posted at the Cohort by Alberto Simon
I love running into pictures at the Cohort of cars that draw a blank with me. VW Logus? Really? Hmm; looks a bit familiar, but not in a VW way. But then in South America, anything is possible.
It’s a trunked version of the Euro Escort, built by the (now disbanded) Auto Latina joint venture between Ford and VW. The European was was a hatchback, although from this angle it appears to have a wee bit of a trunk. The hatchback version in South America was called the VW Pointer.
Here’s the view from the back.
And the front. Next time you want to impress your friends, tell them to ask you about the VW Logus.
So there was another saloon version of the Escort! We only had the 4 door this side of the pond, initially called Orion, later moving over to the Escort name. The back is completely different though. Looking closely I think all the external panels are different, even the door skin..
Funny that both Fords and Hillmans can be VWs in South America.
There was aldo a (4 door) sedan of the Escort, only it was called the (Mk3) Orion and not Escort.
The hatchback Pointer is closer in style to the Escort. They’re both very nice, but people in Brazil use to blame Autolatina, because that joint venture made both Ford and VW exchanged their junks each other: instead of bringing Golf II and Vento, VW made Logus and Pointer under the Escort/Verona and Ford made the Versailles under the VW Santana instead of bringing Sierra/Saphire or Scorpio to Brazil.
Wow, that’s a new one for me. I like the front-end treatment; sort of like a mini-Passat. This could’ve been sold in the US as a gen ii Fox!
Also like the pic where that guy is getting hit-and-runned by a parked Escort.
I have a feeling that’s Michael Edwards, a.k.a. Eddie the Eagle.
Not to be confused with the Michael Edwardes who ran BL from 1977 to 1982.
I was just thinking he was a bit young for having attempted to run BL back then. Amazing how much you can think between one sentence and the next!
I’m under the impression that this generation of European Escort and Orion had a Ford platform even though the identically-styled North American Escort had a Mazda chassis.
Which if true would mean that Ford used this body on three different platforms when you include the Escort RS Cosworth that was actually an old Sierra under its Escort skin. Can anyone think of another car body used on three different platforms, particularly unibody platforms?
You’re mixing up “car body” with “design language”. The US Mazda-based Escort did not share an iota of body (or otherwise) parts with the Euro-Escort. The only thing they shared was Ford’s design language of the time. There’s a world of difference.
As to the Escort RS, it used a combination of body parts from the Sierra and the Escort, cobbled together. The floorpan was a modified and shortened Sierra unit, as well as other key structural elements.
A unibody body by nature can’t be used on more than one “platform” as the “platform” historically was the floorpan and cowl structure, key integral components of the body.
I found a photo of a 1991 US Escort. They’re certainly not as similar in appearance as I thought. I do think it is fair to describe an Escort RS Cosworth as a Sierra Cosworth that has been skinned to resemble an Escort.
Floorpans are stamped separately. In theory you could design an alternative cowling and superstructure(roof etc) to be welded to that floorpan. Most likely this has been done before(I would bet) but probably not to adapt foreign body parts to an existing chassis.
It reminds me of the Toyota Tercel
Another weird VW tieup I can think of was the ‘84-‘99 VW Santana for Japan. Manufactured by Nissan. Also 5mm narrower for lower tax compliance, and “reverse” sweep wipers. They carry Nissan chassis and build codes, as well.
Before the Logus, Autolatina manufactured the VW Apolo, another version of the Escort.
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https://images.app.goo.gl/ikrAEta4czpHWSK68
That one is clearly based on the European Mk.3 Escort (1980-90). That version has the revised front of the 1986 facelift (sometimes referred to as Mk4). Again, no 2 door version over here, just hatchbacks and the Orion 4 door.
Amazing how they can make a car narrower when they have to. When Ford tried to sell the Mark 3 Cortina in Japan, it was 7mm too wide. I read that they clamped the body in what amounted to a huge vice to bring it into compliance. Read that in one of the local car magazines way back when.
Sorry, this should have been under cjiguy’s post re the VW Santana.
Another forgotten baby from the unhappy VW-Ford marriage called Autolatina, the 1994 Ford Versailles Sedan
I really liked more the Versailles over the Santana, even though they were mostly identical. In their time and in our region of the world (I’m from Uruguay) those were very nice and really expensive cars. The brands only imported their top versions here, so you could only get a Versailles GLX or a Ghia.
Another view, 1994 Ford Versailles sedan
Generally speaking, creatures from Autolatina were VW branded Fords and Ford branded VWs.
The twins Ford Verona-VW Apollo from around 1989 to 1992 were badge engineered almost identical cars resulting from either taking off two doors from an Orion or adding a trunk to an Escort….I think it’s the same formula.
Later, from around 1994 onwards, the VW Logus and Pointer , (2-door sedan and 4-door hatchback) were deeper (still only skin deep) modifications of the Escort.
The 1992 VW Santana (itself a modification on the original Santana body, cheaper to tool than upgrading to the new Passat), in 2 and 4 door sedan, was badge engineered into the Ford Versailles. The Santana Quantum, a 4 door wagon, was transmogrified into the Ford Versailles Royale, with 2 doors….they would later get the 4 door version, though.
There were other spin offs, such as the VW engined Ford del Rey, but that’s a much older hybrid, having started life as a Renault 12.
All told, Autolatina was not a lasting or successful venture.
I saw this 2-door estate version of Ford Versailles in Rio de Janeiro a few years ago. Really nice looking, me thinks, despite the “road warrior scars”.