Real or Replica

[mk1gaz]

REALLY ? id have thought that a pro-reshell (ie L or a GL) with rs bits on isnt an RS cos it never started life as an RS shell from the factory lines -

ones like mine, although only 80% of the original shell DNA remaing, is still an RS and id guess the majority would say so ..............

interesting ........

Well a shell is a shell (service part) so fixing a rotten RS one with repro RS body bits or using a mint 1100L shell with repo RS body bits fitted to it is the same thing in my eyes . After all it's the extra RS bits that rotted off first anyway .
As someone said earlier , at least the mint 1100L shell is mostly Ford and not a rolling advert for the expressed steel panels catalogue !!!!

[RSGB]

The first mk2 RS Escorts were RS1800s
Built on 1600 sports shells

FORD did it first

[steven f]

easy to work out on this thread who has a genuine rs and who hasnt

[MexInTheForest]

Not necessarily true, Stephen! I’m one of those that reckon that re-shells, when done properly and the shells enhanced to the correct specification, should just be seen as another form of restoration. For me, it’s an even better approach that repairing a car, if all that’s left of the original is a (repaired) bulkhead, a roof and a few other bits and pieces.

My ‘71 Mexico is a one previous owner car, and apart from a new N/S front wing in 1976, and a new O/S door skin in 1978, both due to small bumps rather than rust, the car has never had any bodywork at all….never been welded. So I’m not about to re-shell it!

I’ve seen enough competition cars, Cortina and Escort, to realise that most of those would now not be with us if it wasn’t for re-shelling (in period and nowadays), and that would be a huge shame. So I’m just extending the argument for road cars as well, as there seem to be so few of those left now.

I’m certainly not advocating building a car up using just an original logbook though!

Mark

[Frosticles]

Original shell = Genuine
Non original shell = Replica.

Simples.

[MexInTheForest]

Well that makes my Mexico a replica then, as it’s had a new wing and a new doorskin! It’s certainly now not the shell that left Ford, so it can’t be called original.

Or are you allowing repairs to an original shell to be made, and for the shell to be called ‘mostly original’, or ‘95% original, 60% original ……or ‘5% original’ if all that’s left is the ‘original’ roof and bulkhead?!

I think that degrees of 'originality' have to be taken into acount, and that's where accomodating a re-shell may come into play.

Mark

[mk1rally]

Depends how much you want to sell if for!!

My cars original shell was so far beyond economical repair that it simply didnt add up.

So I used a mint, rust free LHD shell (German) and converted it to RHD and added the RS strenghtening plates (not the knackered original strut tops!!) and building it as such. I've took photo's and if I ever sell it, I will say the same to the buyer!!

Much prefer that than a patched up shell, repaired within the limitations of my budget.

I'm not going to blow £20k sorting the shell out.

I can now drive around in Escort (dare I say RSish??!!!) safe in the knowledge it will not fall apart or the bank manager will be waiting for me when I get back. Oh, most importantly, enjoying it. Isn't that the important bit?

If it was good enough for the works cars (which lets face it can be reg plate and few bits) then it's good enough for me!!

As said before, its down to money and hat's off to those who own a very original car. Your the lucky ones but I am damned if I am going to be percieved as faker as I wasn't:

Lucky enough to find a original
owned it over 20 year's
Have 30k to blow on it!!

[alancdavis]

OK Lets say in 1978 I bought a brand new Mexico from a Ford RS Dealership,,,, I have had the car 2 days and an other vehical runs into me causing extensive damage..... The car is returned to the RS dealership for repair and in deemed to require a new body shell,,,,,The car in duley repaired and put back on the road,,,,, So it it now a genuine Mex or a Rep Mex

[Mogsmex]

it's a genuine mex, as it was reshelled with a BRAND NEW shell, (ie the shell didnt have a previous identity)

the big differance as far as I'm concerned

[jimmer]

Reshell not genuine car from factory

[jimmer]

Well that makes my Mexico a replica then, as it’s had a new wing and a new doorskin! It’s certainly now not the shell that left Ford, so it can’t be called original.

Or are you allowing repairs to an original shell to be made, and for the shell to be called ‘mostly original’, or ‘95% original, 60% original ……or ‘5% original’ if all that’s left is the ‘original’ roof and bulkhead?!

I think that degrees of 'originality' have to be taken into acount, and that's where accomodating a re-shell may come into play.

Mark

Nought wrong with repairs is there? Most cars have had knocks especially with the number of women drivers on the roads!

Nice lead in to the old debate what makes a car genuine with the percentages of originality. If a car is reshelled my opinion is the car has lost its originality. As many cars sold as "RS models" came off the production line as 1100 Pops and the owners do not want to come to terms with it shock horror! because they have bought duds!

[Mk2steve]

Do you guys think we would have been having this debate say late seventies early eighties i think not, the car if damaged or had started to rot would have been fixed up or re-shelled put back on the road and no one would have had a problem with it as long as the car had been repaired properly.I find these threads will never find the answer that everyone will agree on only sour the whole feeling within the mk1 and mk2 escort scene,i am just glad there are still escorts on the roads for us all to enjoy.

[steven f]

ok then who would give the same money for an 1100 pop reshell rs2000 bitsa as they would for a genuine rs2000 in its original shell

[jimmer]

Do you guys think we would have been having this debate say late seventies early eighties i think not, the car if damaged or had started to rot would have been fixed up or re-shelled put back on the road and no one would have had a problem with it as long as the car had been repaired properly.I find these threads will never find the answer that everyone will agree on only sour the whole feeling within the mk1 and mk2 escort scene,i am just glad there are still escorts on the roads for us all to enjoy.

Good points raised Steve,
When the cars were current. They would have been scrapped as they were worth nothing. Its just strange there are more RS models now, than there were ever on the roads then! There were though loads of boy racers dreaming they had an RS. Some things never change LOL
All the best, Jimmer

[Dazzle]

it's a genuine mex, as it was reshelled with a BRAND NEW shell, (ie the shell didnt have a previous identity)

the big differance as far as I'm concerned

Wondered when you might reply