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What do you think of when you think of the Ford brand? Affordable family cars?

Probably. Motorsport and classic car heritage? Perhaps.

The Ford badge may not be the most prestigious on the market but it carries a weight of automotive history with it that's equalled by few rivals. Ford of course, is keen to promote this fact but how much of this message is getting out to the man or woman in the street?

To find out, we asked Ford if we could borrow a couple of representative vehicles from their historical collection, each representing key parts of the brand's classic heritage. We then took the opportunity to put them on show to the public, using the Ultimate Car, Ultimate Life motorshow in Horsham, Sussex, as a platform from which to get feedback. The results were very interesting.

Before we get to them, a word or two about the two cars we chose. First up was the model that started the whole thing off, the ubiquitous Model T Ford. Announced in 1908, the Model T soon broke every production record, not only within Ford, but world-wide. Simply engineered and sold at incredibly low prices, the Model T put the world on wheels in the next twenty years.

Built in Detroit in huge numbers, the Model T was also assembled at several overseas plants, including from 1911 until 1927 Ford's original Trafford Park factory in Manchester. All Model Ts shared the same simple chassis, with transverse-leaf suspension to the beam axles. Powered by a 20bhp/2.9-litre side-valve four-cylinder engine, they had two-speed epicyclic transmission, with brakes fitted only to the rear wheels. The top speed was a mere 45mph and the price when new was between £110 and £220 depending upon model year.

Model Ts were available with many different body styles, including the open-top two-seater Runabout from 1910 that Ford lent us. This car, made in Detroit, started its life in Ireland. All in all, more than 16 million Model Ts were made, more than 15 million of them in Detroit alone, before production ended in May 1927.

With the classic car side taken care of, we then turned our attention to a car that would properly represent Ford's considerable success in motorsport. Of course, the brand has had huge success in Formula one with the Cosworth DFV V8, but many associate that unit with Cosworth rather than with Ford.

Better, we decided, to pick a car that people saw as successful in competition that they could also relate, both to the Ford brand and the cars they could buy in their local showroom. Hence our choice of an Escort Rallycar for this voxpop experiment, this one a 1967 example that was an almost exact replica of the car that competed in the 1968 London to Sydney World Cup Rally.

The car Ford lent us started life as a standard Escort 1300 Mk 1 but was totally rebuilt to rally specification with an 1834cc 'Kent' pushrod engine delivering 140bhp as a Ford entry in the 1993 London-Sydney 25th anniversary rally. It was rebuilt again the following year using a 200bhp Ford Cosworth 1800cc BDA engine to take part in the 1995 re-run of the 16,000 mile 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally.

The 1995 rally retraced the original route as closely as possible, starting from London on April 25 and finishing in Acapulco on May 21. The same winning crew that took the original car to success - Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm - drove this car to take the winners' laurels again.

The car we borrowed had been the subject of a full restoration by Ford, as had its 'sister' car, FEV 1H, the actual Escort that won the original 1970 London-Mexico rally. Both are to be found in the Ford Heritage Collection.

Both cars, as you might imagine, caused quite a stir amongst the viewing public when we put them on show. People, it seemed, enjoyed being reminded that the Ford brand was about more than just dealers and discounts. "It's where it all started isn't it," said one visitor, gazing at the Model T.

We'd have loved to be able to get into this old classic and drive it but alas, that wasn't possible. Ford insisted to us that it was a runner, something we'll be taking up with them when we ask if we can borrow it for the London to Brighton vintage car run later this year (any chance? - Ed).

Interestingly, this car attracted more interest than some of the supercars on display at the event, suggesting that Ford might do well to make a greater play of its automotive heritage in future promotion of the brand. There's certainly plenty of it, the rally Escort another example of how a comparatively affordable investment in motorsport can yield results far and above what you might expect.

'Our' car sounded great on a twist of the ignition key, the throaty roar of the Kent pushrod engine startling visitors and encouraging requests, sadly declined, for a run up and down the road outside. What must it have been like to pilot this car all the way to Mexico? Perhaps it's just as well we don't know.....

Ford executives with a free afternoon to spare could do worse than take a wander round their own company's heritage collection, if only to remind themselves what the Blue Oval brand really stands for. These cars are a part of our motoring heritage as well as Ford's.