The Ford Escort 1968-2000

[cobblers]

Back in 2001 when I was 15, the bloke across the road from my nan gave me a Black mk3 Xr3 that was his brothers, who'd owned it from new. It only had about 50K miles on it or something, with the usual WIKKID cloverleaf wheels. He knew I liked tinkering on cars and his brother had emigrated and left it to him to shift. Him and his brother had a falling out over something, so he just gave me the car.

 

It was a real tidy old thing - TKW 798Y. It was short on test, but obviously I couldn't drive it anywhere but that wasn't an issue. It sat on my nans drive for a year or so, I occasionally started it up and whatnot. I replaced the interior (which had paint spilled on the drivers seat) with a mint interior from a concours XR3i of around the same vintage that was written off on the way home from a show. The bloke drove all way from Milton Keynes to Rotherham to drop it me off, I swapped it all for a couple of amplifiers I got out of the back of a fiat Uno at Wilf Jays scrapyard for £15. Apparently he had some sales job with a company car and he used to just drive all over the place dropping stuff off that he sold on the companies dollar cos he liked meeting people.

 

With the interior in it really was a proper nice car. I took it for an MOT after about 18 months and it needed a little spot of welding underneath, but nowt major. There wasn't even a bubble of rust on the arches!

 

Once I was 17, I couldn't get insured on it for anything like affordable money, so I planned to leave it on my nans drive for a few years and tinker now and then until I could afford to run it. It was pretty tucked away, well off the road, through 2 gates and under a cover, but the local smackheads eventially found it, broke in through the boot, climbed over my £200 worth of tools and nicked the sanyo tape player that didn't even work. After that I kept finding evidence of people sniffing round it (tarp pulled back, door lock damaged) so I had to get it shifted. I had no space to store it anywhere else, and being a bit naive I had no idea what it was worth so ended up selling it for £350 to a bloke out of the ad-mag who absolutely had my hand off.

 

According to DVLA, It only lasted til 2005 for some reason, which is a shame.

 

My other experience with escorts is E510 YAK - My mums car through my childhood. It was a 1.3 overhead clacker, and had a serious case of damp 80s ford smell. Whenever it rained the passenger footwells would usually be a couple of inches deep in water. This problem was fixed by hammering a nail through the floors to allow said water to drain out. In it's defence, it always started and never needed anything doing to it.

 

One night it got broken into, and the thief stole the bulbholders out of the back lights and nothing else.

[barefoot]

Another one who has never actually owned an Escort, but my driving instructor used to collect me in Mk2 1.1 pops, first a beige one & then a red one.

I can still remember the smell of the interior.

I had a couple as company cars, an absolutely dismal Mk3 1.1 base & a couple of years later a Mk4 1.4 - both were mind bendingly dull.

 

But to end on a high note, the present Mrs barefoot bought me a fun driving day at a disused airfield somewhere in Leicestershire & despite the lure of 400bhp Sierra's, by far the highlight of the day was a dark blue Mk2 with a full rollcage, a 2.0 & some big throaty carbs.

I've never driven on mud & gravel before or since, but the car just seemed to know what I wanted it to do.

The bloke before me hurtled past doing his Scandinavian flick & I heard him on & off the throttle & I thought, 'I'll not be doing that then'

My go - Flick Right Flick Left Floored the pedal & held it to the floor - spectacular - I'd never done it before but the instructor said, 'nicely done'

 

the end.

[jonny69]

I've not had one myself, but my dad had a string of diesel Mk5 vans with his business. I used to borrow them from time to time. I borrowed one for a few weeks when the front wheel came off my 100E and I couldn't get to my work, but the engine seized and it had to be trailered back as well. I think it was a cam belt that went or something but it made a complete mess of the head.

 

I remember they were quite nippy round town but the accelerator pedal did nothing until it was about 4/5ths of the way down when it became an on-off button and you had to push it much harder than the rest of the travel. That used to annoy me. And they were utterly gash on the motorway, and bear in mind I was comparing them with a 1961 Ford Prefect.

