Roshake posted this Mk3 European Escort 1.3 GL, which reminded me that in the US, the 1.3 was intended to be the base engine, a decision that was reversed just months before it was to go into production. Why? With all of 65 hp, the 1.6 was decidedly underpowered, with either the awkward 3+OD manual or the unpleasant ATX automatic. Having had the displeasure of driving both of them, it was a very good call to cancel the 1.3. The US Escort got off to a rocky start as it was.
The European 1.3 had 68 hp, more than the US 1.6, and it wasn’t saddled with that overdrive manual, so this would have been a somewhat more pleasant if not exactly an exciting Escort.
I said “somewhat”; this drab gray interior is anything but exciting. But then it was par for the course for a low trim car at the time.
Unfortunately, the CVH four was never an engine that inspired excitement, even in European trim. Well, yes, there were some higher output 1.6s and the turbo, but I’m talking ore about its issues with NHV; the very stiff valve spring required for its semi-hemi head made themselves known, it was prone to dropping valve inserts, and it had a decided tendency towards oil sludging. It will not go down in history as one of Ford’s better engines, unlike the pushrod Kent/Crossflow/Valencia, which well-outlasted the CVH and was built all the way to 2002, in updated form. Pretty impressive, for an engine whose roots were over 50 years old.
The smallest engine in these European Escorts was the Valencia 1.1. I see that the bore and stroke of both the Valancia and CVH 1.1 is the same; presumably the CVH was based on the Kent to some degree or another in terms of its basic block architecture. Makes production a lot easier.
Related reading:
Curbside Classic: 1981 Ford Escort – You Never Get A Second Chance To Make A Good First Impression
Our household’s was a Mercury Lynx (1981 or 1982), fondly remembered because it only once had any kind of can’t-start trouble–and never a breakdown—and that it had that “Fancy Ford” feel of slightly nicer interior trim. I guess I didn’t think much about the modest power ’cause I was so used to malaise-era cars and their need to be flogged on the interstate’s on-ramp to get up to speed—even in those days of the national 55mph limit on the highways.
FWIW, here’s a brochure-shoot photo for your linked Escort essay, Paul:
Trying again to get photo to appear:
Ford of England for a long time really liked to keep the same bore size as much as possible and vary displacement by changing the stroke. All of the Anglia and Kent engines, from the original three-bearing 997 cc unit to the 1,598 cc crossflow version, had the same 3-3/16 bore (just a hair under 81 mm), the notable exception being the DOHC Lotus version (which was bored out to 3-1/4). All the British Essex vee engines except the RS3100 had a 3-11/16 bore and all the Valencia fours had a 74 mm bore.
The 1,117cc Valencia and the 1,117cc CVH were quite a bit different (for one, the 957 cc and 1,117 cc Valencia had only three main bearings). I think Ford probably assumed the CVH would shortly replace the Valencia as well as the bigger Kent engines, but there ended up being no great advantage to the CVH at that size and it cost more, so they gave up, perhaps after determining later in the decade that the Valencia would be able to transition relatively gracefully to lean burn and unleaded fuel.
Came here to say roughly the same, want more power from your Kent four? swap the crank, though having owned a MK2 Ford Escort 76 model power isnt something it had much of, 1600cc crossflow engine with twin choke weber and headers I thought it should have went better, it was easy to powerslide it around on gravel roads the oversize mag wheels saw to that, but it was scrapped in favour of a RWD Mazda 323 van.wagon that was a far better car in every respect,
this FWD MK3 version didnt venture downunder we got rebadged FWD Mazda Familias instead which were very good cars.
Escorts reappeared in NZ during the 90s not in OZ though, my BIL was issued several diesels as rep cars some were good some went bang and stopped in an oil lake very few have survived into the present day.
The Mk2 1600 could do 0-60 in around 11 seconds and hit an honest 100 mph, which was decent enough for the time, though no hair-curler. Even the RS2000, with the 2-liter Pinto engine, wasn’t that fast outright, although it had more torque and didn’t need to be thrashed so much.
As far as I remember, this isn’t a low trim model. Below it was the L, and I’m almost sure there was an Escort, period. Here in Uruguay the 1.1 was never sold, so we had a 1.3 L in 3 door guise, made in Brazil (I think from 1983 on), and a 3/ 5 door 1.6 GL (beginning in 1980), made in Germany. The German made Ghia came in 1981, also with a 1.6. The XR3 was much more expensive and was available from 1980, with a 1.6, 3 doors, a very small steering wheel, just in bright red or silver IIRC. Other colors became available when the XR3 began to be imported from Brazil. It was very successful here, and save for the 1.3 L, it was middle-high priced.
Yup, there were “plain” 1100 and 1300 model as well as the L. The initial British lineup went like this:
1100
1300
1100L
1300L
1600L
1300GL
1600GL
1300 Ghia
1600 Ghia
XR3
The U.S. got the GLX instead of the Ghia and the GT instead of the XR3.