Unsung hero: in praise of the 1994 Ford Escort 1.8D L.

[ProgRocker]

I had written off my 1999 SEAT Ibiza just before Christmas 2009 in the snow. The insurance company gave me a very generous settlement for it. Despite the very iffy work situation, I decided that I needed a car on standby just in case the next place of employment was hard to reach by bus. Work was a little hard to come by as the economy was still suffering from the 2008 credit crunch / “wanker banker” crapshow / bailout.

I had in mind something like a 1990s Toyota Starlet. Hugely unexciting but starts, stops and keeps the rain off. My dad was quite keen that I take a look at his drinking pal's Ford Escort (mark 5.5?) diesel that he wanted rid of. I wasn't impressed. Nevertheless, towards the end of March my dad and I went to have a look at it. Dad's mate T lived on the same estate as my parents and I (I had my own flat a few streets away). T was selling the Escort because one of his daughters had given him their mark 4 Astra. The Escort sat in a lock up council garage just around the corner from T's abode.

M62 VVX had a flat battery and thus had to be wheeled out of the lock up for inspection. T had been declared medically unfit to drive. It was MOT'd in December and put straight back into the garage. The Astra would be ready for him once he was declared medically fit to drive. I was delighted to discover that it was the rarer 'Orion shape' saloon and not the common hatchback. It did lose some points on it being white, my least favourite car colour. A deal was done T agreed to drop the asking price by £50 as I was out of work, so I'd buy it for £250. I asked T if it was OK if I could disconnect the dead battery to charge at home, which he agreed to. Deposit paid. I think my dad and I returned the following day, connected the battery and the Escort thundered into life like a hundred blacksmiths hammering at an anvil. Sweet. With a bit of clag.

On April 1^st I walked to T's, paid the rest of the money, sorted out the paperwork and drove the car to the post office, where I taxed it for six months: £112.50. I was even more delighted to discover that there was half a tank of derv in it. I took it home and got to work. Insurance was cheap. 150,000 miles on the clock.

Eventually I discovered that it was an ex-Police patrol car (Essex constabulary). The driver's seat and side bolster was likely worn down over years by lard-arsed coppers, who wouldn't pass a police fitness test in a month of Sundays when the car was in service. I found the driver's seat to be very comfortable.

Being an L spec with a natuarlly aspirated diesel engine with 60 bhp, it was basic. However, it did have the power steering and ABS which were optional extras. I'd wager that these features would have been demanded by the constabulary. Tweed upholstery, radio cassette player. I didn't bother with putting my old car CD player in it. My old hi-fi was put back into use in recording the early era of recently purchased early era Roxy Music album CDs onto cassette, not to mention a few others.

Most satisfying to valet a used car when bought privately. I removed the deteriorating front seat covers and frisbee'd the cracked wheel trims into my wheelie bin. They were held on by black cable ties. The trims were not the originals but appeared to come from an older Escort or Fiesta Bonus limited edition (sort of off white colour). I gave the car a more utilitarian look.

1994 Ford Escort 1.8 LD diesel by Matt W, on Flickr

I washed the car. Paint was rough to the touch. The 13 inch steelies where cleaned of it's brake dust and some of the silver paint on the edges of the wheels reappeared. Vacuumed and polished the interior to get rid of as much detritus of the previous owner as possible. It was looking much better.

Took it for a drive on the A47 dual carriageway to give it a jolly good thrashing at 70 mph (ish). Well...it took quite time for the beast to get to sixty. My parents told me that it probably never got over 40 mph in the time that T had it.

The ignition would take about 3 seconds to fire up. Occasionally it would need two turns but the coarse engine never failed to start. So coarse that it was impossible to see a clear image through the vibrating rear view mirror at idle.

About two weeks into ownership, the driver's door lock failed. It would not unlock from the outside but (from memory) would lock OK. I could have dismantled the door card to take a look but I was a bit lazy so I got into the routine of unlocking the passenger door, pressing the button, going round to the driver's side and getting in. The spare wheel footwell would fill with rainwater and I even had mushrooms growing out of the boot carpet!!

At some point I stupidly bought some engine oil for it. T told me that it didn't use any oil and he was right, it didn't! I still have that bottle in my shed, unopened.

