Believe it or not, this is one of my favorite types of cars.
My reasons for liking it have nothing to do with size, color, make, or anything of that nature. This Escort is truly remarkable because of what has been learned about its history. Not just a partial history, but it’s entire history since new. That certainly does not happen very often.
Brett is an engineer and a co-worker. In October I began a six month assignment where Brett works. We have known each other for years and worked briefly together in the late ’90s during my first tour of Jefferson City.
During that two year period, Brett drove this Escort, but it was just another late model Escort at that time. Seeing the Escort again in October, a bit more faded and worn than what I remembered, prompted a strong desire to learn more. A good opportunity arose a few weeks ago.
Dropping into his office to talk about such stimulating topics as micro-devals, F- and t-testing, and flakiness indexes, I asked him what year his Escort was. That was a much livelier and longer lasting conversation.
Brett purchased this Escort new in February 1990. He had just started his career a few months prior and was happily driving an early to mid-’80’s Escort. His father had been able to purchase that Escort from his employer’s fleet and it had served Brett beautifully while he was in college. Upon his graduation, Brett avoided the frequent temptation of purchasing a new car, instead putting a little money into his current ride for various maintenance needs and enjoying the extra cash from having no car payment.
His plan didn’t work for long.
Visiting his girlfriend (now wife) in the St. Louis area, Brett was sitting at a stop light. Suddenly, he felt a hit from behind; a kid in a ’66 Ford Galaxie had rear-ended him. Brett almost chuckled with this remembrance, adding he had driven the Escort back home whereas the Galaxie needed to be towed. It seems the angle of the hit was just right for Brett’s rear bumper to harpoon the radiator and engine block of the Galaxie. Sadly, while the Escort was able to be driven, it was damaged to the point where it was not financially feasible to repair it.
That is when Brett purchased this Escort.
He purchased his Escort here in Jefferson City. In fact, the Ford dealer is the white building in the background of this picture. So it has stayed close to home.
While this is the upper level LX for 1990, there was one item Brett specifically wanted: a manual transmission, as they tend to have a more harmonious relationship with four-banger engines. Brett’s wife has never mastered the art of using a clutch, so she has never driven his Escort.
Brett and his wife have three boys, two of which are of driving age. Neither of them have ever driven this Escort. Brett said they have always had the Escort as a second vehicle and he wanted his sons to learn how to drive in something more substantial. Their primary ride has been a minivan, which fit his requirement quite well.
When asked who the last person was to drive it, other than him, Brett had to think. After he asked if mechanics counted due to servicing, and being told they did not in this context, Brett had to think deeper. He even had to take his glasses off and rub his temples. While he suspects it may have been his father, he simply cannot think of the last time anyone but him drove the Escort.
It has been that way for nearly a quarter century.
Early in its life, the Escort did make a few trips to see Brett’s family in St. Louis. Other than that, it has been his commuting car, a roundtrip distance of around ten to twelve miles. Brett could not remember the last time it even ventured outside the city limits. He said he gets fuel about once per month but the age of the Escort is starting to become an issue, so he has to go by mileage; when the gauge hits around half, the needle starts to jump too much to have an accurate idea of fuel level.
It is still routinely returning 30 to 32 miles per gallon, depending upon the ambient temperature. The odometer has accumulated about 115,000 miles so far.
Brett said he drives the car home and it goes in the garage. It has never been wrecked, but it has not escaped the wrath of his boys.
The front bumper cover is cracked from one of the older boys climbing onto the bumper so he could tackle a younger brother. He was successful but he got on his father’s bad side in doing so.
Brett said he cracked the rear bumper when climbing onto it to measure the height of a basketball hoop. I won’t repeat what Brett told me he said when he heard the cracking sound under his feet.
Sadly, a little bit of tin-worm is starting to rear its ugly head. This is on the driver’s side and it’s a pretty close match to the other side.
It has been stated you only get once chance to make a first impression (First Generation Escort CC here); this is very true and it appears it certainly made a good impression on its only owner. While this Escort blended into the background twenty years ago, it has certainly defied the odds. Seriously, what is the survival rate of first generation Escort’s? Given a little time and a little care, this otherwise humble Escort has definitely risen above many of its contemporaries.
