Ford Escort RS WRC

Car built by M-Sport in 1998, for Ford's official World Rally Championship programme, in Valvoline livery. In 1998, Juha Kankkunen contested six world rallies with the car, and finished on the podium three times.

The car was entered for the first time in the 1998 Monte Carlo Rally, in the hands of Juha Kankkunen, with the registration "R4 FMC". Although the Finn didn't get off to as good a start as his team-mate Bruno Thiry, he managed to take second place after 7 of the 18 stages. It was in this position that he finished the rally, setting the fastest time on SS8, the legendary 36.72km Sisteron-Thoard special stage.

Built for asphalt rallies - it was so light that it had to be ballasted to comply with the minimum weight imposed by the regulations - the #29 chassis made its return to the factory team at the Catalonia Rally in April, still in the hands of Juha Kankkunen. The Finn was forced to retire after going off the road. Three weeks later, he took part in the Tour of Corsica with R4 FMC, finishing ninth. Chassis no. 29 was then converted to a gravel version and entered for the Finnish driver in the Acropolis Rally, Finland and Australia, with the result that he finished 3rd in Greece and Finland, and 5th in Australia. Out of the six world events contested by this #29 Escort WRC chassis, only one retirement was deplored, following an off-road accident.

In 1999, this Escort WRC contested two events in the hands of Finnish privateers: Timo Hulkkonen had to retire in the Arctic Rally (ERC), as did Janne Tuohino in the Rally of Great Britain (WRC).

The #29 Ford Escort WRC has rediscovered the reliability that characterised it during the 1998 season under its new owner, Swede Mats Jonsson. A Ford driver since 1997 in his national championship - which he won no less than 17 times in his career - Mats Jonsson replaced the #44 Escort WRC chassis after four seasons of loyal service with the #29 chassis, now registered "TLW 097", for the 2003 season.

Between 2003 and... 2016, Mats Jonsson was to give this #29 Escort WRC a truly incredible national record, with no fewer than 59 victories in almost 150 rallies. Successes achieved on snow and gravel, in Sweden and Norway. At the end of the 2016 season, chassis #29 moved to Spain and the Past Racing team, giving Dani Sordo the opportunity to compete at its wheel on the 2017 Trasmeria Rally Festival. In the same year, another world-class driver found himself behind the wheel of the car at the Portuguese RallySpirit Altronix Show: Ari Vatanen.

Another rally star was behind the wheel at the 2018 Trasmeria Rally Festival: Harri Toivonen, younger brother of Henri and son of Pauli Toivonen. Although registered at the time with the Spanish number plate '5293 JZB', the Escort WRC #29 has been returned to the livery in which it remains today in the MY Vintage Gallery, namely the 'Ford - Valvoline' colours in which Juha Kankkunen finished second on the 1998 Rallye Monte-Carlo. What's more, the legendary R4 FMC registration has been restored.

Supplied with :
- UK registration document
- Various registration documents
- Roll bar and tank certificates
- Original homologation form + option variants (VO)
- Various technical documents
- Full vehicle history