R&T did this article similar to the X-cars technical analysis, although low-keyed.
Again from 1980 July’s issue, Ford’s first World Car is upon us. How much could it be worse than the Pinto it replaces?…
Here’s PN’s take on the 1981 Escort: You Never Get A Second Chance To Make A Good First Impression
I see more Mazda 323 (type BD) than Ford Escort Mk3 in that drawing.
And the grill in the rendering is from the Mercury Lynx rebadge.
From what I recall, there were few if any interchangeable parts between the USA and European versions. For some reason, the American versions had a lot of positive camber in the front suspension which made them look knock-kneed, and they had cheezy-looking plastic hub caps that detracted from whatever style they had.
Later, around 1984 Ford improved the American version of the Escort / Lynx. I owned a 1987 Mercury Lynx GT. It was a nice highway cruiser and quite reliable.
Reliability seemed to be hit and miss. A friend had a 1986 (if I remember correctly) Escort GT that he put 200,000+ miles on with no real trouble. I had a 1988.5 GT that had horrible reliability. I couldn’t wait to be free of it. Things like the starter shorted so badly it took out the battery, a cracked head, a flat cam lobe, the radio quit, water leaking to the interior, pealing clear coat, broken shift rod…the list goes on. But when it was running, it was a fun and comfortable car to drive.
I don’t know how the early Escorts with the carburetor engine did but I had a 1990 (last year of the 1988 1/2-1990 refresh) with a 5 speed manual trans and a CFI(Ford speak for the TBI fuel injection system) 1.9l engine and it was pretty good in traffic and around town.
If I could find a 1985-1990 Escort(i.e. any escort with fuel injection) that was in good shape for a good price I might bite.
I remember that article, which sucked me in. While mine wasn’t a total lemon, I should’ve paid attention to the reviewers & got a GLC, Civic, or even a [more expensive] Fiesta instead. Its biggest flaw was its gearbox, which stayed notchy forever & had too wide a gulf between 3rd & O/D 4th. And the CVH wasn’t very refined. In general, I would say it was half-baked, as if Dearborn didn’t really care, and Europeans got the better, & better-looking, version.
The Escort’s damping was poor; its handling was •greatly• improved after an [expensive] strut replacement. Unusual for its class, it was neutral in steady cornering, probably because of its wonky IRS.
We had a fleet of the european version of these, with a heightened rear roof to be classified as a van, and then configured as a 2 seater, with a lightweight empty rear glassfiber shell. Those escorts were excellent for the purpose as pizza delivery vehicles, quite speedy with the light weight and the 1.6 plus manual. More than once did we duke it out on longer road streches side by side other competing pizza delivery companies, with their inferior delivery vehicles.
The european xr3 version was pretty sweet to, a ford version of the rabbit gti essentially.
I once got to ride in an american version of the same, and with auto, power steering and ac, these cars were totally overtaxed, and completely changed character to a pile of dodo. Not to mention no dealer wanted any part of it, as they didnt have supply lines for maintenance parts.
There were 3 sporty models during the Ford Escort Mk3 production run. The XR3 (carb), the XR3i (fuel injection), the RS1600i and the most powerful Escort Mk3 hot hatch was the 132 hp RS Turbo (pictured below).
The XR3 and XR3i were quite common, and could be seen on the roads frequently, the RS models were rather special.
Volkswagen Golf MK1 and 2, Ford Escort Mk3 and 4, Opel Kadett D and E. Those were the undisputed kings of the C-segment (compacts) in Northwestern Europe in the eighties.
I used to own a white 86 Escort LX wagon, and my youngest brother owned an 87 gold Lynx GS coupe… Good little cars, very reliable with minor maintenance issues.
The orange car in the techno-art renderings with the waterfall grille looks like an 81 Mercury Lynx coupe, while the blue coupe is an 81 Escort coupe… But the wagon rendering looks exactly like an 88-89 Mazda 323 based Mercury Tracer wagon.