 

I did shift my mates belongings from Bristol to Suffolk in one of them. He had a lot of heavy stuff and we completely filled the back top to bottom and the rear tyres were literally bulging under the weight. I put over 50 psi in them to make it look normal because we were way overloaded. I was taking it easy, but misjudged a roundabout at one point and had it completely sideways with the rear end screaming for its life, tyre smoke in the rear view mirror and me feeding in opposite lock. It must have looked cool because I was well in control but it was basically a complete cock up. We also timed a standing start 0-60 in 47 seconds - it just simply wouldn't.

[fotorabia]

Neva owned one..but have a couple of unfortunate 70s childhood memories.About 1977 when i was 10..Mum n boyfriend had arranged with some new German friends..Tommy and Fredrika that we go on a Outer Hebridean holiday.So the Germans showed up from Munich in a new light blue rental Mk1 4dr.The night before we left..T&F were taking my sister and I back to Laudale Estate on the other side of Loch Sunart where Mums BF worked...single track road...middle of the night..3 red deer came off the side of the hill..and we hit both hinds..slammed into the ditch..I slammed into the front seat and split my lip.The engine cut out..but Tommy instantly restarted it and reversed out...we 'd killed one deer instantly..but the other one had broken front legs so Tommy had to kill it with his hunting knife.In the morning..the front end of the Escort was totally flattened..u cudnt even see the headlights...after the holiday..they fixed the radiator..and did a daytime drive back to Munich!

In 1980.,,the parentals bought a 2nd hand identical one..brought it up from Lee On Solent.BF was rushing to make the last ferry at Corran..after a few pints..and as he came horsing down the slip road..and slammed in to the back of a Granada estate..he had a new car battery on the back seat that hit the dash..and covered him in acid..and as he was breathalysed..his jeans fell off...Mother was extremely unimpressed..

[wackywacerwill]

I've been a passenger in all the variants over the years though the only one I've owned was a mk3 1.1L. It was the usual blind internet auction purchase in which the train fair and fuel money home made up the bulk of the financial outlay. It was a tidy enough (from the outside*) 2 door shell though the drive was uninspiring it gave no grief mechanically and looked fairly decent till the number 469 rear ended it in Abbeywood. I got paid out for repairs I never undertook and passed it on to a friends stepson who finished it off good and proper taking out a brand spankers BMW in the process. The 2 front wheels are the only parts that live on still doing service on a mates K plate diesel van.

[ChinaTom]

B348JEG Ceramic blue 3 door 1.3 base 4spd. First car and romantically remembered as such. Pretty unremarkable, but solid, reliable and stayed rust free other than cat-piss front bumper; and leaky rear lens for that paddling pool in spare wheel well.

 

Good friend had an similar car (citrine yellow) in 1.1 guise - a totally different animal - total agreement with whoever said it was hopeless. Amazing difference 200cc and different v/v arrangements can make.

 

Mark V 1.8DGhia - pretty hateful machine and hand-me-down first company car after 4 uncaring guardians. Grenaded itself on the A140 and replaced by Mondeo 2.0GLX in Aubergine with a white leather interior.

[face]

Back in 1991 I brought a 77 1300 Sport.

 

It was white with black decals, lowered on RS alloys with a K&N and full Janspeed.

 

It was ACE and remains my most favourite car.

 

Looking back it was just 14 years old and looked good, but fairly rotten. A mate purchased it from me, then another mate from him. It fell to peices and the fab engine made it into the last owners dad's Anglia.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Father Bluejeans (RIP) had a Mexico new in 1973 - well, it was a few months old but a one owner car with a couple of thousand miles. Monza blue with the white stripes etc. NEL329M iirc. He bought it after driving another 1971 car which was already rough after 2 years hard use, but knew it was a proper car. He test drove a 1300GT before and thought it was shit. He had the Mex for three years and loved it. We went on holiday to France twice in it and it was just a great car. Sadly it's not one of the few survivors.