Brett is still too young to be thinking about retirement, but it’s likely gaining in size on his radar. For some reason, I suspect Brett will still be driving this Escort long after that day arrives.
Who knows? He might even wear out those Hawaiian seat covers by then.
My wife and I are veteran Escort owners, having owned four between the two of us, and we both feel that the first-generation Escorts must have been built better than the second. We’d often see reasonably rust free first-gens roaming the streets, while second-gens like ours seemed to rust overnight in the driveway.
We’d often see reasonably rust free first-gens roaming the streets, while second-gens like ours seemed to rust overnight in the driveway.
Was your 2nd gen built in Mexico or at Wayne Assembly in Michigan? Might have been a difference in the steel or build process. My 02 was Mexican and still looked nice after 8 years of living outside in metro Detroit. Other 97-02 2nd gen cars I saw had huge holes in the rocker panels and tinworm in the rear wheel arches.
As for the 81-85 version, I started seeing rust in the rear dogleg on wagons in 86, when I lived in Grand Rapids, MI. The bottom of the tailgate went fast too.
’97 to ’02 Escorts would be 3rd gen cars, ’91-’96 are 2nd gens, being the first generation based on a Mazda platform.
’97 to ’02 Escorts would be 3rd gen cars, ’91-’96 are 2nd gens, being the first generation based on a Mazda platform.
I figure the 81 and 91 are the two generations as they use completely different platforms, the 81 related to the 81 Mazda GLC and the 91 related to the 91 Mazda Protege. The 91 more closely resembed the Mazda than the 81 did, but the 81’s parentage was well known. Road & Track did a head to head comparison of the two 81s. Their observations being that the Ford’s engine was conceptually more modern than the Mazdas, and the Mazda’s rear suspension was more complicated, and worked better, than the Ford’s.
The midcycle refresh of the 81 series in mid 85 was new sheet metal and an engine increase to 1.9L. The 91 series midcycle refresh in 97 was new sheetmetal and the engine bumped to 2.0L
Wiki just doesn’t agree with me.
The 1981 Escort is not directly related to the Mazda; it was a Ford design, a global car designed in Ford’s European operations, with involvement from Dearborn, and “Americanized” for the US. It’s essentially the same as the European Escort, except for changes in chassis tuning and such.
The ’91 Escort is essentially a Mazda 323, using the Ford engine (except in the sporty versions), and rationalized for US production.
I’ve noticed that with early Focuses too – Wayne-built sedans and wagons tend to have rusty rocker panels, sometimes shockingly so for a 10-year-old car (or less; I first noticed this phenomenon in about 2008) while Mexico-built hatchbacks do not.
Hopefully Ford finally sorted out the problem when they expanded into the former Wayne Truck Plant to build the current Focus and C-Max.
Hopefully Ford finally sorted out the problem when they expanded into the former Wayne Truck Plant to build the current Focus and C-Max.
The new Focus is supposed to have a lot of “high strength” steel in it. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wonder if that “high strength” alloy is the equal to the cheaper alloy in terms of rust resistance.
Meanwhile, VW has enough confidence in Mexican galvanized steel to warranty it’s cars against rust through for 12 years.
I’m impressed.
Here in the Northeast the tin worm got these before their mechanical components wore out. It’s been awhile since seeing an Escort older than mid-90’s.
I’m embarrassed to say that I still see them sometimes around the working-class neighborhoods of Pawtucket, RI. Not that often, but maybe one or two per week. I even saw two first-generation Tempos in the last few weeks – one coupe in good condition and one sedan on its last legs! Before that, though, I couldn’t remember the last time I saw a first-generation Tempo.
On the other hand, I have not seen a first-generation Topaz, with its weird vertical taillights, or a Lynx in at least a decade. I think I’ve seen an EXP only once in my life (I’m in my early 20s, so ALL of those cars are older than me.)
As for the Mazda-based second generation, they are, of course, a bit more common though rust has probably gotten to them as well. At the Stop and Shop near me, there are TWO 1991-1996 Tracers in those weird ’90s Ford neon colors!
Knowing the history & owner of a vehicle brings articles like this to life and are my favorite reads here. It’s nice to know a few of these cars survive — ignorance & pride probably took out a large percentage of these Escorts.
