Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Most of what I’ve read on CC about the first gen Escort has been lukewarm at best, to one of the worst cars anyone had ever owned. I thought I’d try to offer a more positive take supplied to me by the owner of this little gem.
I saw this beige take out container on wheels from across the parking lot and went to get a closer look. The shape was like every other 80’s hatchback, so much so that I couldn’t be sure what I was looking at for a moment. Upon approaching it, I was surprised to see an Escort badge stuck to one of the cleanest cars I’ve ever seen outside of a showroom.
Short of a couple dents and scratches on one side, the body was in amazing shape. The wheels could’ve used new trim rings and there was an ugly scar on the rubber cap of the passenger side bumper. Peering in through the dark window, I could see the interior was just as nice as the outside.
Very basic. Just two cloth buckets and a four speed stick, by the looks of it. Suddenly, I was tapped on the shoulder. Turning around, I saw a young woman with keys dangling from one hand and a shopping bag in the other. She wore a black shirt under a denim vest. He jeans were ripped, and her brown eyes squinted at me behind tinted glasses. Thankfully, she wasn’t upset and we struck up a quick conversation.
She had bought the car just before that record breaking snow storm we had last month. Being the only one of her family that knew how to drive in snow meant that she was the volunteer taxi, taking her girlfriend to work at five AM each morning. The little FWD car did amazing and never once failed her. She had gotten so good on snow in that time, she said, she could pass even four wheel drive trucks that were stuck spinning their wheels.
It was indeed a base model, what would be called an Escort “Pony” had it been made a year later. As it stood, it was a very early 85 and a half model with it’s flush headlights and larger 1.9 liter engine. At time of writing it had only 135,000 miles on it and she did her best to keep it as clean as possible. It was no show car, but why not take care of it? This Escort was just as worthy of love as any old Mustang, she expressed.
While it wasn’t always exciting to drive, and she’d rather have a Bronco II, this little car was everything she needed. It started, ran, and would even get her the odd stranger asking questions about it on a random Tuesday.
I watched her climb in, fire it up, and pull away. It must have had some kind of exhaust on it with that tailpipe, because it sounded great. I can still remember the Brrrrraaap, snick, braaaaap! sound of her pulling out of the parking lot.
The owner asked me to include this picture when she heard I was planning to write about her car.
Worthy of love. That phrase stuck with me as I went back to my car. What some people saw as a cheap plenty box, better left to the scrapheap of memory, she saw as something to be treasured. 36 years old and that little Ford was the nicest first gen Escort I had ever seen, that was still running. If she does get that Bronco one day, I hope she remembers her little car and passes it on to someone who will love it just as she did.
The interesting thing about this generation of the Escort is that Ford USA was cribbing from Ford Germany… and still managed to take what was an arguably fantastic looking, terrific handling car and turn it into a dogs breakfast.
I remember seeing one of these in the UK ‘in the tin’ for the first time, must have been early to mid-’80s and probably had the earlier headlights. It was the same but different. From a distance they look very similar, but if you start looking at the actual details and panel lines and they just aren’t the same.
One internal feature missing from the US version is the 60:40 split rear seat that came in for the 1985 m.y.
I recall the US version getting the split folding back seat in 1984 on higher-end models (even 50/50 split; Ford US was cheap), but most Escorts still had a full-width folding seat. Also at that time, a flip/fold system was installed so you first flipped the seat cushion forward, then lowered the seat back, yielding a flat cargo floor extension. Earlier Escorts just had a folding seatback, which when folded was about six inches above the rest of the cargo floor.
There was no point in doing a 60/40 split, there were only 4 seat belts.
This car brings back so many memories my mom had a red Escort pony trim model was a 88 red two door man the memories
I don’t know anyone that loved the base version but I did know 3 people who loved the GT version. A girl I went to highschool with bought 2 different GTs and kept the one she drove Everyday immaculate (the other was a project car I’m not sure was ever finished). A friend of a friend went thru a messy divorce and had to sell off his Mustang, after which he went thru a string of 3-4 GTs, said they drove great for something you could buy for 1500 bucks (this was about 1995).
