Escort RS Mexico 

Available :- 1975 to 1978

The MK2 Escort RS Mexico was produced between November 1975 and July 1978, all the UK models were built in Saarlouis, the West Germany. Only around 2500 MKII Mexicos were sold over this period. The MK2 was a replacement for the successful MKI Mexico.

Mk2 Escort Launch video Click

The MKII Mexico was produced at the same time as both the Escort 1600 Sport and the Escort MKII RS2000 .

Available colours were:

  • Diamond White
  • Daytona Yellow
  • Signal Yellow
  • Signal Amber
  • Signal Orange
  • Carnival Red
  • Venetian Red
  • Calypso Green
  • Peppermint Green
  • Signal Green

The interior was available only in black.

The Engine

The engine was a 1600cc overhead cam Pinto unit producing 95bhp at 5750 rpm. To fit the this unit into the standard Escort MKII body shell a number of components needed modification:

  • Aluminium alloy sump 
  • Aluminium alloy engine mounts
  • Aluminium alloy alternator bracket
  • Cast iron exhaust manifold

Gearbox and Transmission

The gearbox was a 4 speed Type-B unit featuring a quick shift action. The rear axle is known as a Timken (or English) type this was mounted using forward facing radius arms bolted to the chassis rail.

Steering was non power-assisted and used a rack and pinion. Front suspension was via independent MacPherson struts and Sachs dampers. The rear also used Sachs dampers with multi-leaf springs.

The MKII Mexico ran either steel 5.5 x 13 inch wheels or optionally 6J x 13 inch four spoke alloy sports wheels. Standard tyres were Pirelli 175/70 x 13 CN36's.

The Interior

The front seats were 'Recaro' style made by Scheel and were the same as those fitted to the early MKII RS2000 . Competition front bucket seats were listed as an optional extra. A sports steering wheel was fitted with a five white needle instrument cluster.

 


Thanks to the members Rallyesportescorts.co.uk & fellow RSOC members for the information supplied.