+1 I completely agree. It’s the stories behind the car, and how these cars manage to survive, that makes articles like this so enjoyable. You know the owner has to be a responsible, patient and good hearted person to keep a bread and butter car going so long. Especially, In such cared for condition.
I’m thinking the bumper cover would have been less prone to cracking, in the early years. But successive winters, would make the plastic more brittle.
The Escorts, Cavaliers, Tempos and Shadows, were all simple cars that would have no trouble giving you 100-150 thousand miles, if you looked after them.
A family friend owned a ’91 Dodge Shadow for 21 years and 400,000 kms. This pic was taken in 2011. She kept the original wheel covers in the trunk. It was traded in during 2012, so it may be crushed now. But these small domestic cars from this era, weren’t that bad. Other than being generally underpowered and small, by today’s standards. But they’d last, if you looked after them.
Amen to that. The Tempo and Escort were good cheap honest point A to point B cars. In that post about the Tempo the other day, Ford was lambasted for making such a unimaginative car such as the Tempo and that Ford was out of touch with what buyers wanted in cars. Yet the same group here gushes over AMC and still mourns its loss and they made cars that were out of touch with buyers for decades before it died in 1987.
The proof is always in the pudding and Ford sold over 2.7 million Tempos(I don’t have production amounts for the Topaz so I don’t know how many of them were sold) in 10 years and the first year of it being offered(1984) Ford sold over 400,000 “unimaginative” Tempos to “unimaginative” buyers.
By contrast in 1984 AMC sold about 208,000 Renault Alliance and about 25,000 Eagle sedan and wagons. So basically the Tempo outsold all of AMC’s passenger cars by a wide margin. I dare say that Ford probably sold more Tempos in 10 years then AMC sold passenger cars for the last 20 years of its existence.
These cars sold because they were cheap and no other reason. I remember the Tempo selling for $8500 loaded toward the end of the run and the Escort for $5900 bare bones. This is 50% less than a Honda or Toyota and Ford would finance bad credit apps. This market, in Canuckistan anyway, has been taken by Hyundai, which is selling Elantras at $12,000 plus tax on the road.
Both the Escort and Tempo were not good cars. They sold on brand loyalty and price.
Friends and family members owned several post-1984 Escorts. Based on what I experienced, they were reliable enough, but lacked refinement compared to the best of the Japanese competition. Same with Tempos by the mid-1980s.
Once Ford got the bugs worked out of them, they were cheap to buy and cheap to run. They also had much nicer interiors than the GM competition from these years, although the GM competition had much peppier drivetrains.
If you didn’t want to buy a Japanese car, and needed something inexpensive and fairly reliable, they weren’t bad choices for people who wanted to get from Point A to Point B without much drama – or refinement or excitement.
Bullhocky. It all depends on one’s definition of “good”. I had both an ’84 Escort and an ’86 Novacorolla, care to guess with one was the better car?
I had a 1988 Honda Civic DX sedan that I bought brand-new. There is no doubt that it was a better all-around car than the Escorts owned by friends and family at that time.
I’m just saying that the post-1984 Escorts (which were much improved compared to the 1981 models) were not complete disasters, or even unreliable in the great scheme of things.
I learned to drive on a 1973 AMC Gremlin, and had friends who got their family Vegas to use as daily drivers. Another friend’s family had bought the first 1978 Plymouth Horizon in town. All of those cars WERE disasters in one way or another.
I’m no Ford fan but I know a few car killers including my sister who spent time with escorts. They are one of the more durable american small cars ever made.
My mother bought a nearly identical blue Escort LX in 1989 as her first new car. It was a slightly darker shade of blue and was an automatic. My parents had divorced a few years earlier, so she was quite excited to not be driving her 1984 K-Car, and this one had A/C!
She drove it for about two years until she rolled it on the highway after hydroplaning. By rolling it, I mean front to back, not side to side. She was OK, although her back was never the same.
She figured that car saved her life, so she immediately replaced it with a new 2nd generation 1991 Escort LX. That car was not as good. The first rainstorm we had after she bought it, she discovered that the windshield was not properly sealed and she arrived at work completely soaked. It never really had a serious problem, just lots of minor annoyances. It was a “Friday car”, apparently. She always talked about how much better the ’89 was.
