First, let’s address the green elephant in the room; why is there a Holden two-tickety-three in this Ford product? There’s been plenty of discussion on the socials, so it’s best we get it out the way.

First published in the August 2018 issue of Street Machine

“I fell into 253s, really,” says Shannon Heraud, owner of this phat combo that drew big crowds at Meguiar’s MotorEx 2018. “When I first started skidding, I ran an NA 253 in my Torana, then I picked up another for basically nothing.”

An apprenticeship and a United Diesel Nissan blower later, Shannon was dropping burnouts with the best of them. “It always did well and people liked it,” he says of his trusty thongslapper, “so we just kept going with it.”

Shannon was never tempted to just chuck an LS in it like so many of his burnout brethren – too obvious – though with his brother Brenton he does have an orange TA22 Celica running an LS. “It’s called SOLD OUT because I put an LS1 in it and sold out,” he laughs. “It’s got similar power to the 253, but it’s just not the same.”

Actually, almost nothing on this Escort conforms to current burnout or street machining norms, and that’s just how Shannon likes it. “We wanted something totally different, built to our tastes while trying to keep the budget relatively tight,” he says.

Forging your own path seldom results in a cheap project, but Shannon and his partner Briana kept the build manageable by handling almost everything in-house. “The only time it left the factory was to go to Burke’s Bodyworks for some final body touches, then paint,” he says with justifiable pride. “All the other work was done in our factory.”

Shannon purchased the Escort before prices went stupid, so the incomplete shell was only $500. As soon as it was back at the workshop, he and Briana got stuck in, starting with the unique ‘bubble’ wheelarches. The pump and profile is pretty much as Ford intended for its RS1600 race special, with fibreglass replicas up front and metal repros in the rear, both dialled up from the UK. “You just weld them in and off you go,” says Shannon with a swoosh of his hand. He might be a mechanic by trade, but he’s pretty handy across the board, going so far as to buying a bender and having a bash at building the rollcage himself.

Shannon also set up his own four-link, piecing the subframe together before fitting it to the gutted Esky. Stance and attitude is everything when it comes to a standout build and Shannon nailed it, but as soon as it was a roller, the project was shelved. “I had to rebuild my Torana, the original TUF253, then freshen up the driveline in my 1964 Pontiac Parisienne daily driver.”

Fast-forward to April 2017 and Shannon felt the urge to kick off again, with the bold plan of getting the Escort to Summernats 2018. “I started mocking up the motor, which led to the sheet-metal work: recessing the firewall, then building a trans tunnel, rear-wheel tubs, exhaust channels and boot floor,” he explains, gesturing to the various custom parts. “Once I was happy, we got on to bodywork, getting the gaps right and the rest to a reasonable point. There was definitely a bit of trial and error; I pulled the mounts and re-welded them to get it all to fit just right.”

Shannon himself painted inside and underneath in basic black, then had Leigh from Burke’s Bodyworks come in to do the engine bay and door jambs in retina-searing custom Lushious Lime. It was September and Summernats was looming, but suddenly the Canberra festival became the least of their worries. “We knew we’d have to pull our collective fingers out,” Shannon admits, “but then Dad got crook. He’d been battling cancer for nine years – and we were lucky to get that out of him.”

Shannon’s dad Peter had been a major source of advice and inspiration over the years and such a devastating blow could have derailed the whole project, but it just made the team more determined. With MotorEx 2018 marked as the new deadline, the Escort shifted to Burke’s Bodyworks, with Dale Ward applying the finishing touches to the shell before Leigh completed the dazzling duco. “We wanted a nice, bright 70s colour,” Shannon says of the intense green. “We’ve already got a red Torana, a blue Pontiac, an orange Celica and a beige LC, so we needed something else.”

Dale returned after the paint to mask up the black Escort Mexico-style rally stripes. Leigh then painted the stripes and clear-coated the shell. “It returned to our workshop with no plumbing or interior,” Shannon says. “By morning, it was a complete car.”

The mad thrash wasn’t just Shannon and Briana; Briana’s dad Rod wired it up while a succession of mates filtered through to help out. Even so, as recently as the day before MotorEx the car looked like it might not make it. Leigh still had the bonnet, boot and front valance, but getting snowed under at work meant he could only rock up in the evening to fit them. A sanding and a buff later, the Escort was ready to roll. Almost.

“I was going to leave the bumpers off, but it really needed something up front,” says Shannon. “I was still fabbing up the brackets that morning when the towie arrived.” The fella was good enough to wait around, and by lunchtime the Escort was on its way to MotorEx.

Shannon, Briana and crew set out to create something completely unique in looks, attitude and driveline, but never thought they’d attract this much attention. With the crowd several people deep at MotorEx, they’ve learned that when you set a Holden cat amongst the Ford pigeons, people are going to stop and stare.

PETER HERAUD
6/11/1952 – 02/12/2017

When Shannon speaks about his late father, it’s pretty obvious where he gets his mechanical nous and attention to detail from.

When Heraud started his career as a draughtsman, working for British Aerospace and Government Aircraft Factories, before starting up a succession of design-related and automotive CAD engineering businesses. Meanwhile, he helped raise three boys and kept a healthy interest motor racing, hooning around the likes of Calder, Winton and Sandown in a succession of rotary Mazdas, then a Farrell Clubman, pictured below.

In the early 2000s, Peter prototyped his own computer-controlled CNC milling machine with a view to selling them to the big dogs like GM and Ford. Instead, he kept it, using the machine himself and subcontracting back to the companies he’d originally intended to sell to. Shannon and his brother Brenton still work for the company.

“Mum and Dad have always been around cars; whenever they went racing, the whole family went,” Shannon says. But what about the burnouts? “Dad loved it. It wasn’t his thing, but he loved the fact we were getting out there and enjoying it.”

Even mum Chris is into it, having been for a few skids herself. “She’s bought Brenton’s burnout LX hatch and we’re putting it back on the road for her,” Shannon explains.

“She’s more of a hoon than we are!”

SHANNON HERAUD & BRIANA CABLE
1974 FORD ESCORT MARK I