This jewel-encrusted RS1800 could be the most expensive Escort ever auctioned

And it’s not even a real car

Love the look of this? Time is running out! It's being auctioned on The Market right now – but you've only got until Friday 14 December to get your bid in.

At the time of writing, it was at £35,000... That's quite the early Christmas present.

It’s no secret that fast Fords are on the up. With prices heading for the sky faster than a blown piston, it might be time to move your money out of precious metals and into a Cosworth warrior.

Unless, of course, you’d prefer to combine the two: this gleaming homage to Ford’s RS1800 carries a shell and chassis made from gold, silver and platinum. Oh, and it’s studded with diamonds.

There’s only one small flaw: you can’t drive it. Why? Because it’s a model – albeit a bizarrely beautiful one that’s taken one man some 1300 hours to produce.

Yes, we know that raises a boot-load of questions– chiefly, “Why on earth did someone spend 54 days crafting a faithful miniature replica of an Escort from the most expensive materials available?”

We’ve got some – but not all – of the answers. Flick through the images to find out more.

Born of a regal muse

Firstly, the model. No, not the model. OK, the model’s model: it’s a Ford Escort RS1800, based on the one that rally legend Ari Vatanen used to tackle sideways stages in the late 1970s. 

And, to be fair to its creator, of all the fast Fords on which to base an absurdly opulent scale model, the RS1800 is probably the right one – given that it’s pretty much rally royalty.

Very successful Escort

Equipped with rear-wheel drive and wonderfully wide wheelarches, the magnificent 1.8-litre machine won on its debut at the Granite City Rally in 1975, claimed top honours at the RAC rally several times over and took both Björn Waldegård and Ari Vatanen to their respective World Rally Championship titles.

Not a bad motor, then.

Unique interpretation

Just 100 or so were originally built but, as a result of its rallying pedigree, the RS1800 has long been the muse of choice for after-market modders, with countless recreations brought into being since its ’70s heyday.

None, though, have been quite as eye-catching as this diminutive effort.

Lord's doing

A palm-sized replica with an astronomical value, it’s the brainchild of one Russell Lord – a man with 45 years of experience as a diamond-mounter and a penchant for getting sideways at the weekend in rally cars.

A life’s work

Small but not exactly subtle, the scaled-down RS1800 is the culmination of a project first started a quarter of a century ago, but then set aside for years.

When his son Rob unearthed the unfinished model three years ago, he convinced Lord senior to complete the job – and this exquisite Escort is the end result.

Strong stats

Much like the original Escort RS1800, Lord’s tiny interpretation has pretty impressive specs. It took an estimated 1300 hours to complete; it cost somewhere between £65k and £75k to make; oh, and it has diamonds for headlights – and that’s just the start.

Sterling effort

Inspect the finessed Ford and you’ll find both its body shell and floor pans are made from solid silver – as is roughly 75% of the entire vehicle. Which probably explains why it’s so insanely shiny.

Gold for good measure

Of course, no-one in their right mind would make a miniature Escort using just one precious metal. That would be daft.

No, Lord did the logical thing and added some gold to the mix: the rear spoiler and bonnet hinges are both made from the stuff – and the latter took him four attempts and a ludicrous 80 hours to get right.

Badge of honour

It’s not quite a perfectly true-to-life replica: the Ford badge on the nose has been replaced by one that reads ‘Lord’. Given how much time he put into creating the model, though, we’re not about to criticise Lord for that.

Clean-cut bulbs

Still, one can forgive such folly – or at least be distracted from it – by the Escort’s dazzling lamps.

No Xenons here: this saloon uses 65-point diamonds for headlights, 75-point numbers for the lower spotlights and dazzling one-carat stones for the upper ones. Because why not?

More at the back

Of course, rally cars have to abide by road-legal homologation requirements – which means turn signals and brake lights.

Thankfully, Lord’s little Ford has orange sapphires for indicators and rubies that signal 'stop'. Which, ironically, is what someone should probably have said to him before he bought any more jewels.

A girl's new best friend

Alas, no-one did, which means Lord also went out and bought a blue sapphire for the rear Ford badge and one last diamond for the reversing light. Just be thankful he wasn’t crafting a night-stage Toyota Celica.

Gold standard stopping power

Don’t go thinking he forgot the important parts, either. While many a magnificent car has been let down by its brakes, Lord wasn’t about to see his Escort go skidding into the trees: his RS1800 uses 18-carat gold calipers and discs to stop the gold wheels. Of course.

Paint it black (with diamonds)

Not a man to accept a compromise, Lord faced several challenges during the build: he was forced to make the mudflaps out of gold, for example, yet the original RS1800 ones were black.

What to do? Thankfully, the dedicated creator had 630 black diamonds to hand, which he set into the flaps to achieve the correct hue. Phew.

Accurate to a pedal

It’s a similar story inside the cabin, too. Total accuracy is the name of the game, with every detail matched to that of Ari Vatanen’s motor – from the reclining navigator’s seat to the adjustable pedal box. Even the steering works.

Controls to last a lifetime

Of course, longevity was another vital consideration (this is no shonky glue-together kit, after all), so the gear lever is made from platinum, topped with a gold gearknob and – you guessed it – set with a diamond.

Similarly, the steering wheel, rack and column are all cast in 18-carat yellow gold.

Heavyweight contender

Naturally, it also comes complete with bucket seats and a roll cage – but the novel decision to craft the car from precious metals means the mini machine might struggle on muddy stages: the 6-inch Escort hits the scales at almost 1kg – which means, to scale, it would have a kerbweight of roughly 7 tons. Not quite the lightweight rally special, eh?

Quite the sum of its parts

In fact, bin it in the woods and there’s a good chance you’d be mobbed by looters attempting to strip the Escort of its valuable parts (roll the RS1800 and you’ll expose the pink gold suspension) – rather than the usual rally fans who, you know, nick a hubcap to sell on eBay.

Cosworth in the eye with diamonds

Joking aside, though, this is a truly astounding build. The level of detail is astonishing – from carburettors constructed from two types of gold to the five-link rear suspension – and only more so when you consider that every element is entirely hand-built, by eye.

Treat yourself

Whether it belongs in a display case or a bank vault we can’t quite decide, but Lord’s Ford won’t be going to either.

No, the incredible miniature will be going under the hammer in the name of charity – which means some fortunate Ford fan will be getting a seriously shiny Christmas present.

You can't put a price on time

What’s the estimate? There isn’t one. As anyone who’s ever had a head gasket replaced will tell you, while parts can be valued there’s simply no accounting for the cost of labour.

The £200,000 question

Of course, the unofficial price to beat will be £203,100. Why? That’s the current auction record for a Ford Escort – set last year when a 1968 Mk1 example in touring car guise went under the hammer with Bonhams at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting.

Cosworth for a cause

Whether or not Lord’s model sets a record when it goes under the hammer on online auction site The Market, any sale will be good news: proceeds will go to a host of charities close to the maker’s heart.

Leave those tools alone

All of which means the charities get some well-deserved support, the winning bidder gets a truly one-of-a-kind Ford to treasure forever and Lord gets some much-needed time off.

Or rather he would do if he hadn’t already started work on a Mk1 Escort…

The auction takes place on 7 December on The Market