Can’t say this model excites me, but the story does. Thanks Jason
Great story. Count me as another who loves to read pieces like this. A completely unremarkable car other than the the careful stewardship of a long time owner. And isnt it always the rotten kids to blame for most car damage? Just ask my Crown Victoria. 🙂
This car seems to fall in a crack, in real life we see lots of pristine old cars and lots of beaters, but seldom those in between like this. I hope this Escorts owner continues to have a long and happy relationship with his escort.
Just don’t see this generation Escort on NJ roadways much anymore. I always kind of liked these in GT form, for reasons I really can’t define. What’s the point of an Escort GT, anyway? 🙂
The story behind the car is what makes it special and Jason brought it to life in a most fine fashion. “Every car has a story” indeed. Well done!
My best friend in highschool had a 90 or 91 GT (5 speed). Was a nice little car, for sure. Just about perfect for him as it was already about 8 years old and was a hand-me-down from his dad.
I can’t think of the last time I saw this generation around northeast Ohio. Like so many older Japanese, they seem to rust away before they give out mechanically around here.
Have nice memories of those cars. My live-in girlfriend back in the 90’s had the bare bones (4-speed, not 5, in a two-door hatchback) Mercury version of the same car. Bought at one of those “buy here, pay here, we know you’ve got no credit rating so you’re going to be screwed” lots, it served her very well until I bought the ’04 Geo Metro which became her car.
For a bare bones cheapie, I always felt it to be reasonably comfortable, and it did the job.
I had a 1990 Ford Escort as my first manual transmission car. It had a red interior and a silver exterior and had power mirrors(my first car with any sort of power amenities 🙂 ). I was always impressed with it as I beat on it quite badly and it always kept going. I always got good gas mileage and it was quick enough for a car that had about 85-90 horse power. The only issues I ever had with it was that when I got it it was missing the cover that hid what you had in the hatch(connected to the back of the back seats and the hatch) and it had a bad drivers rear door handle. I got the cover at a local junk yard for $5(it was blue but the wrong colored one was better then nothing) I got the door handle and rivets for the thing at the local Ford dealer.
I miss that car.
My 1st car was a 1985 1/2 Escort that I owned for 9 years until it rusted out form the inside (the rear floor mats would freeze in the winter). My father called it “the wheelbarrow” until he started driving it & he enjoyed it so much he basically stopped driving his ’73 T-Bird. I consider my latest car, a 2005 Focus that I have for nearly 9 yrs., to be its spiritual sucessor. It has 46K miles on it & other than a few scrapes, still looks good & it keep it maintained thanks to my friendly neighborhood garage. I only wish that it had the same interior materials that my Escort had (more chrome, less plastic, better door handles).
Finally jason, could you get your friend a 4th hubcap for his car? It drives me nuts to see cars w/3 hubcaps.
Amen about the Focus. I had a 2005 Focus that I traded in because i stupidly thought had to have a big car. I miss that Focus as it was tough. It went through the 2010 Snowmageddon asking for more.
My parents had an 84 or so wagon in gray (pre-facelift). It replaced the 77 Impala wagon I learned to drive in – I guess they were ready to go back to smaller cars once I left the nest.
The Escort was ok but gutless with an auto. The only issje was the ignition module, which cut out on my dad in a pretty sketchy neighborhood in North Philly while be was going to see mg mom in the hospital. Apparently a common problem.
My dad loved Escorts. He had a basic 86 three-door and a 91 LX five-door. The 91 was a more reliable and comfortable car than the 86, which was crude. But there was something honest about the 86 that appealed to me. Not long ago someone who lives on a road I drive to and from work had an (about) 1988 Escort wagon for sale for $2,000. It was gone in a day, not enough time for me to get my head wrapped around maybe buying it just for the fun of it. I could have scraped together 2 grand.
This Escort is truly a Curbside Classic! I hope this car continues to bring its owner many more years of service.
A friend had a 1988 five-door hatchback that was still running as of 2000 with well over 170,000 miles on the odometer. He finally traded it for a brand-new Toyota RAV-4 around 2001.
The first North American Escorts were dogs, as Paul noted in his write-up, but Ford kept improving the car and updating the styling. There were several post-1984 Escorts in our extended family, and they all gave very good service.
