Practically Classics Forum

OK on another forum I frequent - a dedicated German car manufacturer appreciation forum – they are running a thread on members favourite car they have owned and I am amazed at how many times the Mk 1 escort comes up either as a favourite or close second.
Now I appreciate the age of the posters has a bearing and being a German marquee forum most are middle age + but.............

Was it / is it really so popular. Discuss

Hi Minxy, 'a dedicated German car manufacturer appreciation forum', sounds familiar.

This takes us back to the early 70's doesn't it?

I suspect it is as much down to a lack of affordable alternatives to be honest. I mean the Morris Marina was pretty horrid and I can still recall 'things' rattling from one side of the bodywork to the other as mine 'rolled' around corners. I also had a Vauxhall Viva for a while with a 1256cc lump that felt positively sluggish compared with the 1100cc Escorts that I drove at work. I never actually owned an Escort, but I suspect that the drive quality may be part of the reason for such fond reminiscences, plus it has a well promoted image that few of its contemporaries could rival, but memories can be fickle and I suspect a fair degree of rose tinted hindsight is playing a part in there?

I also had a Vauxhall Viva for a while with a 1256cc lump that felt positively sluggish compared with the 1100cc Escorts that I drove at work.

Like all Fords of the day it was built down to a price and I suspect that the good performance was down to light weight. Does anyone remember the Silver Fox metallic paint that flaked off in great shards after a few washes and the lamp lenses that faded in sunlight?

Ah yes the silver paint thing, I remember that, although I thought it was more of a problem on the boxier Mk2?? But my memory is not what it was......

Anyway, yes weight makes a huge difference, and capacity is also no guarentee of actual horsepower or torque output.
Don't recall the fading lenses but it wouldn't suprise me, making colour fast plastics on the cheap back then was tricky.

Now I come to think about it.... I seem to recall that all Mk.1 Escorts had 1300cc (or thereabouts) engines?

I have to say I much preffered the shape of the Mk.1 over the Mk.2, but thats purely down to personal taste obviously.

My father had a Mk 2 Escort new. It was a 1300 estate. The car was well enough designed and was capable in terms of performance and road holding etc but from the durability point of view, it was a pile of junk. The build quality was OK but the components themselves were poor.

The back axle whined from day one and we were told, "They're all like that", the gearbox was positive enough but was frail. The engine didn't like sustained high speed for long and the oil pressure would drop if you went quickly for long (I think the oil capacity was too lean). The original ignition parts used to break down if it rained; it got better when some better quality HT leads were fitted. It was also very rust prone.

The VW Variant, which replaced it, was the opposite of the Escort, in almost every respect; even to the point of not handling very well and being a swine to work on. It was perhaps a tad faster than the Escort but then it was a 1600.

Why popular I think rallying has something to do with it and possibly personal nostalgia influencing people more than a real interest in cars generally. Far more people experienced Escorts, as children or youngsters, than experienced more exotic machinery. I will glance at Escorts, especially if one has a twin cam or BDA but if a twin cam is surrounded by a Lotus Elan, I'm much more interested However, those left have earned their spurs and I'd far sooner own a Mk 1 Escort than any modern Ford; if you could rust proof it, a Mk 1 estate, with a Mexico engine and Type 9 gearbox could be a useful machine ( A bit simpler than a twin cam or BDA).

M Paul Lloyd wrote:Now I come to think about it.... I seem to recall that all Mk.1 Escorts had 1300cc (or thereabouts) engines?

Entry level MK1s came with 940cc in the rest of Europe, 1100cc in the UK. I've never driven a 940 version, thank goodness, but hey, whatever floats one's boat.
1300 versions were willing little things, but chronically uncomfortable, not as economical as you'd imagine they would have been and otherwise perfectly ordinary.

I like the shape of the MK1, the MK2 slightly less so, but cannot for the life of me understand why they're selling for such silly amounts of cash now, especially not given the fact that most shells seem to end up with modern engines, better brakes and upside down in ditches.
I suppose that Ford sold and continue to sell millions of cars that were really pretty average simply because they always had the biggest dealer network, hence the cheapest parts and servicing costs?
The "availability error" as identified by Stuart Sutherland, an American Psychology lecturer, led to many people buying Fords simply because their neighbour/friend down the pub/uncle/boss had one, so they must have been good, right? Erm, OK, whatever they said.

had a Mk 1 Escort for about 3 hours when I was 18 (a long time ago!!!). I was so unimpressed I sold it back to the guy I got it off - happened to be my Dad who was a motor dealer at the time

The "availability error" as identified by Stuart Sutherland, an American Psychology lecturer, led to many people buying Fords simply because their neighbour/friend down the pub/uncle/boss had one, so they must have been good, right?

There may be something in that theory except that it was more a case of Ford giving very heavy discounts to the fleet market and putting a lot of cars on the road so people would think they were popular.

JPB wrote: Entry level MK1s came with 940cc in the rest of Europe, 1100cc in the UK. I've never driven a 940 version, thank goodness, but hey, whatever floats one's boat.
1300 versions were willing little things, but chronically uncomfortable, not as economical as you'd imagine they would have been and otherwise perfectly ordinary.

Ah good I was right after all, I was sure that we had 1100 estates at work which were used as general 'hacks' but they seemed that little bit more eager than my Viva, although we did tend to drive the Escorts that little bit harder than our own cars.