Photos from the Cohort by L. Seddon
One disappointment when I visited the Old Continent in the early ’00s, was the little amount of old metal to be found. Lots of fairly new Peugeots, Seats, and whatnot, which was fun in its own way, but it wasn’t all I expected to see. The old rides I hoped for were instead really hard to come by. Yet, the few that appeared I remember well. That’s the positive side of built-up expectations.
Here’s one of those rare apparitions, a very early Escort, found on the island of Kefalonia in Greece. Even rarer, it seems to be a daily driver (according to the uploader), in fairly stock -though not necessarily original- condition. No reason was given for the granny sheets that cover the top. Maybe to protect the car from the summer heat?
Regardless, it’s great to see an old-timer like this working as originally intended.
Roger Carr already covered the Escort’s story of success in detail (link below). In short, thanks to Ford’s rally wins with the model, the Escort found that sweet spot where it was both a family-friendly hauler and a hot performer. A desirable buy in the public’s imagination. Ford astutely played with both identities, and the Escort is revered by loyalists to this day.
Now I only wish I had seen one for real. Maybe it’s time for another visit, and see if I have better luck in a second going.
Further reading:
Curbside Classic: 1968-80 Ford Escort Mk1 And Mk2 – Keeping It Simple And Profitable
There’s a white 2-door that has been undergoing a long restoration in a local car repair workshop (K reg, so 1972-3). A Modena green 1974 four door 1300E was also my Uncle’s last car.
These little cheapies have proper high-grade skill weaved into their styling. By that I mean that every little curve and angle works to the whole, as if the stylists had had eons to spend agonizing upon each, rather than the strict time and cost-controlled limits that were almost certainly the reality. They just look good. Even this used-up old four-door looks good.
If it had two less doors, and was as unrusted as this one seems to be, it’d be worth a minimum $25,000USD. Even if it had a wiper-motor-sized 1.1.
I’m with you completely on the styling…elegant and coherent. As a young kid, my neighbor got one of these when they first came out in late 1968 (when they were rare on the street) and I admired it even as a 7 year old compared to our 66 Cortina.
That said, I always felt the one thing holding them back from being a true masterpiece is the side glass,,,just a smidge too small
Yes, that’s the major flaw with this design. You could see the line on the door and bodyside pressings where the windows ‘ought to’ have gone to, as though Ford’s designers also thought they were too small.
Absolutely right you both are, though it doesn’t apply to the four doors – which, paradoxically, are ultimately stodgier (relatively speaking). Go figure. Which is probably what someone at Ford said, btw, as they were notorious for effective pennywise cost control, and this slightly thickened look was likely some cost saving in stamping the sides, or the cost of glass, or the time taken, or something of the much else I don’t know about producing a car.
When I glance on the net, the factory sportier 2-door versions seem always to have spread some good black mascara (aka paint) exactly where those windows should be bigger! Dressed for performance, as it were. I never noticed it till now.
One of these dog bone Fords was my rental when I was doing a programming assignment for KLM in Amstelveen, The Netherlands.
It was enlightening in that this little rental drove better than my then current USA DD (a ’67 OHC Tempest) in just about ever way except maybe if used on long distance high speed interstate runs. Plus it was manual transmission, something you did not then, or now, see in USA rentals.
Here it was with KLM’s headquarters in the background.
Interesting car .
I wonder if they’d have sold well in the U.S.A. .
-Nate
My brother always disputes that these are Escort Mk1, Ford had previously used the name 1955 to 1961 on a side valve estate version of the smallest English Ford.
Our driving instructor had a two door version of the pictured car. We both passed our driving test first time. I didn’t like that car, Reuben (driving Instructor) maintained it meticulously in his specially built double garage but it shook when you got to 40mph and the drum brakes never inspired confidence. I’m short -5’6- and I couldn’t see anything much out of the rear window which made the driving test reversing round a corner manoeuvre guess work.