 

My first was a 1976 Mexico Mark 11, LLU365P. Big mistake - I wanted a Mark 1 (the proper one) and got talked into this shitheap. Restored it and I just never gelled with it at all. I put a new Ford Exchange 2000 Pinto in, but was sorely disappointed with it. Whilst it was being rebuilt, I bought an old Riviera blue 1300L Estate, FOO758T which got nicked. Replaced it with a Royal blue S reg 1300 base Estate, black vinyl seats and plenty of wag. I spend 2 days repainting it - a big 3kg drum of wag, 10 coats of Midnight blue cellulose, wet flatted and mopped it so it shone like a new sixpence up a sheeps arsehole. Took a hump bracked bridge way too fast and the force of landing punched a strut through the strut top. Cue a new bonnet, the remaining Midnight blue Smellulose and some creative welding. Sold it for £250 when the Riviera blue Estate was was recovered (undamaged, but sans fuel).

An old dear in the village had a yellow P red 1300 Pop 2 door. Very straight and original, frilly wings but mint sils and arches. I paid £40, robbed the mint carpets, door/side cards, the 3.89 diff, a load of other bits for the Mexico project and weighed it in for scrap. I sold the engine and box for £60 though.

 

I regarded Mark 2's as old shit and moved on to the Mark 3. I bought and sold quite a few from Witney Car Auctions in the later eighties, almost all of them 5 door 1.3L's between W-A plate. Used to buy a tidy one for £1100, toothbrush valet, new cambelt and VV diaphragms plus and a minor service and out them for £1500. I did two in one week once, absolutely guaranteed to sell within 2 days. After the Mark 2, the Mark 3 was so lively with crisp handling and great all round vision.

 

A mate wanted an XR3i, so I found one at Blackbushe Car Auctions around 1989. It was a C plate Paris blue Mark 3, not many miles and very nice. I drove it home and served it that night for a nice £800 eric. I thought it was a great car so went to get one for myself, and one night at Witney Auction spotted a black RS1600i - PRL8Y I think. It had done nearly 100'000 but was absolutely spotless. I paid £2500, used it for about 6 months and sold it on. I lost interest for years and only bought another, a 1987 Mark 4 1400 Ghia at Blackbushe Auctions for £50. I MOT'd it and sold it for about £250- would have been 1997.

 

The very last Escort I had was a 1982 Y plate XR3 carb. My 323i had just burnt out (stereo wiring) and I needed a cheap car fast. So I bought this festering white shitbox for £50 with 3 weeks MOT and tax. It absolutely pissed oil out as only a shagged CVH can, but I did 1500 miles in it. I bought a brand new Ka in May 1999 and wanted to p/x the XR3. The Ka was on a deal (they were clearing out the last non PAS cars cheap) and the salesman said 'if you promise not to bring that thing back here again, I'll give you a full tank of fuel".

 

Deal.

 

 

I sold it to a mate for £50 who was restoring what is now considered the best Series 1 RS Turbo in the UK, a proper concours winner. He used the 3 for random bits, sold some stuff from it and scrapped it in 2000.

 

And that's it.

[kinkersaab]

As a wee nipper, my Grandad had a Y reg ish 3 dr base escort with a 3 speed + E gearbox and some litlle economy lights incorporated into the speedo, from memory they were green amber and red. Never seen another and a google search brings nothing up. Anyone else know about them?

[hennabm]

The only Escort I owned was a yellow MkI 4 door 1100cc, I bought for £50 as a none runner.

 

All I needed was the shell for my grass tracker. I sold off all usable spares and then fitted a 2.0l pinto, welded diff etc and used it on the tracks around Lincs. ST/BB 107 was its number.

 

Nice days.

[kinkersaab]

After some more digging, i found this pic which shows a 3 +e gearbox, and the wee economy lights i wass remembering, but this is obv a left hand drive fiesta. not a uk spec escort. It must have been bloody awful to drive by the lights.

