Small Ford Scale Models

Small Ford Scale Models - Written by Sean Stewart.



For many years there seemed to be an absence of model cars depicting our favourite marque. However, in recent years this has slowly been changing and it would seem that the demand for classic RS Fords has grown stronger worldwide with more and more manufacturers releasing RS model cars and furthermore, the production lines don’t appear to be stopping just yet.



Manufacturer: Troféu

Troféu have an extensive range of highly detailed 1:43 die-cast Escort models in both Mk1 and Mk2 guises. In Mk1 Escorts, the range includes everything from the 1300GT road cars, Mexico’s, RS2000’s and all manner of Twin Cams in various rally trims including such items as the famous 1970 London – Mexico car.

The Mk2 Escorts are still trickling through and at this stage there has been releases of 1100 Populars, 1300 Ghias, 1600 Harriers and Sport and various RS1800 in all the famous rally liveries such as Mikkola’s Eaton Yale car and Roger Clarks Cossack car.

After a long wait, the Mk2 RS2000’s are only just starting to make an appearance now with the release of the Vatanen / Bryant 1976 1st tour of Britain RS2000. Also marked for dispatch very shortly are road version Mk2 RS2000’s in various UK release colours. These new releases are often only obtainable through UK sources, whilst we may have to wait a few more months before they hit the shelves of our local model shops.

Trofeu 1:43 Scale Models.
N.B. Not all variants shown. Also note some models may no longer be available through retail outlets.



Manufacturer: IXO

Ixo have a small range of 1:43 Escorts which display exceptional detail. Their range of Mk2 RS1800’s is limited in numbers but does include some of the better known rallying liveries such as Vatanens 1981 Rothmans car. At this stage it does not seem likely that they will be releasing more old school Escorts, with their efforts concentrated more on rally cars from the modern era. As such their range includes a few of the better known Escort Cosworths such as Delecours 1994 Monte Carlo car. They also continue to produce all the latest Focus WRC cars along with past favourites, such as McRaes Martini Racing car.



Manufacturer: Minichamps

Minichamps have produced the odd Escort Cosworth in the past but are now starting to get into some quite exciting stuff for the classic Ford lovers. In 1:43 scale they have recently released some Mk1 Escorts, Capris, Cortinas, Sierras and a few RS200’s, and there are more still in production. They are now also getting into the 1:18 die-casts with the release of Mk1 Escorts, Capris and Sierras. At this stage the 1:18 range is quite limited but there are plenty more on the way including quite a few RS3100 Capris and a swag of Twin Cam Escorts and RS1600’s, including such cars as the Clark / Mason 1972 UNIFLO car.


Minichamps 1:18 Scale Capri RS3100 and Escort RS1600.



Manufacturer: Vitesse

Vitesse have a wide range of 1:43 die-cast modern rally Escort and Focus WRC cars in a seemingly endless array of liveries. They should have your favourite drivers car, no matter how obscure he is, or was.



Manufacturer: Biante

Local manufacturer Biante are producing limited edition 1:18 Sierra RS500 Australian touring cars which are based on the Minichamps cast shells and have exceptional detail in every area. Currently available is the Brock / Rouse 1989 ‘Mobil’ car and the Moffat / Hansford / Niedzwiedz 1988 ‘ANZ’ car. Coming soon will be the Loghurst / Mezera 1988 ‘Benson & Hedges’ car (minus sponsorship) and the Bond / Jones 1988 ‘Caltex’ car.



Manufacturer: AutoART

Renowned for their fantastic detail, AutoART have only given RS ford fans a small taste of their 1:18 die-casts with an assortment of RS and WRC Focus’s. However this will soon change as they currently have in development a range of RS fords large enough to send us broke. These will include Mk1 Escort RS1600’s in both road going and rally trims along with other road going versions of Mexico’s, Sports and RS2000’s.

In Mk2 Escorts there will again be a large variety of RS1800’s in various rally liveries and in road cars there will be Sports, RS1800s, RS2000s and Zakspeeds. They are also going to produce their own range of RS500’s with some touring cars, rally cars and two road cars, being in black and white. Also to be released, will be some Mk1 Cortinas.


AutoArt 1:18 Scale Focus WRC.



Manufacturer: UT Models

UT Models have a small range of 1:18 die-cast Escort RS Cosworth and WRC models, both in road and rally form. The level of detail on these models falls a long way short of the other manufacturers 1:18 models, however this is reflected in their price.


UT Models 1:18 Scale Escort WRC Road Car.



Manufacturer: K & R Replicas

K & R Replicas produce 1:43 whitemetal kits for a very wide range of Mk2 Escorts and Sierras. The list of Mk2 Escorts includes RS2000 road and police cars, RS1800 road and rally cars along with Zakspeeds, Harriers, Mexicos and Sports. On the Sierra front they have kits for RS500’s and Sapphires in road, rally and police trim. The kits are very detailed and come with many parts however, instructions are very basic and as such these kits would only suit model makers with some experience.



Manufacturer: Tamiya

Tamiya are well known for there highly detailed 1:24 plastic kits. The Tamiya range is constantly being updated with the latest road, race and rally cars. As such the only currently produced Ford RS kits are those of the Focus RS WRC cars. Tamiya previously produced the Escort Cosworth WRC cars and if you are lucky you may still find some at the back of shelves in model shops. Also produced were Sierra Cosworth RS500 kits, which would be a lot more difficult to find.


Tamiya 1:24 Scale Plastic Kit



Manufacturer: Team Slot

Team Slot produce 1:32 resin slot cars. They have recently added 3 Mk2 Escort RS1800’s to their range. These being the Eaton Yale car, Rothmans car and the D&W Zakspeed car. These slot cars are very well detailed and are probably better suited to displaying rather than racing. Also in their range are some RS500’s and Capris. The cars are produced in Spain and limited to 1000 units each, therefore are quite difficult to come by in Australia.



The availability of RS Ford models is not limited to this list, rather this is an overview of the more accessible models currently on, or coming into the market.



If you have any additional photos or information you would like to contribute to this article, please feel free to post any information on this forum - http://classic-ford.org/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=67

or, e-mail me directly - simon_piper@hotmail.com

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