I had an ’87 Escort GL wagon that I enjoyed owning until I traded it in 7 years later. It had 123,000 miles and the original clutch at that time. No major problems ever.
Considering what was coming out of Detroit at the time, these little Escorts were pretty damn good little cars. I know many people that even had first year Escorts and loved them. I had three Escorts. My first was a 1988 1/2 GT. It was red with gray interior. I believe the sticker was just under 10k, and it was loaded. The only problem I had was an issue with a water leak in the interior. Three different Ford dealers could not find it so Ford ended up buying it back. I then got a white 1989 GT to replace it that was perfect. I drove that one for 50k trouble free miles and then the Mazda based GT came out in 1991. I special ordered an Ultra Blue one with a power moonroof and 5-speed tranny. That car was fantastic. It was fast and economical too. I drove that car almost 100k and never had an issue. I then went to Hondas and haven’t had anything new since.
This was my 89 GT owned from Feb. to August 92.
I remember these type of drawings of Stehrenberger in R&T. They almost always look sleeker and more European than the real cars.
Stehrenberger made everything he drew look really great. 🙂 And then the real thing never lived up to his predictions. 🙁
I saw his drawings regularly in Auto, Motor, und Sport back in the 70s, where he was a regular. I was a bit surprised to see him make the jump to the US, but he was really good at imagining how cars would likely end up looking based on the intelligence that he had. Although he could flub it too.
Likewise, those Fitzpatrick & Kaufman Pontiacs ads (in a previous posting) made you wish you could jump into those fantasy worlds they created & live like the beautiful, carefree people in them.
Even on a smaller level, my parents’ landscaper did wonderful wash drawings of what our backyard would look like. I almost wish we could’ve hung those up outside instead of proceeding with the real thing, which like all landscapes required continual maintenance. Commercial art can be very seductive.
These were good cars, despite the US spec version having a tendency to crack the cylinder head, about the only thing that ever went wrong with them. But Ford did offer the European head in their Ford Motorsport performance catalog.
I thought they were crap, at least the first few years. The chassis was totally not sorted out, making them tippy-feeling handlers. The engine was feeble and moaned terribly. The overdrive four speed manual was really a three speed with overdrive, which was way too few gears for this weak engine. And the automatic shifted with a bad jerk. The interior was cheap.
Like so many Detroit cars, they got steadily better with time. But it was a crappy start for such a ballyhooed new car.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1981-1990-ford-escort-you-never-get-a-second-chance-to-make-a-good-first-impression/
+1 cheap interior.
I forgot to mention, the rear quarter interior top panel began to disintegrate into crumbs after a couple of years. Yes, it got some Calif. sun☀, but that was unacceptable; plastics usually degrade more gracefully & Ford could do better than that.
I had an epiphany after renting an E70 Corolla for an interview, marveling at how solid it felt. So while Escorts did improve after awhile, I stopped caring by then. This story was probably repeated many times across America.
I’ll echo everything Neil said.
In 81 my mom was looking for a replacement for her 72 Gran Torino, and looking to downsize.
I tagged along as she took a looksee at a new Escort wagon with the manual trans.
I rather liked the engine and it’s iirc Holly built Weber carb seemed to work quite well, compared to the thing my POS 78 Zephyr had.
The shocks were weak, which was typical of 70s Fords, and the front would bob up and down 2 or 3 cycles after going over the crown of the crossing road at an intersection.
The really bad part was shifting the thing. Ford apparently decided it would never ever be accused of having easily confused pedals. Having the seat adjusted for easy reach to the brake, I had to stretch to reach the gas pedal, while pulling my leg way up to get on top of the clutch. After dealing with the pedals, rowing the thing was another challenge. There was a dead end next to 3rd. Repeatedly, I would think I had it solidly in 3rd, only to be greeted by a ZIIIIP! when I released the clutch for a moment. Some months later, I was sitting in my apartment with the doorwall open. I heard a car enter the parking lot, accelerate, shift and ZIIIP! “Sounds like an Escort” I thought. I looked out the doorwall as the car passed…”yup”
Mom ended up getting an 81 Mazda GLC sedan, from the first batch of notchback GLC sedans to hit Kalamazoo. Better shock damping, better pedal location, and the shifter on the 5 speed never ever crossed her up.
