We chat with Ken Block at SEMA and learn about his F-Series truck build
At this year's SEMA show, Ken Block stopped by to reveal his custom Ford Escort Cosworth RS, which sports roughly 400 horsepower from a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and a seven-speed transmission. The Cosworth was originally front-wheel drive, but borrowed bits from a Sierra chassis convert the Ford to all-wheel drive. Block is in Vegas to do a bit of a promo for Gymkhana 10 and its related Amazon series documenting his stunt videos. He also granted us some time to chat with him about various things, and naturally, being the crazed car enthusiasts we are, we talked mostly about his cars.
It's hard to discuss anything related to Block without bringing up the Hoonicorn, his wild V8, all-wheel-drive Mustang, and of course we discussed it. He said that it's one of his favorite cars to drive, especially the first iteration of it, which was naturally aspirated. He explained that the turbo Hoonicorn V2 is much more difficult to drive, even saying that "it's pretty frightening what it does to tires." That's not to say he dislikes driving the turbo version. He said he enjoys how challenging the car can be.
Block also gave us a bit of information regarding the Ford F-Series truck that was teased in the Gymkhana 10 trailer. He said he's always been a fan of, and wanted to build a 1970s-era Ford pickup. He told us he remembers seeing them when he was hauling his dirt bikes to tracks in the 1970s. The truck has been under construction for about 6 months, and it sounds like it will be beastly. Block said that it will be at the level of the Hoonicorn, if not greater. The powertrain certainly looks promising from the trailer, which shows a pair of turbochargers sticking out of the engine bay. Block also mentioned that Ford Performance and its many resources are helping develop the engine as well. This is a departure from past classic Fords, including the Hoonicorn, that have been built by aftermarket companies.
We closed out the interview on the topic of Block's favorite cars. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's another Ford. Block, who admitted that he's a massive rally car fan, especially for older cars, said one of his all-time favorites is the Ford RS200, a mid-engined car developed specifically for Group B rally racing. He said he's driven a few and hopes to one day have one.
Related Video:
We chat with Ken Block at SEMA and learn about his F-Series truck build originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 Oct 2017 17:27:00 EDT.
