After almost 50 victories in world class rallies in all corners of the globe and 30 years of competing at the highest level of the sport, rally fans will bid a fond farewell to the works Ford Escort at the Network Q Rally.

The event marks the final appearance of the all-conquering works Escort, which has become synonymous with rallying success worldwide, before next year's introduction of the Ford Focus World Rally Car.

No other make and model of car has enjoyed such a long and illustrious rally career as the Escort, one of the world's best-selling road cars.

Although it has changed dramatically in both looks and technology since its debut in 1968, its character has never faltered.

It won its first world-class rally in 1968 and has added to that record ever since, with 46 victories at the top flight of the sport.

Victory on the boulder-strewn roads of Kenya's Safari Rally, the ice and snow of the Monte Carlo Rally and two wins by the late Roger Clark on Britain's RAC Rally are but the tip of the Escort's success story.

While privately-entered Escorts will preserve the name next season, it falls upon Bruno Thiry and, appropriately, Juha Kankkunen, the most successful driver in the sport's history with four world titles to his name, to end the official Escort era this month. Few could predict just what a success the Escort would be when the Mark 1 made its first appearance on Italy's San Remo Rally - a rear-wheel drive car with a normally aspirated engine producing about 150 horsepower and with only basic extra safety features.

Today's flame-spitting Ford Escort World Rally Cars are different beasts altogether. Four-wheel drive, turbo charged engines developing 300 horsepower, advanced electronic control systems and a multitude of safety features portray just how far Ford has developed its rally cars over the last generation.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.