OUR CAR
This Ford Escort Mk II with the numberplate HEC-853 was the first racing tool of the later four-time world rally champion Tommi Mäkinen. This car first set off on rally stages in 1981 at the Top Service Rally and was led by the women's crew of Minna Sillankorva - Johana Nieminen, then still with a 1.6L engine, which was replaced by a more powerful 2L in 1982. Minna Sillankorva, a six-time Finnish champion from the 80's raced with it until 1983, when she passed it on to her daughter Kai.
At the end of the 1985 season, the young Tommi Mäkinen bought it as his first race car and his first competition was the Nokia Ralli 1985, and he drove this car in the 1986 season. His brother, Tuomo Mäkinen, was most often in the passenger seat. In the following years, he exchanged the Escort for a more modern Lancia Delta 4WD and his old Escort traveled to the new owner Petri Makkonen, who raced with him until 1991. The car was left on a farm near the Russian-Finnish border as it was. It is now part of our collection and it will remain as it was found.