The last was another friend of a friend. He was a tinkerer. He always bought broken cars and brought them back as his daily driver. He had been on a string of mark 2 jettas and golfs but the parts prices were too high according to him. He bought a gt for a couple hundred bucks and loved it (about 2001) so much that he started buying every cheap one he found north of boston. When I visited his shop in 2005 he was up to 8 of them and his wife and kids were all driving them.
I don’t personally get the appeal but I guess I must be missing something.
I drove the related European model here in Europe. What attracted attention was the same steering wheel, control lever, side panel and window crank. In Europe, the model was actually built for 20 years. 1986 saw the first facelift. 1990 a new body on the same platform. 1992 and 1995 then another facelift. The Focus came in 1998, but the Escort continued to be built in parallel until 2000.
2002 for the van until the Transit Connect replaced it.
We had one of these, a ’82?. It was a good pc. of transportation for the time………until it wasn’t. Started running poorly and the Ford dealer FAILED and FAILED to find the problem; it was traded off for??? That was too bad given it had been a decently running car until then.
The dealer, rather than Ford, let the lil econobox down. One of numerous U.S. made cars that developed problems and “sent” me to Honda…….:) DFO
I bought a new ’82 when I got my first ‘real’ job. I wanted a new economy car and shopped around. I came from a GM family and looked at a new Chevette. The tape stripes were peeling off and the carpet was frayed in places. For laughs I went and looked at an Escort. The stripes were actually painted on and the carpet was perfectly installed. I test drove one with a ‘high output’ engine and a close-ration 4 speed. It was really fun to drive, and driving in snow in my first front wheel drive was a revelation.
I liked it so much I bought an ’87 wagon with a 5 speed and fuel injection. I really miss that one.
My parents purchased a demonstrator blue 1985 1/2 Escort LX 5 door hatchback as a college graduation gift in December 1985. In August 1989, a computer module failed stranding me on the side of the road. In October 1989, the timing belt broke at 64,000 miles because I was stupid and didn’t get it replaced at 60,000 miles. I just traded it right then for a 1989 Crown Victoria with 12,000 miles that I kept until September 2001 when I inherited my parents’ 1993 Taurus. After that I have only purchased a 2004 Crown Victoria in April 2004 and a used 2010 Grand Marquis in September 2014. I guess I should have just fixed the timing belt on the Escort and kept it several more years but I’m not the smartest person around.
My middle sister’s first car; I helped her pick it out, and recall she got a good deal on it. Hers was automatic, she can’t drive standard, bought used probably in 1987, she also had problem with ignition module going bad and the fuel pump. In fact I think this car was in the shop getting aux fuel pump added when my sister had borrowed my Dad’s 1986 Dodge 600 and totalled it when she went through a red light. Banged her up pretty badly too. My Dad never owned another MOPAR, bought first of 3 Mercury Sables to replace it. My sister had the Escort a couple more years then got a Toyota Tercel which had carpet fire due to missing heat shield.
I went to a car show yesterday British and European and as usual ignored the high proced things from Ferrari and Jaguar the Aston Martins Bentleys and Rolls Royces present and looked at all the ordinary cars, some well preserved originals and some that had been restored to better than new, the Austins and Hillmans Morrises and Vauxhalls you know the cars that were on every driveway and street when I was a kid, Some of them were junk new from the factory, but someone had looked after them and kept them alive so they can be appreciated now,
Cars like ADO 16s and Minis from BMC were there in dozens they still arent rare here and the ones that gave them a bad name became rebar long ago,
Triumph Heralds which were terrible cars and gave endless problems there were 3 excellent examples I wouldnt have one as a gift having already owned two that were junk like most of them were I quite like seeing tidy or restored ones now
Jowett Javelins and especially Jupiters were never common and were hard to find parts for when they broke not if were there in unexpected numbers an whole row of Jupiters and they were always rare,
One young guy in our club display has an early Hillman Avenger a car villified on these pages yet he loves it and I see it often in motorway traffic and stock as a rock except for the wheels and after I showed him an identical set on my Superminx he now knows what they are off, but I drove a similar car when they were common and the drove much better than the crud from Japan that replaced them and rusted away rapidly before the powertrains wore out so gained a reputation for reliability.
