Ford Cirrus

About Ford Cirrus

The Ford Cirrus is a concept car based on a production Ford Escort RS1600 supplied by Ford of Britain and restyled by Woodall-Nicholson Ltd. It was first shown in 1972 at the Earl's Court Motor Show. The Cirrus was a result of the IBCAM British Styling Competition 1970, run by the Daily Telegraph Magazine. The prize, to have the car made in real life, £400 and two return tickets to East Africa and a stay in the Inter-Continental hotel Nairobi. At the time, the car was reported to have cost £25,000 to build. The winning design was by Michael Moore, an existing automotive designer for Chrysler UK. The Cirrus is based on the mechanical components of a Ford Escort RS1600 supplied by Ford of Britain. This was stated beforehand, allowing designers to work around it approximate size and allow bonnet heights for the Macpherson strut suspension. The design brief was for a 2 door 2+2 car, ready for 1975, the job of building such a radical design went to Woodall-Nicholson Ltd of Halifax, a well established and leading coachbuilder of the time.