1994 Ford Escort 1.8 LD diesel (ex police car) by Matt W, on Flickr

I owned the car for almost six months. I had sold my flat in this time and with some of the cash decided that, as much as the Escort exceeded my expectations, I needed a more modern car to carry on getting me places. I traded it in for the 2003 Nissan Almera 2.2 dCi that I still own. I got £250 for the Escort as a trade in, so effectively got my money back on it.

My ownership experience of the Almera over the past nine years made me realise how good a car the utilitarian Escort diesel saloon actually was in the brief time I had it. The newer car never felt as economical as the old timer. I could actually be wrong: the Escort's needle on the fuel guage never dropped. Maybe I was having too much fun with the torquey 130 bhp Almera which blunted the fuel economy? Before it, I had never owned a car that had more than 80 bhp before!

I put around 2,000 miles on M62VVX during my tenure. Sueprisingly, it made it through two or three more MOTs (with repairs) into 2013 before it was scrapped at 167,000 miles. I was anticipating it to fail spectacularly at it's December 2010 MOT but the owner(s) after me appeared to have persevered with it.

What a fantastic car!

[RayMK]

An enjoyable read but still not sure about the car.  Those diesels were less refined than the units used on farms and building sites.   

[cpjitservices]

Would it be ok if I was to copy this story and its photos and post it on my Car group on Facebook? 

 

Courtesy of AS of course.

 

[ProgRocker]

54 minutes ago, cpjitservices said:

Would it be ok if I was to copy this story and its photos and post it on my Car group on Facebook? 

 

Courtesy of AS of course.

Yeah, go for it! ?

[BorniteIdentity]

We should run a thread on Car Love Stories. I could read stuff like this all day. 11/9.4 top of the class. 

[warch]

I quite like that, unpretentious motoring taken to the extreme. That 1.8 D was glacially slow though, drove a few Scrote vans and a Festa with that engine. I had a Mk IV Orion Ghia which sported many of the same features your car did, namely the wet boot, mouldy carpets and bollocksed central locking.

Sweetly I remember what a novelty it was when I bought my first car that didn't have a leaky boot, having owned a Land Rover, the aforementioned Orion, and two Minis which were far from watertight.

[Jazoli]

I had one as a company car (well an estate version) I was so fucking happy when I wrote it off, it was by far the worst POS I have ever had, I sold my 306 Dturbo when starting my new job because I was told I was getting a focus company car, instead I ended up with a departing service engineers scrote estate n/a diesel, I very nearly quit on my first day after driving it home but employment opportunities were limited

An utterly risible car, it was just about better than walking.

Edited to add pic of the fucking turd, the best thing that could have happened to it.

I got my new Focus after that thankfully.

[cpjitservices]

41 minutes ago, ProgRocker said:

Yeah, go for it! ?

Thanks man.

[Datsuncog]

2 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

just about better than walking.

Wasn't that Ford's advertising strapline at the time?

[cpjitservices]

 

 

 

[Aston Martin]

It's an Orion!!!

 

?

[PhilA]

We had a van version of one of these where I worked, M326CHY. The gearshift was made from rubber all the way from the lever to the gearbox (and probably the gearbox itself), as was the huge bulbous SRS AIR BAG steering wheel (which where it wasn't shiny was deteriorating due to the fact you had to be Geoff Capes to turn it below 5 MPH, aviation fuel and sunshine appeared to have made the plastic decompose). The seat base sat at a wonky angle with bits of bracketry protruding through the drab foam and material. Clutch was heavy- not that it mattered, in all instances it was a very on/off device because the driving experience was to stick it in a gear, hold the throttle pedal to the floor until it had no more to give then throw it into the next gear up. The brakes were made from pure mahogany.

The wait in first gear before changing to second was somewhere in the region of 6 seconds, by which time you were praying the cars behind you were either going to slow down or the van was going to decide it wanted to go faster (it didn't, people just had to slow down). Switch blanks everywhere, those horrible round ones that Ford had an obsession with. Radio wouldn't go loud enough to cover the road and wind noise above 40 with the driver's window open.

