9th-Dec-21, 06:21 PM
PCS B020 Ford Escort Mk3 RS Turbo S1 BTCC Datapost - 1/32 scale slot car kit. RRP £40. Available now.
Following the success of their road car kit previewed here, Pendles have released a racing version of the Escort Mk3 RS Turbo. Although essentially the same moulding, a racing driver figure is included - as are decals to complete Richard Longman's legendary #44 car from the 1985 and 86 British Saloon Car Championship...
The RS Turbo arrived mid-season in 1985 - delayed by homologation issues. Two-time BSCC champion Longman built three cars - one for himself, one for team mate Alan Curnow and one spare. They were - without doubt - the fastest front-wheel drive Escorts of all time. Ford provided Longman with cars and most of the budget - as they had for the 1600i model he'd driven to second overall in the '84 championship - with Datapost (the express delivery branch of Royal Mail), Avon and Esso contributing cash and materials.
Longman's team in Dorset managed to squeeze 270 bhp out of the engine (the road cars had 132 bhp) and there was rumoured to be 300 bhp available for qualifying. When Longman debuted a single car at Silverstone in June '85, it was only three seconds a lap slower than Andy Rouse's dominant Group A Sierra XR4i. In a straight line, the Escort was blisteringly fast, but some work needed doing on the cornering and braking. Nevertheless, Longman won Class B in three of the Escort's first four races - not bad when the rest of the field had a six-month head start.
In 1986, the fully-developed car was simply awesome. Longman won six class victories on the way to another runner-up spot in the drivers' standings. A retirement for Longman in the penultimate round at Donington, allowed Chris Hodgetts to pull out a decisive 6-point gap in his Class C Toyota Corolla. However, Longman's Escort Turbo was often mixing it with the top Group A cars - and in this coverage of the final round of the 1986 season, you can see him battling for the final podium place against Mike Newman's BMW 635CSi - scroll to 9:45 for the Escort action...
That was his fourth visit to the overall race podium in 1986. However, the end of the season saw a premature end for the Datapost Escort, as Richard Longman explained to Classic Ford magazine in 2014...
Quote:I don't suppose the car was yet at its peak, but at the end of that year Datapost decided they had completed their promotion work in motor racing - we'd been with them for seven years. With the Sierra Cosworth coming along, and with Datapost pulling out, it was the end of an era, and there wasn't anything else for the Escort to do. I kept it, looking for another Formula to race it in, but there wasn't one. It was such a nice car, and it was the last one I drove in the British Touring Car Championship. I loved it when I raced it. Still do.
Today, the #44 Datapost Escort RS Turbo is a popular attraction at classic car shows in the UK.
The PCS Escort RS Turbo S1 body kit includes...
- Unpainted 1/32 lightweight precision resin body
- Front and rear bumper resin
- Rear spoiler resin
- Mirrors resin
- Front grille resin
- Headlamp unit resin
- PCS spotlamp lenses
- Lexan windscreen
- Lexan interior
- Driver resin figure
- Chassis mounting bracket rear
- Decal sheet
An additional £30 gives you all the components to build a working slot car...
- PCS 32 chassis
- PCS 15" Alloy Wheels (PCS-3215138)
- Wheel inserts and spacers
- Tyres
- Gear and Pinion
- PSR Mabuchi Motor 20,000rpm (PSR-AC4)
- Bearings
- Axles
- Guide
- Motor wire
- Screws
- Bodyshell weight:18g
- Body wheelbase: 75mm
- Body length: 125mm
- Body width: 52mm
Huge thanks to Neil at Pendles for the magnificent images of a finished version of the kit.
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