Escorts and cars like that are for young folks just starting out – just like it was when you first bought it.
Now you are 25 years older.
Driving around in it just because it is still running and you don’t want to – or can’t – spend the money for something 25 years newer, just isn’t cool.
Do you still listen to CDs? Are you using Windows ’95? Using a fax machine? Are you still pretending to date the woman you’ve been married to for the past two decades? Do you still have a mustache, a mullet, a perm or a ponytail?
There comes a time to grow out of a car just like it becomes time to stop wearing Yoda t-shirts and jean shorts. There comes a time when dressing and driving like you are 30 doesn’t make you look younger – it makes you look like a creepy loser.
Give the Escort to someone under the age of 25. That is who is supposed to drive those things. Get yourself something that fits a man 25 years older who knows about the comforts in life. That goes by “Mr.” That is building savings and retirement instead of paying off college loans.
Its time for a Lincoln, a Buick or some upscale Japanese or German motoring appliance.
Curbside Classic can appreciate your old ride. But your kids should be driving this one – not you.
He may quite likely have built more retirement savings than the guy who buys a new Lincoln every couple of years. Characterizing a thrifty person may be harder to do than with a one-size-fits-all approach.
VD traffic incoming – my pleasure!
The author said this is his secondary car. If the owner likes it and enjoys driving it, sounds like that is good enough reason from the get go. At 25 years, it’s already passed into Antique/Classic licensing territory.
It’s also nice to know that there’s people out that have the ability to drive whatever they wish and select something because they like it and not because of what other people think.
The man we (my friends) called “Uncle Ted” drove a fleet grade Chevy Impala all the time. And he could have owned a garage full of Bugatti’s if he so chose. But he didn’t care what others thought. That is the “millionaire next door.”
So true. I read a book on the lifestyles of millionaires, and their preferred vehicles largely seemed to be F-series pickups or Panthers.
If I recall from one of the last chapters in “Millionaire next Door” one of the authors commented that they appeared to be buying the cars that were the cheapest per pound.
Damn, maybe I’m a millionaire after all! 🙂
In addition to what others have said, some people have to regularly drive in heavy traffic, or park their vehicle along the street or in very cramped parking lots during work. Driving a brand-new, $30,000+ vehicle and watching it get scratched, dinged, dented, etc., on a regular basis is not a pleasant experience.
“Do you still listen to CDs? Are you using Windows ’95? Using a fax machine? Are you still pretending to date the woman you’ve been married to for the past two decades? Do you still have a mustache, a mullet, a perm or a ponytail?”
Yes, One machine with Windows 98, Yes, I have been married to her for almost 24 years and we still go on dates, and no. And I still enjoy getting behind the wheel of my 93 Crown Victoria when I can wrestle the keys away from my daughter. 🙂
I must respectfully disagree with you on this. If driving a 1990 Escort makes the guy happy (or if driving it allows him to do other things that make him happy) then I admire the guy who is willing to do his thing and to hell with what the rest of the world thinks about it.
😉
Amen, bro… Thanks for responding in a way that I couldn’t have….
I’d much rather put car payments and interest into an early retirement. Once the new car smell wears off, all you have is a pit that sucks money out of your future, and lots of it.
And yes, I listen to CDs. The sound is simply better than other formats as they are not compressed. At the half century mark, quality is more important than quantity.
+1. CD’s beat the hell out any of these downloaded garbage formats, these idiot young’ens just don’t understand good musical fidelity. Hell, LP’s are better, too! And BTW, I’m 51 and my winter daily driver is an 18 year old Crown Vic, and my warm weather one is a ’78 Fairmont. The only late model vehicle I own is my ’11 Harley 😀 .
Q: “Do you still listen to CDs? ”
A: Well, yes … when I can’t find the cassette I am looking for! (Mostly kidding (but not totally))
——————————————
If this was a Trans Am with a Screaming Chicken on the hood you might have a point. But it’s not like this car was ever a status symbol, it is just a way to save some $ for kid’s college, Hawaiian vacations, or retirement.
(And FWIW, IMHO the Lincoln, Buick, etc. are status symbols just like the TA …)
Mr. Vanilla, with all due respect, that was rather rude!