 

[stuboy]

my dad had few new mk2s, then had a brand new 3dr estate, was ok till conecting rod bod came loose and punctured the sump.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The fairy lights on the dash were also used on the RS1600i - Christ knows why. There was a valid reason, and I can't remember it.

[Pete-M]

The fairy lights on the dash were also used on the RS1600i - Christ knows why. There was a valid reason, and I can't remember it.

 

They weren't connected on the RS1600i though, well, not on any of the ones I drove.

[AnthonyG]

Never owned one, but nearly bought two - first was a late Mk4 GL, a mint one in light metallic green. It was either a 1400 or a 1600 and went well, was quite keen on it and the Renault garage that had it was willing to do a deal on a Renault 25 I owned, but it didn't happen, mainly due to suspicion of no history and a possibly too good to be true mileage (15k on a four year car). I suspect I would have been quite happy with that one.

 

The second near-purchase was a early Mk5 Orion, red with a 1.3 HCS engine, why I thought that would be a good buy I have no idea, I think I really dodged a bullet when that didn't happen.

 

When I worked at a Ford dealers as a student during the summer, I took a potential customer out on a test drive in a K or L reg RS2000, he proceeded to scare me witless but at least was fairly skilled compared to the Irish gypsy who took out a Mondeo Si and ended up doing handbrake turns on a gravel car park. When I got back and told the other salesmen, they laughed and said all the local dealers had Oirish charmers turning up and trying to take sports or luxury cars out when the fair was in town. The odd one would then proceed to buy something like a hot 306 or a Golf GTi with a suitcase full of notes, so they weren't turned away on that basis.

 

Driven a few late Mk5 1800D vans, fairly awful on the motorway, but TBH I thought the N reg on petrol Mk6s were OK cars when fitted with the Zetec engines. But the Focus really was light years better when it arrived in 99.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The Mark 5 RS2000's were pretty good cars. Weird how they didn't use the 2.0 Zetec though - I wonder why?

[ifc63]

I can't recall ever actually owning an Escort of my own but I did have extended use of my brother's Mk4 1600 Ghia at the time when DVLA decided to keep his licence in Swansea for a fair few months.

He was convinced the car would be better off being driven rather than being laid up awaiting return of said licence.

 

How wrong could he be !!!!!!!!

 

 

It was over 15 years ago now but I don't think I'm fully forgiven

[CreepingJesus]

The Mark 5 RS2000's were pretty good cars. Weird how they didn't use the 2.0 Zetec though - I wonder why?

Funnily enough, I never rated those; to me they felt a bit too nose-heavy and a bit lardy and sluggish. The 4x4 version wasn't any better, in my book.

The inexplicable boat anchor up front seemed to have a fair bit to do with it, 'cos a local lad (who'd owned/blown up loads of performance 'Scrotes) chucked a 2.0 Zetec in the front of a Mk6 GTi after the 1.8 gave out. Apparently, it revved out better, went better and wasn't attracted to the hedges the same way.

The 'RS2000' engine (Zeta?) was one of the many based on the old Pinto block iirc: there was a short-lived XR3i which had the 8v version, whereas the RS had 16. Zetec was a better engine all round.

[Pillock]

Wasn't Zeta just the original name for the Zetec engine? Changed last minute when a phone call from Lancia put Ford in their place.... I'm sure they just changed the rocker cover casting and the rest of the engine was identical.

[CreepingJesus]

You could be right there, I have difficulty remembering last week, far less 15+ years!

Either way, it's got to be Ford's shortest lived and least used engine design, surely? Other than the XR3i/RS2000, it was the optional petrol motor in the Tranny at the time. Not many there then!

Stretching the memory again (and therefore probly highly inaccurate), I think Ford had Mountune build them a prototype turbo version of the RS2. At least I seem to recall a story like that in a car mag (possibly C+CC), which didn't go much further.

Is it just me, or did it seem that from about '93, until the end, Ford couldn't quite decide what to do with the Escort? After the original XR3/XR3i, RS1600 and RST had been put to bed, they dithered about with short lived engines, and resurrecting old names. And punting a 'GTi' that pretty much wasn't. Presumably, the reason the successor model got its' name was to remind themselves to focus on the job in hand!

