Escort endeavours

[Guest]

Never owned an Escort. My brother had a Mk1 (the one buried in snow in the Mini thread. I was supposed to have it when he upgraded to an Avenger 1500gt, but that never happened and it eventually got scrapped.
I did some of my learning in the driving instructor's Mk 1 which he changed for a Mk2 just before my test, so I took my test in that.
I hired a Mk 3 Escort to go on holiday once, the car went better than the holiday.

[Warren t claim]

I remember going to the local Ford dealer with Mutha_Claim so she could buy a new, ultra trendy COTY Mk3 Escort 1300L. Declan, the salesman, took us out for a test drive and Mutha_Claim struggled to drive it, she just couldn't get on with the gearbox and clutch. Declan had a solution. He let Mutha_Claim test drive a parts bin run out Mk2 Escort Harrier and she loved it. This deeply disturbed me as I'd told all of my mates that she's getting the chic FWD Escort.

[Warren t claim]

Funnily enough, fast forward a few years and she has no trouble at all driving my XR3i or RS1600i. Although after over thirty years I've only just remembered that she hated driving my then GFs 1981 1300 GL. I'm beginning to think that she must have had issues with the 4 speed FWD gearbox.

[Hooli]

I don't think I ever tried a 4spd one but always thought the 5spd box was ok for FWD. Obviously nothing like as nice as the box in a mk2 though.

[Yellowperil]

I was driving along in the late nineties one night in my Mum's mk4 escort and I lost all drive.
Got it towed to a friend of a friends garage and the gearbox was pronounced scrap.
So I got him to replace the four speed with a five speed, it made loads of difference, no longer was it revving its tits off at 60mph and fuel consumption was a lot better.
It took Mum ages to get used to having five speeds instead of four, I remember she was really worried about driving it at first and didn't want a five speed.

[FatherJack]

The only RWD Escort I drove was a V plate 1.3 estate in absolute base spec.
Not even a passenger door mirror, wash wipe required manual intervention and if it was a bit rainy you had to flick the lever a bit when needed.
Paupers get only the stuff needed to pass an MOT.


Drove it around for a day shifting bankers boxes of paperwork for the girl friends dad and remember absolutely nothing else about it.

I must admit the modern revival from MST does look bloody lovely

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[Hooli]

I was watching something on modern* rally RWD Escorts the other day, they quoted 345bhp & a 6spd box. That's got to be utterly mental even with a 5 link rear end. I'd love to try one, but there's no way I could drive it anywhere near it's potential.

[FatherJack]

I'm not sure if this is pure co-incidence or AI is sorting my linked in feed for comedy effect but these adjacent articles cannot be by fluke alone ?
On first glance it looks like MST are recruiting for a Director of Engineering to add the last missing bit of the original Escorts character

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[cuntbuster]

Senior Rust Developer???

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The first Escort I rode in was in 1972, a dark blue 1300 L my uncle had the use of. I was aware of Ford Escorts, Super, Deluxe (Dulux) etc.

Then, my Dad bought a 3 month old Mexico in early 1974, M registration, Monza blue/white stripes/Cibies. That was a car.

I recall the Mark II arriving Summer 1975.

The company hacks where Fatha Bluejeans worked were a pair of V plate 1.3 base estates in Nevada beige.

THE MARK 3

Shortly after launch in late 1980, a mate and I cycled to the Ford dealer in Martock, Yandles garage - still going. The XR3 was there. We got a brochure each, a 'simple is efficient' badge etc.

Fatha Bluejeans had the brief use of a Mark 3 estate in early 1981 for a day or two. It is still the most appallingly uncomfortable car I have ever ridden it. I mean utterly unfit for purpose. Back seat torture. The ride was a scandal.

Fatha Bluejeans bought a 1979 1.3GL estate in 1986 as a loan car/shitter, FOO758T. Riviera blue. Seven years old and already on a Ford exhange engine and new wings. But it was a fine workhorse.

I bought a fucked P reg Mexico II in 1987. Rotten, blown engine. Wings, sills, arches, respray, 2 litre Pinto , 4 spoke Revolutions, single box Ashley, etc. I never liked it.

1988, ran the Escort Estate, sold the Mex. Bought a yellow 1100 base with a decent shell for £30, bought an absolutely FUCKED P reg Escort Sport Challenge ex racer and dropped the 1600 xflow in. The usual. The Sport was Boreham prepped and without any underseal. It was literally breaking apart. I found another one as well, SOO750R. Folk bang on about Alfasuds but a bad Mark II Escort was scrap within 9 years.

1989 and an XR3i? No, couldn't find one for 2 grand that wasn't recorded/stolen/ringed rubbish. So I bought a 100,000 mile RS1600i from an auction. It was in superb condition. Rubbish brakes, awful ride, not as fast as a Golf GTi, tramlined like a bastard. Still great fun but the 3i was a better car tbh.

By then I was trading - Metros, Festers, Cortinas and Escort III's. The 82-84 1.3L was the sweet spot, drove well, not a bad car, very quick seller.

None of them were as good as an Alfasud, not even close. Astras were better as well.

I bought and sold a few Mexico, Twin Cam and RS1600 wrecks/projects in the 2000's. I've never had an RS2000.

The Mark 5 was a bit meh but the last Escorts seemed even worse because by then there were proper cars around like the 306, ZX, A3, Compact, Golf 4 etc.

If I can choose one now - an early seventies 1300 two door in Tawny bronze, L spec. Fine for tootling about in. You can keep the RS stuff.