This little US Escort is a true survivor and worth keeping just because of that alone, we had UK Escorts which have a great reputation though new were not great cars they were a car for grandmothers to putter to the shops once a week with their horribly under powered and ancient engines but the sporting models rep rubbed off on the crap examples rally wins sells ordinary cars funny thing the factory backed world rally winning Escorts with fast Scandinavian drivers got soundly beaten over here by Andrew Cowan in a rally prepped Hillman Avenger,
Hillman Imps including a Commer van version were there in large numbers one race car version was towed in on a trailer by a Hillman Hunter wagon and thats how it gets to race tracks all over the country,
Yeah I like the ordinary everyday cars that feature on this site the one every Tom Dick and Rangi drove back in the day.
See – any car can be a classic
– regardless of what they are
When new these tough little cars were derided by enthusiasts but in truth they were well built and took a serious beating without complaint .
They flew under my radar until I began dating a woman who had a seriously battered ’82 Escort L, it had been sideswiped and hit in the right front corner yet soldiered on, the RF headlight fell out as she was parking it one day .
Upon doing occasional maintenance I discovered that although it really was cheap, it also included quite a bit of good engineering .
It too was junked after the timing belt broke at 80,000 + miles because it had an interfreence engine and belt all the valves .
I hated the horn on the turn signal lever, this ’85 isn’t saddled with that cheap out mistake .
-Nate
At least it’s got a standard transmission, that alone increases the fun factor by several notches.
Good on the owner for keeping this one clean.
Any car, lowly or not, can be kept in good if not close to pristine condition as long as it meets an owner that cares about the machine. This Escort is especially rare because usually the second owner and later just don’t care and beat it to a slow death. Same for any low entry level econo box. As you said the best thing is that it has a manual which is what every econo box should have.
If I had run across this I would have bought it in an instant.
As the past owner of a new 99 Escort, 95 Escort, 95 Mercury Tracer, and 98 Tracer, I agree with most of what you write. Our 99 was great, and we would probably be driving it today, but our children grew to quick. The other three were purchased for each when in college. I kept up all maintenance, INCLUDING a transmission flush every 60k. I have done this with all my vehicles over 50 years of driving. The daughter with the 98 Tracer was the last to get rid of hers with almost 200,000 on the odometer. And all now maintain their own cars the same way…..
The first-gen U.S. Escort had a long run, and Ford was constantly tinkering with it, but it never seemed to be perceived as one of the best small cars. Early models were infused with weirdness, like the horn on the turn indicator stalk, a zig-zag automatic transmission shifter, and huge exposed seat belt winders that stuck into your hip. By the time this 1985-1/2 was built, all those quicks were gone, and we got this fairly radical new dash and slimmed-down B pillars, and a larger, smoother engine. More tweaks were to come including a rear-lift to match the front one seen here.
One thing I always like about the first-gen Escort was how you could build it piece-by-piece with a la carte options. There were about five trim levels most years, with add-ons like old-timey front vent windows, rear vent windows, sheepskin-and-leather seat trim (rare!), aimable map lights, and dozens more.
I have a lot of ’90s Escort experience, but not too much with the “first-gen” American models. Here in Michigan, I remember that the ’80s Escorts that were still on the road showed far less rust than the ’90s models that I and my now-wife were driving. By that time, our Escorts were 10 years old already, so the ’80s models were approaching 20. Like Cavaliers, I think these are cars that were poorly maintained but somehow managed to hold on longer than anyone thought possible. Now they’re almost gone, so it’s a treat to find one in good shape – the “throwaway” cars are something you never knew you’d miss.