I guess we got lucky Ford out this way simply cloned the Mazda 323 calling it Laser they were really good cars and I still see some in service today cheap to buy and run students still lap them up and boy/girl racers still lust after the hotrod Mazda versions ex JDM the only issue is the fuel injection going bad but carb conversions are simple enough.
Again I’m struck by the gulf – or chasm – between EU and US versions of the same car. I had an XR3i and it was a true fun car which felt better the harder you caned it. The only bad point was the small brakes but there were enough aftermarket firms offering upgrades. I would not mind having one today.
Nice. I checked the specs of the Ford Escort Mk3 XR3i on an English website. It had a 105 hp 1.6 liter fuel injection engine, a 5 speed manual and the car’s weight was only 2,027 lbs.
What happened is that your beloved light and nimble Escort was transformed into a lazy low-power Ford Sierra Brougham (Ghia).
So why did the American and European cars end up sharing so little? Was it just mildly different market specs or really different underpinnings?
A combination of factors. It was something that happened inevitably with all these shared “global” cars: Horizon, J-car, Escort, etc…
The US home offices felt these cars needed to be “Americanized” to suit local taste and flavor. As well as cheapened, because profit margins on small cars were elusive in the US.
The basic car design in the case of the Escort was largely the same, although the American body did have to be extensively re-engineered for the bumpers, safety regs, etc Th suspension was the same design, but I don’t know what US Ford did to the US model. Soft springs, cheap soft bushings, crappy shocks, all in an effort to get a softer ride, i assume, but the result was atrocious.
Even VW tried to “Americanize” the US-built Rabbit/Golf, and that turned out bad too.
The US firms were just clueless about small cars. Their engineers weren’t really motivated, because nobody really liked small cars, so the results showed.
It’s why the Japanese ate up the small car market.
Small cars were completely changed by the addition of hundreds of pounds of 5mph impact bumpers, structures to support them, and emissions controls. Europeans may pride themselves on being green sheep today, but their cars polluted even more in the ’70s and early ’80s than their diesels do now. We in the US were the beta testers for effective emissions controls before semiconductor technology evolved to make them work smoothly. As a result, a 1.6 liter engine with a 2 barrel carburetor that might make 88 hp and burn minimal fuel with a high compression ratio in Europe became a 66 hp gas guzzler with crummy drivability in the US. Crop 25% of a small car’s power while adding 20% to its mass to meet regulations and you’ve got the makings of a car as transformed as the US has been over the past seven years.
The difference with Japanese cars was more quality, value, and durability of mechanical components than out and out performance. They weren’t usually faster or better handling, but they were jewel-like compared to something from Detroit, France, Italy, or the UK.
I love this reply, telling it like it was: “Europeans may pride themselves on being green sheep today, but their cars polluted even more in the ’70s and early ’80s than their diesels do now. ”
So many rag on Detroit but then as CJ says “we were beta testers for Emissions equip”.
Not all imports were Camrys and Accords, lasting “forever”.
I think that people often forget that, when the Ford Escort debuted in this country, you could still buy a brand-new Fiat Strada and Renault LeCar.
The AMC/Renault Alliance would debut three years later.
The first VW Rabbit was still a major player in this segment.
GM’s offering was the doddering Chevrolet Chevette!
The Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, meanwhile, hadn’t quite achieved the level of dominance that they enjoy today.
