST) | 2.7 Millington Diamond 330bhp+, or 2.8 360bhp+ (MST) | Ten-K, 330PS at 10,000rpm, or 1845cc Twin Cam, 185PS at 8,500rpm (Boreham) |
| Gearbox | Five-speed T5 (MST) | Tractive six-speed sequential or T5 (MST) | Ten-K: five-speed dog-leg; Twin Cam: four-speed, straight-cut (Autocar, Jun 2026) |
| Rear suspension | Atlas live axle, leaf springs (MST) | Independent (MST) | Fully floating aluminium/titanium live axle, six-link location (Boreham) |
| Wheels | 6x13 (MST) | 17in (MST); 18in rally wheels reported at launch (Auto Express, evo) | 7x15 front, 8x15 rear (Boreham) |
| Weight | Not published | Not published | 895kg target (Boreham) |
| Production run | No cap published | No cap published | 150 worldwide (Boreham) |
| Warranty | 12 months, plus three years on paint, new UK cars (MST) | Same terms for new UK cars (MST) | Two years or 20,000 miles (Boreham) |
Engines
MST’s range runs from a modern 2.0-litre twin cam in the Sports, to a 2.5-litre Ford Duratec in its Stage 1 fast-road car, up to Millington Diamond fours of up to 2.8 litres in the EVO. Its FAQ also lists BDA/BDG engines as upgrades. These are proven, bought-in motorsport engines.
Boreham went its own way. The Ten-K is a bespoke four-cylinder that Boreham says weighs 85kg and revs to 10,000rpm. Sources disagree on its size: Autocar says 2.2 litres, while Car and Driver and Boreham’s 2024 launch release say 2.1. The alternative is a reworked Lotus-Ford Twin Cam, enlarged to 1845cc and fuel-injected. Boreham offers no traction control, ABS or driving modes.
Rear axles: the biggest engineering split
The Mk1 EVO goes independent at the rear. MST says the system was “initially designed and tested by the late Colin McRae for his Mk2 Escort rally car”, and its EVO page describes it as still in development. Boreham deliberately kept a live axle, made in aluminium and titanium, and claims it halves rear unsprung mass compared with period competition Escorts. Gordon Murray’s Retropower car took the independent route, and Episode 2 of our Retropower guide explains the reasoning.
Numbers and lead times
Boreham will build 150 cars. Autocar reported in August 2026 that first handovers are due early in 2027, with only 10 cars earmarked for production that year. That’s well behind the 2024 launch release, which promised production from Q3 2025.
MST builds to order with no published limit. In March 2026, Auto Express reported a lead time of about 18 months for the Sports, with 2026 slots already allocated. For the EVO, MST’s page says build slots for 2027 are “very limited”, and evo and Auto Express both reported 2027 as close to full in July 2026. MST also says it sometimes has new and used cars in stock.
Buying one
Both firms start with a conversation, not an online configurator. MST works through a four-stage specification (fast road and touring, track, basic rally car, ultimate rally or race car), offers finance through Access Business Finance and has a showroom at Llithfaen by appointment. Boreham pairs each client with a liaison and the DRVN Design Team, led by Wayne Burgess, to choose materials and finishes.
Our next new-build post looks at costs: what these cars are reported to cost against restoring and modifying an original.
Related
- MST Cars’ new-build Mk1 Escort: Mk1 Sports, Mk1 EVO and ordering
- Boreham Motorworks Ford Escort Mk1 RS explained
- Retropower × Gordon Murray Mk1: all episodes, starting with Episode 1: the brief and the donor car
- The RS2000 and the complete history of the Mk1 Ford Escort
Sources
MST’s and Boreham’s pages were re-checked on 26 October 2026; the press pieces were checked when our MST (20 October) and Boreham (22 October) overviews were written. Neither firm publishes prices, so every price comes from the named article.
- MST Cars: Mk1 Sports, Mk1 EVO, Mk1 Fast Road & Touring, FAQs, Warranty, Finance
- Boreham Motorworks: Ford Escort Mk1 RS
- DRVN Automotive Group, 12 December 2024: Boreham Motorworks Reveal New Continumod Ford Escort Mk1 RS
- Auto Express, Tom Jervis, 23 March 2026: Ford Escort MST Mk1 Sports brings the icon back to life
- Auto Express, Antony Ingram, 7 July 2026: New MST Mk1 Evo turns the original Ford Escort into a rally monster
- evo, Ethan Jupp, 7 July 2026: MST Mk1 Evo is an extreme Ford Escort road rally recreation
- 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
mk1escort.org is an independent enthusiast site and isn’t connected with MST Cars, Boreham Motorworks or Ford. Prices, specs and dates change, so confirm them with each company before you commit.