I’ve got lots of love for any car this old in such great shape. What a time capsule.
My youngest brother had a Pony version a year or two younger than this one as his first car, in the same color. He loved it and it gave him good service.
I like how she has the “goal Bronco” on the dash shelf. Keeping your eyes on the prize.
I’m amazed there is still one of these around and in this condition. Funny how someone else mentioned looking at a Chevette, then ending up with an Escort. My only experience with these cars was a friend that had an 81, which was nothing but trouble from day one. He kept it until 1985, trading it in for….a brand new Mercury Lynx. I asked him if he was crazy after all the problems he had with the Escort. He said he genuinely liked the design of the Escort and figured he just got a poorly built one the first time. His reasoning was that the Lynx was a better Escort. Unfortunately for him , it wasn’t. It ate timing belts religiously just like his 81 Escort did. He finally gave up in 1989 and traded the Lynx (not running because the timing belt had broken) for $600 towards a new Dodge Daytona. Although he never had problems with the Dodge, it wasn’t in his possession long before it was totaled while parked. When I decided I needed a cheap, reliable econobox, I never gave an Escort a look as my friend’s experience was enough to keep me away from them. I bought a used 83 Chevette, and although slow and maybe crude compared to the Escort, it was ultra reliable. As is typical for me, I over maintained it, so it was in nice shape when I sold it in early 2001 with 189,000 miles on it, to a co-worker who drove it many more years.
Out of the various domestic econocars, j cars and k s and omnirizons and chevette, these seemed the shortest lived. I suppose it was that interference engine plus timing belt which doomed a lot of these. My ex had a new 1987 escort gt with the 1.9 and managed to get 7 years out of it before it blew blue smoke. Ford did its customers an enormous favour by farming out 2nd generation development to mazda.
This is pretty plush for a 1985 economy car with air (does it have air?) And apart a radio as it has speakers in the door and cloth seats and a nicely finished interior. Econocars back then were really bleak. I’m guessing it would have cost about $6000 then? Per the inflation calculator, that comes up to $14,951 in 2021 dollars which would get you a discounted versa or bottom rung Hyundai or kia today, which would be far roomier, more powerful, more economical, (not, apparently, longer lasting) and have tons of features not dreamt of in a 1985 econocar.
I hope this escort continues to be loved!
With the facelift for 1985 1/2 models, Ford switched to the 1.9 four, which was a non-interference design. A friend had a 1988 model. The timing chain broke in 1997 when the car had well over 100,000 miles on the odometer. He simply had a new timing chain installed, and drove the car for another three years without any serious problems.
There is a dealer promo video on Youtube for the 1984 Chevette and it does a comparison with the Ford Escort. Here is the link
blob:https://www.youtube.com/5189172b-6be2-4ee4-a0e7-9e6dec8d0f23.
Until I saw this video I had no idea of the rear seat folding down in 2 parts – Chevette was much better. I am biased as I bought a 1987 Pontiac Acadian new as my first car and kept it until 1995 until I had to let it go due to underbody rust. Back to the Escort. That car is in amazing shape and I hope the owner continues to take care of this car.
Ok, I had to watch the video. A) those of us of a certain age now really understand where the smarmy joe isuzu character came from b) the subsequent video pits the cavalier against the Sentra, accord, and corolla and improbably insists the cavalier can tow 4,800 lbs. I would buy a 1984 cavalier just to see this happen. Big, rwd cars and trucks in 1984 would have been hard pressed to tow 4800 lbs and I cannot at all believe a 1984 cavalier, which had difficulty pulling it’s own weight would manage to pull 4,800 lbs.
My father had a 1986 Pony model in dark blue. I learned to drive a manual transmission on that car. He abused that car, and it went for well over 100,000 miles without any serious issues. The refinement wasn’t the greatest, particularly compared to a contemporary Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, but that Escort provided good, basic transportation.
