Possible Mk II Escort Purchase

[Guest]

Don't forget the tiny profile tyres!

 

I absolutely loved this one which turned up on Car and Classic a few months back:

 

That's the kind of MK2 Escort I'd see when I was a lad, parked outside the off-licence whilst I go in to get a 10p mixup. The sporting ones didn't really exist on my estate, they would either be a knackered old nail of a 1.3 L 4-door on tatty dartboards or a giffer-owned 1.1 Popular 2-door with fullsize motor factor trims and a load of reflectors and/or anti-static strips.

 

The thirst for done-up Escorts is a bit irritating at times, it's not like I don't enjoy seeing them, but if it ultimately means that I'll never see a lousy-spec one, it's like a little chunk of my childhood will gone forever. Cars don't all have to be quick with great handling, you can get a lot of fun out of some raspy wheezing thing which pitches over on tight corners.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Well said, Hirst.

 

That beige one jogged a memory. Sometime in the early 90s I was taken to see a set of fairly distant elderly relatives. The husband had given up driving a few years previously, and he'd just parked his beige MK2 in their garage and left it.

 

I know it was there for a while after he died, but I don't know what became of it when his wife went into a home and the house was sold.

[In The Pit]

It's a real shame that nearly all MKI and MKII Escorts are being made into some sort of RS wannabe, its getting hard to buy non messed with cars now and the few that are left end up getting fiddled with.

 

You'll be pleased to know that I have a 100% standard 1.3L 1978 on a T, no radio, no headrests, no passenger wing mirror correct ride height and wheels its only done 34,000 miles and is a complete honey to drive, it gets lots of attention probably more than if it was trying to be an RS2000.

[Angrydicky]

It's a real shame that nearly all MKI and MKII Escorts are being made into some sort of RS wannabe, its getting hard to buy non messed with cars now and the few that are left end up getting fiddled with.

 

You'll be pleased to know that I have a 100% standard 1.3L 1978 on a T, no radio, no headrests, no passenger wing mirror correct ride height and wheels its only done 34,000 miles and is a complete honey to drive, it gets lots of attention probably more than if it was trying to be an RS2000.

Cough: PICTURES?

[trigger]

I know I've posted this many times before but it's still my favorite boggo Escort about.

 

 

 

It reminds me of my mates mum's 1.3L from the early 90's, It was a T plate in brown with torn interior, It was lovely, As was my old work mates 1.3L in similar spec but in rusty Orange, It's the only Mk 2 that I've driven but i remember it being surprising nice to driv.

 

If they wasn't so expensive to buy I'd have one in a shot, I was shown this 1.6 Ghia that was for sale for £1995 by a contact on flickr but it is in in Blackburn which is bloody miles away.

 

[Pete-M]

If they wasn't so expensive to buy I'd have one in a shot, I was shown this 1.6 Ghia that was for sale for £1995 by a contact on flickr but it is in in Blackburn which is bloody miles away.

 

Despite everything I've said on 'ere about 4drs, that one looks a honey and it looks like the right spec for a 4dr. Not as good as a 2.0 2dr like l) but if you're not after getting banned in one, it'll do.

 

My MkII snobbery comes after years of trying to make them perfect, for me. I know what insanely fun machines they can be made into for road use and after about 8 years of always having one and trying everything I could afford or engineer for the bloody things, and sacrificing a couple of driving licenses in the process of seeing what they can do - my sincerest apologies to Glyn Roberts, that mini was never gonna keep up kid - better luck next time).

 

I spent every penny I had, and every penny I could make on RS's for a good few years. Everything went on them. I blew relationships out of the water with them, I used to spend about 12 hours a week just cleaning one of them, yet I still did 30k miles in 4 months in it and it would have beaten any of the show cars at the time. Until I decided to tweak it. RS1800 anti roll bar, double width kit arb bushes, 2.8i Capri discs with Princess calipers (Sorry..), Mintex M1144 pads, goodrich braided hoses, roller top mounts (from a Datsun 140J I think), Bilsteins, 145lb ft -1" coils, quickrack, Burton fast road cam, Burton big valve head, AP clutch, lightened, balanced, +.5 Omega pistons, Sierra 5sp 2.0GLSi gearbox, uprated prop, CD6 single leafs (-1.5"),Bilsteins, 3.0 Capri rear drums, JR Exhausts stainless system (custom built and quietish), Janspeed manifold, Polished alloys (I also had a set of unused ones with CN36s for show), but to look at, everything on it was made to look as original as possible. Stuff like the gearknob. Was a 5sp one, but identical to the genuine RS job other than the 5. Stupidly obsessive.

 

It also had a couple of grands worth of Kenwood stereo gear in, all hidden other than the head unit, came in useful on long runs..

 

I had to flog it because it was getting silly. I wouldn't park the thing on grass, would shammy it down before putting it in the garage, was paranoid about parking it anywhere so I spent most of my time either thrashing it silly or polishing it. Every nut, bolt, screw and washer was like new on it. No oil leaks, nothing wonky at all. Even the screwheads would line up on things, even the wiring was insanely tidy. It had no rattles. Nothing rattled in it. It was like a bloody Bentley the way it was screwed together. Basically blueprinted from bumper to bumper.. No rust, no dirt, exactly as the perfect one for me should have been. The only giveaway the thing had ever been driven was the stainless exhaust, that was lots of pretty colours from the heat.

 

So, people of Autoshite. Please forgive me this sin. I'm an Escort apologist. The MkII RS will always be rose tinted for me. There's only one car higher on my personal "I've made it!" ambition list, and that's an RS2600, 3.0E or Perana Capri. I've never had a Mk1 Capri, and I really want one.

[peter9000uk]

There's only one car higher on my personal "I've made it!" ambition list, and that's an RS2600. I've never had a Mk1 Capri, and I really want one.

Had one of them

[Pete-M]

You had an RS2600? You lucky bugger. Where was it imported from?

[peter9000uk]

It was already here, came from Germany originally I think

[AnthonyG]

I know I've posted this many times before but it's still my favorite boggo Escort about.

 

 

 

Fairly sure that, or an identical one with rust in the same places, was at Knebworth on Sunday, in the public car park.