Ford Escort Mk2 Pandem ‘Emotion’ Retro Havoc – the first work from Malaysia to be present at Tokyo Auto Salon!
Tokyo Auto Salon is where you’ll find some cool and unique project cars, and at this year’s event, this Ford Escort Mk2 was brought back from Malaysia and is currently on display at the Makuhari convention center. Messe, the venue for the event.
Owned by Rosli Mohamad Said, who goes by the name Alie Kuoppa, the long-running project was announced in early 2020 when Alie began discussions with Japanese car culture brand Hardcore Tokyo and Tra Kyoto founder, Kei Miura, about creating something exciting for 2021.
This led to Alie choosing the Escort Mk2 as the foundation for the project, which he owned while in college. His fondness for this model stems from his interest in racing cars, but unfortunately, he was unable to use his four-door sedan for the project as it was discontinued. stolen in 2014. A second Escort Mk2 was purchased, this time a two-door coupe that needed restoration.
Miura worked on Escort Mk2 before, participated in the development Escort Gymkhana promoted by the late Ken block. After that, it was easy for him to agree to Alie’s idea, which would make the later Escort Mk2 the first to be equipped with the genuine Rocket Bunny Pandem widebody kit.
The kit built for Alie’s Escort Mk2 is different from what is fitted to Block’s vehicle, making it truly unique. After the kit was manufactured by Miura in Japan, it was shipped to Baling, Kedah for installation.
However, for certain reasons, the project was stalled for a while. However, Alie is still determined to make it happen and create a new game plan that he starts from scratch. The Escort Mk2 had its bare chassis removed and a second one was purchased as a sponsor vehicle.
Alie also appointed Shah Bandi as project leader, in which Bandi Sprayworks was tasked with restoring the entire bodywork as well as installing the Pandem kit. The finish you see here is a pink specially blended by Aikka Paint, accompanied by stickers designed by Zokusha Stickers.
Wider wheels were also installed to accommodate the wider body, and the Escort Mk2 received Watanabe R Type 9.5j units at the front, while a pair of Watanabe Gotti 11.5j alloys were fitted at the rear. after. Wheels have a size of 15 inches, come with 205/50 and 245/45 front tires.
Next comes the powertrain, and one of the big changes concerns the Escort Mk2’s suspension, with the default rear axle being swapped out for a five-link setup. This comes with Airdrop gas springs manufactured by SFS Garage for proper posture.
As for the engine, Alie initially wanted a Toyota 1UZ-FE 4.0-liter V8 engine, which would require a variety of other Nissan-manufactured support parts. Instead, he opted for a more consistent engine, better suited to the Escort Mk2, the four-cylinder 1.6-liter 4A-GE from the AE86 Corolla.
The 16-valve Twin Cam factory has been upgraded to feature HKS camshafts, SK Sanyo individual throttle bodies and Tonkka exhaust tips, with engine management handled by Fueltech FT450 – all engine work by AMN Motorsport made. The engine produces 140 horsepower and 161 Nm of torque, sent to the rear wheels via a 5-speed T50 manual transmission and a TRD limited-slip differential upgraded from the AE86.
Inside, the Alie keeps things as basic as possible, with just digital displays for the Fueltech engine management system, a Sparco steering wheel, Trapo floor mats and a custom gear lever with the Retro Havoc logo, case established by him.
With the amount of time, effort and resources devoted to the project, plus the suffering, trials and tribulations experienced throughout the process, Alie chose ‘Emotion’ as the name of her project car, this seems appropriate. While it will likely debut at TAS, the car still proudly wears license plates and road tax discs when it’s away from its home country of Malaysia.