Not everyone cares what others think of the kind of automobile they choose to drive. Case in point, my Grandfather, who worked his way up through Ford Motor Company, was at one point a millionaire, but he NEVER let anyone know it! It never bothered him one bit to drive rusty, banged up 1970’s vintage Ford Thunderbirds and Mercury Cougars to the Office, and park them amongst the Lincolns and Benzes and such. He was well respected within the company. When he retired in 1997, he decided to buy his first brand new car, a Mercury Grand Marquis LS, that my Grandmother still has today. After retirement, he bought each of his five children houses, and several of us grand kids a car.
So just because the thought of driving an older economy car makes you feel insecure, doesn’t mean it does for someone else. Grandpa took great pride in being able to provide for his family, and didn’t care what others thought.
And what’s wrong with jean shorts??? They are a heck of a lot more durable than the thin and overpriced material that one has to overpay for these days!
Sam Walton from Walmart fame used to drive around in an old ute IIRC.
Jean shorts only acceptable if cut from jeans with frayed ends and ‘hem’ sitting below the knee. At the risk of infuriating the younger members of the CC community, much current fashion leaves a lot to be desired (unless you’re Brendan Saur who looks super spiffy in his bio pic).
People who actually work at dealerships will drive anything with gas in it. Especially at new car stores, you’ll see lots o’ folks in over their heads. In fact, most of the people who worked at my Mopar stores drove beaters. They would never make car payments. Nor will I ever again.
Saw this very clean one a week ago
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Vanilla Dude, I still do listen to CDs, which were a godsend after dealing w/crappy vinyl in the late 70s/early 80s (i remember returning a Paul McCartney album 3 times due to defective vinyl) & I still use a FAX machine, but I still think you’re one of the most intelligent commentators of any of the blogs i frequent 😉
Vinyl is a lot more work, but on a half-decent system it still sounds noticeably better to me. Unfortunately there’s really no room in the house for a “real” stereo.
Thinking of vinyl records, one odd fact I learned a while ago is that Motorala got their start making record players for cars (Motor + Victrola (archaic term for record player) = Motorola). Sad to see them become just another Asian electronics brand.
My kids tell me that vinyl is making a comeback. My high-school age daughter wants a record player. Not the still nice linear-tracking Technics turntable hooked up to my system in the family room, but one of those little crappy portable suitcase-style ones that teenage girls listened to in 1961. Yeesh.
Don’t let that suitcase near your vinyl. The ‘stylus’ will gouge the living daylights out of your preciouses. Mmmm…. Linear tracking Technics.
Get her a Crosley – yes, it’s the same Crosley origin. Spawn got one from Santa Claus and it is nice. Knock on wood, but it hasn’t scratched any vinyl, some of which is late ’50s vintage.
Let me guess, classics from Frankie Boy. I’m lucky enough to have a few FS US Capitol 50s originals, but most of mine is inferior oz vinyl from the time. That thick and chunky US vinyl is very delicious and very durable. Probably preaching to the choir here, but if they do get a suitcase get a new stylus.
Don, I can report that “Breathless” by Jerry Lee Lewis is on the turntable and “Dreamland” by Brenda Lee is on the top of the stack underneath.
And, if you slow Brenda Lee down to 33 1/3 rpm, she sounds like a baritone male.
Someone just played a 45 of Jolene by Dolly Parton on 33 for me. Amazingly, it works. Sounds like a very swampy Tony Joe White version. One of my faves is Brenda Lee in Memphis LP out of the Chips Moman American studios. I don’t really collect 45s but I believe what you’re saying. Good on your spawn, btw.
Great stories here , the original one and the replies too ~
My ex psycho-B G.F. had the base L model ’82 Coupe in red with stick shift and an 8 track (!) , it had been side swiped stem to stern down the right side I had to hammer the door skin out with a 6X6 & sledge hammer to allow the window to roll down .
The DPO had discarded the PS belt when the pump went south , in the end it ran and ran and ran……
I repaired things as they failed , everything was dead simple and cheap to fix .
We scrapped it when the timing belt broke @ sun set on the worst part of East Los Angeles .
Amazingly cheap in every way , no horn button , you pressed in the turn signal stalk to toot and the front end had no adjustments other than the tie rod ends , you were supposed to chain down and pull/tweak the body to adjust caster and camber yet it was a sturdy and reliable beast .
