Step right up Group 4 fans. Here we have a stunning ground-up rebuild of a MKII Escort. Graphics courtesy of Milford Haven based D-Sign Studio…

In the early 80s, Group 2 and Group 4 were the main battlegrounds where rallying was contested. Manufacturers with the means to make the required 400 examples of a competition car went at it in Group 4 and the forest stages echoed to a symphony of sounds clattered out by the likes of Lancia, Abarth and Ford. The cars were relatively simple then, at least until Audi piped up with its Quattro, but Ford still managed to grab victory in ’81 with a 2WD Escort. Exciting stuff.

The 80’s legacy in rallying is still around and made real with cars such as the example delivered to Jonathan Dudley and the team at D-Sign Studio in Milford Haven recently. The car was built, practically from the wheels up, by Gareth James Motorsport for owner-driver Callum Cannings. It’s the real deal, all the mods and competition pedigree. Just like it’d been ported forward from the 80s.

The car came to D-Sign Studio with a brief that amounted to ‘I want something that looks like this.’ In practice though, despite the design being largely prescribed and resonant of those used ‘back in the day,’ much work was needed on D-Signs’ part to make it all fit and look just right. That sort of challenge is meat and two veg to D-Sign though and the team delivered exactly what the customer wanted.

The colours are spot-on because D-Sign used Metamark MD5-A for the job and went to great pains to get it right. The fit is typical D-Sign Studio too, that’s to say perfect. In sum, the car looks sensational to lay eyes and must water up those belonging to the faithful who have a deep affection and knowledge of rallying from the 80s. 

There’s something about competition rallying that no other motorsport can quite equal. It puts skills on an elevated footing and excites its audiences because everything seems on the edge of going badly wrong. The cars are in safe hands though and that’s where those skills count. We’re not sure if anyone at D-Sign Studio can race an Escort down a forest track. We’d have no hesitation in recommending them for competition car graphics if asked though!