The people who lived opposite and the next door neighbour had Escorts as well, next doors was an automatic which would have to be warmed up on the drive before it could be driven away without stalling. Both neighbours cars were rusted through at the top of the front suspension struts on the inner wing very quickly.
These cars were amazingly basic inside, especially the dashboard which was a simple metal pressing with satin black paint, just a shelf on the passengers side and two vents which doubled as demister or ventilation.
They were everywhere, but the surviving ones now are dressed up as the sporty rally cars, I haven’t seen one for years.
Yes! The front-end shakes, every RWD Escort I ever went in or drove had that to some degree. I reckon the very basic-looking front strut location might be a suspect, being easily put out of whack over time.
And I’d plain forgotten about Mk 1 1.3 automatics. A friend’s sister had one when I was a mid-teen, and luckily, she had a good and dry sense of humour. It was comically slow, and we used to rib her endlessly about our lack of speed, the shitty little brats that we were in our free ride to somewhere or other.
Fondly remember riding around in these Escorts in England in the 1970s. Scarborough I believe. Can’t see too much car but it’s there.
Too bad then these Escorts didn’t come to North America. I spotted on Youtube one car chase featuring an Escort MK1 and a Taunus in a early 1970s Norwegian movie titled “Norske byggeklosser”.
That was fun, thanks. Don’t think the Escort was a 1.1 somehow…
I first visited Greece in 1976 and it was like a motor museum. Every make you could imagine and plenty you couldn’t drove around. As many of the obscure East European cars as long forgotten bubble cars and the odd Studebaker. But best of all were the unique three wheel trucks made by at least half a dozen companies. They fell victim to EU rules and a decade later had all gone..
An Esky! These were everywhere here in New Zealand for decades, and there are still a number around. When I was at school in 1991 I used to borrow my Uncle’s ’73 Mk I Escort 1600 2-door which was so rusty you’d open the bonnet and the top half of the firewall would flex and start to come with it. You could lift up the carpet and the floorpan would come with it, and I once jacked it up (at the proper jack point!) to change a tyre, whereupon the sill folded itself up and the car sank down each side of the still-extended jack…
It was great fun to drive though, so in 1992 when I was 18, my first car was a 1971 Escort 1300XL 2-door. Four-speed manual, un-boosted drum brakes all around.
As with many teenagers on their first car, I spent a fortune personalising it, and learned what ‘over-capitalisation’ was… I paid NZ$500 for it, spent $5k, and sold it two years later for $1,500… My mechanic Dad reconditioned the engine, and I added a Capri 1600 carb (no quicker but used way more fuel), chrome valve cover, brake booster, exhaust headers and free flow exhaust. I had it repainted in the original metallic gold, fitted Mk II Escort Ghia seats/glovebox/console, and added Mk IV Cortina 13″ Rostyle wheels. And a decent Philips cassette player and air horns of course, as was the fashion.
It was a great first car, very easy to work on and maintain, loads of fun to drive and the 136km/h top speed wasn’t quick enough to be dangerous. I wanted something more modern though, so sold it when buying my first Ford Sierra. My Escort was 22 years old then and the design/engineering felt old versus new (1993) cars; conversely the Ford Sierra I currently own is 34 years old and the design and engineering doesn’t feel nearly as old as new (2023) cars.
Incidentally, I suspect the feature car is a very late Mk1, circa 1974/5, due to the badges, hubcaps, and the XL-spec chrome trim on the bootlid and rear guards.
Ford couldn’t make a car cheaper than the Escort, which became a problem when European buyers started expecting more from their cars and when super minis took off. This informed the development of the Fiesta which they reasoned had to be cheaper because it was smaller and also led to the E versions of the Escort which had chrome and wood slapped on them.
There was a mk2 version of the Escort saloons, but the estates and vans only got a new front end. As the Escort was essentially an update of the 1959 Anglia 105E this made the mk2 a hard sell in the UK and stripper ‘Popular’ versions were introduced to keep the price down.
You could still recognise the Anglia/Thames rear doors on the van until it was replaced by the fwd Escort.