Eventually the timing belt tensioner shat itself at 75 on the M5 outside Cheltenham. A replacement head was sourced, fitted and the thing soldiered on for another couple years before being diagnosed with terminal rust.

 

Thou shalt not be mis't. Almost too shit for Autoshite.

Actually, it had one redeeming featu... no, it didn't. No.

 

--Phil

[ProgRocker]

50 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

I had one as a company car (well an estate version) I was so fucking happy when I wrote it off, it was by far the worst POS I have ever had, I sold my 306 Dturbo when starting my new job because I was told I was getting a focus company car, instead I ended up with a departing service engineers scrote estate n/a diesel, I very nearly quit on my first day after driving it home but employment opportunities were limited

An utterly risible car, it was just about better than walking.

An estate? You reminded me, back in 1997 I worked at now defunct Comet electrical store at weekends. The Store Manager's company car was an Escort mark 6 1.8 diesel! I eventually had the 'pleasure' of doing some driving duties in it.

Funnily enough they wouldn't me do any driving duties in the estate or the Transit Luton delivery van as I confessed to only being used to driving an automatic at the time (inbetween cars - I was a named driver on my parents' boxy Carlton 2.2i). I was happy enough being a driver's mate tbh. Eventually I bought a manual Escort (coincidentally) mark 4 and so they let me drive the Fords. The manager was convinced that two packaged white goods items will go into the Escort estate side by side, despite my protestations. The plastics were scratched to buggery after that.

I think he had the choice of upgrading to a Mondeo estate in lieu of a pay increase but he kept the Escort for another year + the pay increase.

[I_am_Diesel]

If you thought the 1.8D was slow, you should have tried it’s 1.6D predecessor.

[angle]

Well, if we're doing reminiscences from Ford's 'will this do?' era...

My uncle has always been the car person in my family. What I know about cars (which admittedly, is very little) comes from passing him tools while he put a Porsche 914 engine into his VW camper in the nissen hut that took up the majority of my parents back garden. So, when I got my first car, it was down to him to find it, and I was the proud owner of a D-reg Mk4 Escort. I mean obviously it was terrible, but it was mine. 

That is, until I got a call from him when I was in my final year of university. His friend's brother, who used to work for Ford in Dagenham, had just spent £350 fixing the ten year old Escort he'd owned since new so they were chopping it in against a new Zafira. Did I want it for what they'd been offered in part exchange, which coincidentally also meant he wouldn't have to spend another weekend welding my Escort up for its MOT in a few months? It's a Ghia, and everything. 

Yeah, deal. By the way, what colour is it?

Whatever Ford say, its not green.

So, M639UMK. My dad drove it up to collect me at the end of term. This is luxury. I have 16 valves, no choke, central locking, electric windows, electric sunroof. It even goes round corners, in a fashion. Unfortunately, I also appear to have very little clutch. £350 is sent Mr Clutch's way and all is good with the world. I fix the remote boot release by attacking the contact on the boot lid with a wire brush. I feel like a boss. Remote boot release? This is AMAZING.

Over the next four years, I stick 40k on it going back most weekends from London (where I've moved to after I graduated) to Bristol, where my girlfriend still is. The electric windows stop working, which I fix by sticking increasingly large pieces of tinfoil into the switches to make a connection. The rear arches also get increasingly grotty, but Wandsworth council's MOT depot don't seem to care, so whatever.  Until one year where I leave it too late to book a test so go to my local garage instead. They take one look at them and burst out laughing. I think it failed that year on seven separate corrosion-related points. Shit. Still, £300 of welding and some cack-handed attempts with a spray can later I'm back on the road. After all, its been reliable until now, right?

Enter the karmic old car gods. The temperature gauge has never worked, so when I'm driving back from Bristol in the snow a couple of months later I don't notice a problem until I stop at the lights at Clapham Common and notice steam. Turns out water has got into the fuse box and killed the fan. I throw a bit of money at the local garage to wire a fuse inline to it, and limp it on for six months with ever increasing signs of HGF. Eventually hot starts become impossible and it gets sent to the bridge of dreams, replaced by a Citroen ZX that's three years older but infinitely better (until, um, that also dies of HGF). RIP little Escort, you're not quite as shit as everyone says.  