 

Have an XR3i replica as a bonus! It's got the basic steering wheel, and no rev counter...1993 called, it wants to impress the girls.

[Pillock]

Yeah the run-out Escorts seemed to be a right mashup of ideas. Wasn't there a "Mexico" too? With some (gasp) special badges and a spoiler.

 

A bit of Wikipedia'ing shows that engine to be shared with the Mk5 Transit and also the Galaxy and Scorpio - still a bit of an oddball, since at 140bhp it was the same as the Zetec in other Escorts....

[CreepingJesus]

Jeez, the 'Mexico'. At least the RS2000 wasn't a disgrace to the badge, but the 'Mex' was a total joke.

Actually, the twink engine turned up in a few late Sierras as well, thinking about it, and I always felt it worked rather better there. Worked well enough in the Tranny, but plain old dire in 2.0L form in the Granny. Not so bad as a 2.3L, but hardly the last word in refinement.

I'm trying to read the wiki page, but the brain's refusing to co-operate thro' lack of sleep . I thought the later gearbox was the 'MTX75', not the 'IB5' as they say. Same one as the Mondeo. Somebody's gone wrong, most likely me!

[Pete-M]

The Mark 5 RS2000's were pretty good cars. Weird how they didn't use the 2.0 Zetec though - I wonder why?

Funnily enough, I never rated those; to me they felt a bit too nose-heavy and a bit lardy and sluggish. The 4x4 version wasn't any better, in my book.

The inexplicable boat anchor up front seemed to have a fair bit to do with it, 'cos a local lad (who'd owned/blown up loads of performance 'Scrotes) chucked a 2.0 Zetec in the front of a Mk6 GTi after the 1.8 gave out. Apparently, it revved out better, went better and wasn't attracted to the hedges the same way.

The 'RS2000' engine (Zeta?) was one of the many based on the old Pinto block iirc: there was a short-lived XR3i which had the 8v version, whereas the RS had 16. Zetec was a better engine all round.

 

I owned a Mk5 RS2000 for about six months in the mid '90s, and to this day I'd rate it as one of the most enjoyable and thrashable cars I've ever had. It was standard other than the exhaust (original back box rotted so I fitted one from something else). It was a bloody good car, not the fastest off the line but once it was moving it was quick enough. Suffered badly from a lack of traction in the wet but in the dry it was good fun. I did a huge amount of mileage in those six months, a lot of it at a fair old pace. The advantage of the I4 over the Zetec was torque, it pulled well over a pretty wide rev range where a Zetec would struggle to do the same.

 

The short lived XR3i had an early Zetec 1.8 16v available in 105 or 130 bhp tune as the 2.0 Zetec was still too rough for production. The RS2000's engine was based on the I-4 in the Sierra / Granada but with a 16v head and 150 bhp. The I-4 was the Pinto's replacement, and in 16v form went on to power the 2.0 16v Scorpio, Galaxy and Transit. It also sprouted balancer shafts as a 2.3 and isn't a bad engine.

 

150 bhp from an N/A 2.0 wasn't bad in '92. It's the same as the 'legendary' GM red top lump and Alfa Twin Cam. I actually found the Ford lump to be more flexible, ok it was buzzier than the Vauxhall at 6000+ rpm, but it'd pull hard at 2000 rpm when the others would be just waking up.

 

Anyway. Horses for courses an' all that.

[trigger]

Did you see the photos of the RS2000 powered, rear engined, RWD Escort Si i posted yesterday? viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11392&start=195

[Pete-M]

Can't find pics of it right now, but Ford built a prototype Cosworth 24v Mk5 in the early / mid '90s.

 

Cosworth shell without the big spoiler, Granada 24v engine, RWD and a posh interior. Those who tried it reckoned it was ace and would have outsold the Escort Cosworth, so it was canned.

 

CAR Magazine did a piece called "Cars they should have made" which featured it. It appears to have been a proper grin.