Super good on gas too .
-Nate
Seeing this made me shocked to realize how long it has been since I’ve actually seen an Escort of this or the prior generation. They were so popular once; both with young folks starting out and also, as I recall, with older people looking for a small, basic car.
The story adds to it and also highlights a lifestyle I’d like to have some day: short trips to the office (if I do not still live in NYC) in an utterly forgettable car that I maintain regularly but use only for said short trips. But then, unlike Brett, a few land yachts in the garage for long trips, weekends, and pleasure. Of course if I stay in the city, the MTA is my “Escort”.
Quite different to the UK sourced Escorts we have but I see they go the brittle plastics of the UK bumpers down pat everybody elses bend and dent and can also be repaired Not Ford UKs though they shatter on impact and must be replaced during repair no doubt a nice little earner for Ford.
Just goes to show that cars can last forever, if taken care of.
Sure does
+1
I guess after the article on the 87 Sentra and the comments here I am forced to conclude I really don’t care if anyone likes what I drive. I think this car lasted so long primarily because the same guy was driving it. He probably will last longer because he didn’t try to keep up with the Jonses. The rat race is not conducive to longevity.
VD, I like your comments and like it even better that nothing forces me to agree (or disagree) with you. FWIW I normally don’t think you are far off. YMMV
I have essentially given away two of my favorite vehicles (both pickups) in the past six months. Would have driven either of them forever. The criteria for keeping was not that they were cool. Others needed them worse. I seldom get rid of anything that I can use some more.
Ah, good story. Brett the Escort Driver is somebody I can relate to…
Which reminds me, I’ve got an Escort story that I need to get to work on.
Easy to dismiss the first gen, 1981 up, as unimaginative, mediocre, and cheap. It was, however, revolutionary compared to the car it replaced–the rear wheel drive Pinto. I drove a last year (1980) Pinto for many years, and can say with confidence that it was horribly poorly built, slow, awful handling, and used far too much fuel for the performance offered. The 2.3 SOHC developed a crude, rough, rev-hating 89 bhp. Torque? What torque? The Escort was vastly improved in all measurable ways.
My sister and her boyfriend both had well used Ford Tempos. I am not sure of the the years but I know his was a few years older. If those cars could stand up to the thrashing that those two gave them then with care they would still be running to this day. The boyfriend’s was a stick shift. I rode in it with him ONCE….The first and only time I have seen anyone shift a car without using the clutch…
Find the right rev point and its possible. Used to be an oldschool thing like heel and toeing.
It’s true that you don’t see many of these anymore, and it’s kind of sad. Like others have said, cars like these are everywhere one day, and before you realize it, they are all gone, and when you do see one, it catches your eye.
I want to say this color was called Spinnaker Blue.
I think it’s safe to say your friend has gotten his money’s worth with this little car 🙂
It’s nice to read about someone having a positive Escort experience – mine was somewhat different….
I purchased a new 86 Escort GT when leaving Korea and heading to Hawaii on a military assignment – what a great looking small car – all white, asymmetrical grill, 5 spd, HO engine……built at Ford’s Wayne MI plant……..
Within six months it developed a brake problem that took repeated visits to the dealer to fix, the pedal would go down to a certain level, then the pressure would decrease and go down farther – “two step braking”…….
Then a little later the engine just flat quit in the middle of an intersection, and after begin dragged back to the dealer, was found to be an ECM problem.
Then it started overheating, fan clutch problems……
Later still, the A/C went out – the dealer opened up the system and pulled out what appeared to be some paper blocking the A/C hoses – he asked if I ever “opened up” the system – I said I didn’t……it had been in there since assembly………
That was enough for me and I sold it – the poor fella I sold it to had the wiring harness go out on him about a month later……
I drove Toyotas from then until 1999 when I bought a 99 Chrysler LHS which helped return my faith in US manufacturers…….
The varied stories about Escort experiences are quite interesting.
While it didn’t belong in this article, my in-laws purchased an ’85 Escort in late ’84. Other than a timing belt or two and a couple of ball joints, the car was still running rather well at 259,000 miles when a Jeep Grand Cherokee hit my father-in-law head-on. Nobody was hurt but it pushed the front axle of the Escort back about 18″. He had just put those ball joints on about two weeks prior.