A friend’s father had a 1985 Escort Wagon with the nicely-upgraded dashboard but with sealed-beam headlights. He must have bought it very early in the model year, as I don’t think 1985 had rolled around when my fourteen-year old friend borrowed it to drive from Virginia to his mother’s place in Colorado. I don’t believe he ever came back. There’s something to be said for a car that a 14 year old with no driving experience can get in and drive two-thirds of the way across the country.
We had quite a few of these as loaners from the Ford dealer when our ’87 Taurus was having warranty work done. Did the seat belts in the rear buckle backwards? I thought I remember the reels were in the center and the buckles were outboard. We also had Tempos as loaners, so I am not sure if was the Tempo or Escort that had the backwards seat belts. I do remember the seat fabric was very nice on these, as we always had either the L or GL for loaners.
What happened to my long post on this car? Has it gone into the spam box?
A friend of mine folks bought a fully loaded 83 GLX Metallic Blue Wagon new. It was a good car until 1986 when his two half brothers went hill jumping in it and the timing belt broke. I have seat time in it. Wish I had taken photos. It had the 5-speed, Fuel Injected engine, overhead console, top end radio, cruise/tilt, TRX suspension, roof rack, the works. Beautiful car.
I echo your sentiments about these being better than what people have stated on here. My parents had the wagon version of this car, an 85 and a 1/2. It was baby blue with the automatic and it had that accordion shift boot that I remember being intrigued by as it looked like a base of an airplane ride outside of Target. We had that car for 4 years until my parents upgraded to an 89 Aerostar when my youngest brother was born. It didn’t have any major breakdowns or things wrong with it, and we took it on a trip from Wichita to Santa Fe (my first road trip!) with no incident. I don’t think it was a FUN car exactly but for an American car it did the job fine. Certainly better than a Cavalier and more reliable probably than an Aries or Reliant.
It’s hard to think of many cars that were as much a part of the fabric of the 1980s (and as much a part of peoples’ shared experiences) as the Ford Escort.
My family had an ’83 L version. It wasn’t a good car: It stalled at inopportune moments, it was despicably uncomfortable on long trips, and one time the brakes failed for good measure.
Yet through the filter of nostalgia, I find something oddly captivating about them. They had an admirably functional appearance. Since they were available in so many trim variations (and had so many year-to-year tweaks), it seemed like no two were exactly alike. And good luck finding one on the roads now.
The ’85½ models were odd ducks, with details that separated themselves from both early ’85s and ’86s. They had the smoother nose styling and revised taillights of the ’86 version, but carried over the ’84 steering wheel (’86s switched to a 4-spoke design) and had no third brake light. Trim lines were shuffled around on the ’86s, too: Base was replaced by Pony, and GL by LX. I want to say the ’86 mirrors were different too, at least on higher trims.
Someone mentioned that the rear seatbelts fastened “backwards” (with inboard retractors and outboard buckles) and they’re correct. Seems to have been a Ford thing at the time; Daniel Stern’s piece on the Stinkoln Town Car touched on the same issue. The final-year 1990 versions were even weirder, with shoulder belts that fastened entirely separately from the lap belts (like in the front seats of a 1968-model car).
Crazy thing, this is my car now, like this exact one. I just randomly saw this online.
The car is doing well. I’ve done a bit of maintenance for up keep. Everyone loves this car and I always recieve complements on it. I remember buying it from the person this article describes. I remember me buying this would help them get into there dream vehicle, a bronco II. Crazy I found thus post… Small worry world.
Glad to hear you still have it! I eventually did get that Bronco.
I was the proud owner of a 1985 1/2 Ford Escort Pony, with AM radio, of course. It lasted 15 years before I sold it. I still miss the little guy.
Escort may have been sturdy, Lynx was not.
Bad joke for Mercury and one of the models that started their decline.