Check out the very first MST Mk1 Sports

For classic cars of a certain age, the secondhand market has softened in recent years. The ’50s and ‘60s stuff that was once highly coveted, is suffering less from availability issues and more from a dwindling pool of highly motivated buyers. This, you might surmise, is simply the way of things – with some obvious exceptions for truly rare and iconic exotica, people tend to buy the old cars they lusted after in their youth. Lest we forget, any 21-year-old who dreamed of buying Jaguar E-Type at its launch in 1961 would now be 86. Not a disqualifying age for classic car ownership, of course – though it seems reasonable to assume that if the itch hasn’t already been scratched, there is less chance of it happening now. 

But some cars, helped along, no doubt, by a modern preoccupation for either restomodding or else wholesale remaking, appear to have bucked the trend. The Mk1 Ford Escort was introduced only six years after the E-Type, and yet if we use MST Cars as a barometer – a firm currently attempting to grow its output to 50 cars a year in the face of excitable demand – the model still provokes considerable interest. Doubtless it helps that by 1974 (the year it was replaced by the Mk2), Ford could report the completion of its two-millionth Mk1, making the Escort a family fixture (and motorsport legend) for a generation – but clearly not every big-selling car from its era could command a £79,500 plus VAT starting price in 2026, no matter how shiny the rebuild. 

Yet here we are, not just with our first look at the new Mk1 Sports (previously only seen as a render) but also alongside confirmation that the order book for this year is full, and 2027 nearly done too. You can see why: the Escort might be over half a century old, yet there is a timeless quality to its appearance that hardly needs explaining in these pages. MST has unveiled the newcomer next to a genuine 1969 Mk1 Lotus Twin Cam, to ‘highlight the evolution of the Mk1 concept’ while underlining its mission to preserve ‘the spirit and driving purity of the original while delivering the reliability, precision, and performance expected of a modern vehicle.’ 

To that end, the Sports is considered not just as a back-to-basics model for its maker, but also as a foundation for its long-term vision. Which is heartening to hear because in many ways the car is everything you want from a newly manufactured Escort, boasting a 180hp naturally aspirated 2.0-litre twin cam, five-speed manual ‘box, heavy-duty live Atlas rear axle and torque-biasing diff. The chassis benefits from MST’s ‘fast-road’ configuration (think coilovers and uprated leaf springs) and of course you get proper four-piston brakes and period-correct 13-inch wheels. 

We’re not shown the interior, though confirmation that it features ‘a minimalist, retro-focused layout with sports reclining seats, deep-dish steering wheel, and a practical rear storage area’, suggests it is much like the rest of MST’s lineup. The car you’re looking at is the first completed iteration of Mk1 Sports, with customer deliveries pencilled in for later this year. Lead times are said to be around 18 months, and you’ll need to stump up a £5k deposit to secure yourself a place in the queue. 

Frankly, we’re jealous of anyone who has already done so, not just for its obvious time machine qualities or its entirely analogue driving experience – though both rank highly in 2026 – but also for the story behind both the car and MST itself. We’re not exactly flush with stories about low-volume British manufacturers succeeding against the odds, so when the firm talks about establishing an international dealer network as it works toward a ‘serious and sustainable’ place in the industry, it is music to weary ears. Much like the sound of a twin cam in a Welsh valley.