[PhilA]

9 minutes ago, I_am_Diesel said:

If you thought the 1.8D was slow, you should have tried it’s 1.6D predecessor.

Slow yes. Better engine? Yes. The 1.8 was another "Well, they won't let us have any money for development" efforts.

[I_am_Diesel]

9 minutes ago, PhilA said:

Slow yes. Better engine? Yes. The 1.8 was another "Well, they won't let us have any money for development" efforts.

Yeah, very true. I know let’s add an extra drive belt. (Can’t remember if it drove the fuel pump or not)

[Mr_Bo11ox]

2 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

We should run a thread on Car Love Stories. I could read stuff like this all day. 11/9.4 top of the class. 

Great idea!!! 100% agree with this idea.

[PhilA]

5 minutes ago, I_am_Diesel said:

Yeah, very true. I know let’s add an extra drive belt. (Can’t remember if it drove the fuel pump or not)

Yeah, cam and pump

[sierraman]

We had an Orion video recorder years ago that’s all I can add to this. 

Keep the stories coming, I like reading them. I doubt in years to come people will look back romantically about when they signed themselves up for 48 months penury in a Qashqui but you never know. 

[twosmoke300]

1 hour ago, I_am_Diesel said:

If you thought the 1.8D was slow, you should have tried it’s 1.6D predecessor.

I’ve had a few of both and I actually felt the 1.6 keener to drive and much more economical . Lighter cars maybe ? The mk2 fiesta van 1.6 d was a cracker 

[PhilA]

19 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

I’ve had a few of both and I actually felt the 1.6 keener to drive and much more economical . Lighter cars maybe ? The mk2 fiesta van 1.6 d was a cracker 

No, you aren't the first to make that observation.

[Tamworthbay]

I know these are universally hated off here but I like them. Had a few as hire cars when I worked for Astra Zeneca  and like them a lot. Would love another, ideally in the dark metallic green they did.

[Flashband]

January I was lumbered with collecting a one giffer owner 3 door mk6 from london up to derbyshire. I owed a mate a favour and he called it in

The 1600 zetec needed plenty of revs to make progress but was smooth enough if no ball of fire. Brakes were dire but handled reasonably well, had great fun in London beating way newer sportier stuff around roundabouts

[Snipes]

My old 1.6 16v LX. It was a decent car, the aircon even worked, but the rear rot got to it in the end. Shame - other than having cruise, my 05 C4 is in no way better.

[stuboy]

i had a 1990 orion mk3 glx diesel no pas no turbo.. did 220 miles to 15 quid.. only got rid due to exwife wanting to start driving again

[djoptix]

My first car (well, the first I ever bought) was an Escort 1.6 LX, CVH lump with an actual carb. It cost me £1000 and remains the most expensive car I ever bought. At the time it seemed OK but with hindsight, it was shit. The end

[holbeck]

In a former life I worked as a supplier on this version of Escort. Alternator 91FF10300JA was the bane of my life for a while as they tended to fall off the engine - hanging off by the +ve cable in the worst cases. Ford dicked around  with top hat bushes but in the end they had to spend some money to tame the vibrations with a bracket that was so stiff it could have supported the Queen Mary.

[Zelandeth]

I had a 1.1 Fiesta on an L plate which I realised after I sold it on deserved a medal for being an utterly dependable, comfy and generally competent car.  Despite being rotten, having three and a half working shock absorbers, an exhaust tied on with a bit of clothes line I found at the side of the road and a rear valance made almost entirely of duct tape.

It also had an epic induction roar because my father ran over the airbox when I was in the middle of a service.

It was one of those cars which I'd have jumped in and driven absolutely anywhere without a moment's hesitation.  Bought for £250 because I needed a way to get to college NOW when an idiot lorry driver wrote my Skoda off...ran for a year and more miles than I want to think about (my commute was something like 80 miles a day back then), and sold for £250.

It was scruffy as hell, but it was a bloody good little car actually.

[Andyrew]

Good mates dad had an estate one of these. I still remember the noise of the diesel lump now.  He was a builder at the time and had bought it from his decorating mate so it had paint all over the rear bumper , it was dirty and faded with splattered stains and dents all over it.  The icing on the cake was the number plates last three letters being CUM.