Given those competitors, it’s not hard to see why the Escort sold well for Ford throughout the decade. Compared to the Fiats and Renaults, the Escorts were more reliable and had a far better dealer network. Stepping from a Chevette to an Escort was like entering another century.
Ford really did work to correct the faults of the 1981-82 Escorts. Several friends and relatives had 1985 and later Escorts, and all of them gave reliable – if somewhat uninspired – service.
I tested a first generation Escort for a week and quite liked it. Don’t remember what tranny it had. Years later I learned the automatic transmissions were not very durable.
I remember the first time I drove a first generation (US) Escort. This one was a brown wagon, tan interior, and a 4-speed. I now understand how Car and Driver came up with the description of “Whangy-spriongy” in regards to the driving dynamics (or lack thereof) of the Escort. Nausea-inducing handling, a wobble-stick shifter, a 1.6 liter threshing machine under the hood made for a horrific driving experience. Awful cars. A couple of years later, I started working at a detail ship. We would get to do pick-up and deliveries from Budget-a-Car for cars coming out of the rental fleet and going to the sales lot.One time they had a bunch of 1982/83 Escorts that were eng (mercifully) their tenure as rentals. My negative impression of the Escort got worse after driving the automatic transmission version. What a penalty box!
We had two of these in our family and neither were great vehicles. My dad bought his retired older brothers low mileage and well kept 81 coupe in 1985 and this one was rather smart looking with two-tone trim and a sunroof but it promptly coughed up a head gasket. After that was fixed it was a decent vehicle until it was totaled in an accident a few years later. My mother bought a stripped-down 1985 four-door, her first ever new car. The 85 1/2’s had fuel injection and were a much better car all around. The carbeurated 85 she had was an absolute dog. When I was 29 in 1995, I decided to clean up my financial house and have a car with no car payment. My parents sold it to me for just $750. My mother had it for 10 years but it had less than 60,000 miles on it, because her commute to work was about 5 miles each way. But they were hard miles in our harsh winters here in Michigan. Tin worm set in badly. Nevertheless, it had been a decent car for her in general. On my watch, after about two months it coughed up a head gasket. It didn’t like being kept outside at my apartment complex in winter, I remember it would go no faster than about 30 on extreme winter days until it warmed up. Other than that, it never left me stranded. One day I noticed the rear wheel was splaying out. The mechanic told me that the unibody was actually rusting out at the rear strut mounts at the attachment point to the car. He couldn’t weld rust to rust. Sooner or later the car I would break apart. This prompted me to get rid of the car after about eight months. I upgraded to a low mileage 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix, which I drove for the next six years, but that car was hardly trouble-free either.
I think the 1.3L engine was cancelled before the Escorts introduction. Being in the parts business the Escort is the car we all learned what “interference engine” meant.
My Mom bought an ’81 Blue Escort wagon with a replaced engine from an ’85 Escort (cylinder head crack, a common issue). Other than a cracked distributor cap that caused it to stall on rainy days, it was reliable. The engine mount rusted through and Dad put a vice grip on it and wrapped it in electrical tape and we drove it for another year. It had a automatic and was SLOW.
Later on, Mom bought a similar ’85 Tan colored wagon and we got similar good service from it. They went on to buy a ’95 Escort, and then ’05 Focus (I think) wagon. They had some problems with the Focus and Ford no longer sold them as wagons, so they moved on to a Subaru Outback, which my Mom adored.
Personally, I bought a used ’92 Escort in ’94. I hated it.
FYI – the best year of the new for 1997 Escorts was the 1997 – after that year the bean counters started removing items to cut costs – door panel trim was only on front door, blackout door paint was replaced by body color, sound deadening was removed – I know – I have a 1997 and rode in a 2000 model that a friend owned and was surprised by what was removed – totally cheapened the car.
My 1997 Escort is the best car I’ve ever owned – just got 50 mpgs on the highway this weekend, it has 170k on the odometer, and has been very reliable. Only maintenance items replaced. Nothing defective.