My future wife had the wagon version of this. Same color but with automatic. I drove it once. No power, everything loose, and the smell of oil. Her son called it the Dorkmobile.
What a great story! I love it when someone makes an effort to keep a car going for so long, even if it’s something we wouldn’t consider “cool” nowadays. Props to the owner!
There are still some running around here in. WA. There is one in this clip of mine from 2011…
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ViFwfb_pq2k
CC Effect!
I saw this car in this color and it roughly the same decent shape driving down I-75 South yesterday. I told my wife that if I had owned a ’90 wagon rather than a ’93, I’d probably still have it. She gave me “the look.” 🙂
Did the basketball ring measuring incident happen before or after the brother-tackling incident?
Kudos for looking after the car so long, I’m not sure I would want to face that dashboard every day. I don’t imagine dash covers are sold for these any more but any home-made effort would be better than watching the dash self-destruct – or perhaps that is a point of entertainment at this point?
A friend’s mother bought one of these new in ’88 or ’89, this exact color inside and out but with only 2 doors. It seemed more modern than the ’83 we had at the time, despite being part of the same overall generation. My friend moved before too long but we had that ’83 until it broke a timing chain in ’94.
Impressive that someone has kept one up for so long–I very, very rarely ever see first-gen Escorts anymore. After a while it becomes a partnership of sorts–you and the car are in it for the long haul. And, with regular maintenance and with the low miles he evidently puts on it, the long haul may be quite long here. Great story!
I’m a little late to the show here, but I just discovered this website. The car I learned to drive on in the early 90’s was my parent’s 1988.5 Escort, nearly identical to the one pictured, save for theirs was an automatic. I loved that car, and when I had the money a few years later, I bought myself a nice used 1991 gen 2 Escort LX 3-door hatchback/coupe with low mileage and a 5-speed tranny. The fancier LX trim gave me side body mouldings, mudflaps, AM/FM 4-speaker stereo, remote electronic mirrors, deluxe wheelcovers, and intermittent wipers, over the base Pony. Sweet. The prior owner had aftermarket A/C and cruise installed as well, both of which broke within the first year after purchasing, lol, but that wasn’t the car’s fault, but the shoddy aftermarket parts and/or installation job. The broke college student I was I never fixed either of them. It was a sharp red color, in between the cherry red and the burgundy colored versions, with gray interior. The peppy little 1.9L engine was a hoot in the 5-speed manual, and had pretty tight handling. I bought it with 26K miles in 1996 and traded it in with 92K in 2002. No major mechanical problems, ever, and I beat that car up through my college years and beyond. It ate brakes from my hard driving, and for some reason burned through bulbs a lot, but otherwise was virtually trouble free. The only major SNAFU was the automatic seatbelts broke and cost me $350 to fix in ’99. The suspension was hanging by a thread when I traded it in, it was going to need all new shocks and struts. I miss that car. If I would have had a place to keep a 2nd car at the time I would have just kept it for the whopping $700 in trade value I got for it in 2002, but it wasn’t to be. Fun little car and great memories.
I had an 89 with the 1.9 and the 5 speed. The car was actually entertaining on a twisty road once you got used to its foibles. The steering told you absolutely nothing. Instead, the seat of your pants and your left foot told you how much grip you had. You got a quick initial roll, then it tightened upand that you felt in the seat. The front end plow you could kinda feel in your foot. Shifts neede to be deliberate and confident. The 1.9 had some grunt under 2000 rpm. Use it, enjoy it, the grunt is your friend. That engine doesn’t like to rev so don’t cross 5000. Set up the upshift, hit the apex, and let the grunt pull you out. When you get it all to work it’s a great feeling.
Bought my 1990 Ford Escort LX in January of that year. Manual, silver, hatchback. Slept in the back in a couple camping trips. Put an aftermarket sunroof in it. Drove it across country from Chilliwack BC to Montague PEI. Died in 2002 and rests at my mother’s house in PEI as I returned to BC. That car was freedom for me when I was young. Trips to Edmonton, Mt.St. Helens, Kamloops, Comox, Victoria and of course across Canada. Served me well. I actually miss it. Rest well good and faithful servant.