Fifty-five years ago, Ford’s Boreham factory was the epicentre of the company’s motorsport business. When Ford’s works team flew back from the London-Sydney Marathon at Christmas 1968, they had only a few days’ rest. Boreham’s workshops opened their doors again on January 2, 1969, and another frantically busy season was in prospect. This is what happened…
January
When the battered, sometimes broken, Lotus Cortinas trickled back from the London-Sydney Marathon, they were hastily rebuilt, then sold off. This took weeks, but the team had no further use for them. They never again appeared in full works guise.
Escorts, Capris and Zodiacs would all be seen at Boreham in the coming months. Two brand-new Escort Twin Cams (BEV 781G and BEV 782G) were prepared to take part in the Monte Carlo rally. Team recruit, Jean-Francois Piot, from France, took fourth overall, and won the Touring Car Category in one of them. Ford revealed the new 16-valve BDA engine, which Boreham had already seen in private. The press saw this Cosworth design,
