McRae family Escort rally car up for sale

A MkII Ford Escort historic rally car tested by the late Colin McRae and raced to victory by his dad and brother is up for auction. It won't come cheap, but this is a pretty serious piece of history.

And just look at the thing. It's a 1977 Escort RS1800 Gp4 historic rally car, built by Prepfab Motorsport Engineering, and tested by the late, great Colin and his father Jimmy. And it's got pedigree too.

In 2006 Jimmy McRae raced it in the Roger Albert Clark Rally and won; the next year he took outright victory in the pre-1981 category of the 2007 British Historic Championship.

In 2008, Colin's brother Alistair raced this MkII in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally - a memorial event marking the sad passing of Colin in 2007 - where he drove to an outright win in the historic category. Consider this: Alistair was racing against people like Ari Vatanen, Hannu Mikkola, Malcolm Wilson and Bjorn Waldegard. All competent helmsmen, beaten by a little Escort.

We're told the car was treated to a full restoration in 2009, and competed in the '10 and '11 Rally Clasico Isla Mallorca. Should you wish to bid for this fine item, you will be treated to a 260bhp 2.0-litre 4cyl engine with Weber carbs, a ZF five-speed race gearbox, an LSD, Bilstein adjustable front struts, coilovers on the rear, 13in Gp4 wheels, roll cage, alloy arches, fiberglass bonnet/boot and even MOT and tax until May 2014.

How much you cry? It's expected to go for up to £85,000 at Silverstone Auctions' Race Retro sale on 22 February 2014. Time for a garage sale?

Gallery: delving into Ford's secret stash in Dagenham