RE: Ford Escort Cabriolet 'Special Edition' | Spotted

[trails]

A college mate had a mk111 1.6 Ghia cab, back in 1990, pale blue and he painted the bumpers to look like an XR3i, it was awful and he paid a fortune to insure it too.

A year later I had a brand new mkV 1.6i cabriolet. It was a terrible car, but great fun driving around in it at 19 in Essex being a long haired greebo kid

[asci.white]

Had a ride in one with the turbo conversion. It would bolt for the horizon like a crazy b'stard but hit any kind of bump on the way and it was all over the place, not helped by the owner being a bit of a prat. Definitely preferred the roof on version for more solid sensation you gained when driving over less than perfect tarmac.

Edited by asci.white on Wednesday 4th January 16:18

[bungz]

Looks quite tatty.

Has screw holds in the dash from some sort of mobile kit I imagine where self tappers have been used.

[ate one too]

Article says: "By which I mean very jazzy – jazzier than Glenn Miller in session at Ronnie Scott’s."

Glen Miller died in December 1944.

Ronnie Scott's first opened in October 1959.

Just sayin'......

[miscfiles]

J4CKO said:

...only problem was, it was pink..

Someone used to have one of those pink ones near where I lived as a kid. My dad used to drive me to school in the early '90s, and every time we passed this car, we'd make a (very mature and civilised) puking sound and mime vomiting in its general direction. This was from a white base model Austin Metro, so we weren't in much of a position to judge, to be fair.

[Jordie Barretts sock]

ate one too said:

Article says: "By which I mean very jazzy – jazzier than Glenn Miller in session at Ronnie Scott’s."

Glen Miller died in December 1944.

Ronnie Scott's first opened in October 1959.

Just sayin'......

And Glenn Miller was not and never was a jazz musician. He would have been horrified at the moniker.

[markj113]

used to own one of these, mk3 escort cabriolet SE with factory fitted RS bodykit.

Also retrofitted a nice recaro interior and power hood that came from a guy I worked with that crashed his uninsured Mk4 version

All went downhill when an on call fire engine reversed into my car and his station master's car taking out the front right wing and the bodykit I could never find an original replacement for.

[McRors]

The car is described as “jazzy”. IMHO, jizzy would be a better adjective.

Edited by McRors on Wednesday 4th January 16:57

[Limpet]

I sold new and used Fords in the early 90s, and these (and the later mk4 shape) never hung around for long. People absolutely loved them.

The dynamic and engine shortcomings of the XR3i seemed to matter much less in the convertible. They were quite enjoyable, characterful things to drive and lively enough for what they were. I seem to remember they had a quite a raspy exhaust note which used to go down well, too.

No way on God's green Earth would I pay £20k+ for one now though.

[Firebobby]

Hmm! I'd rather have a club foot. Spectacularly hideous from every angle. One good point, you could change the cambelt on these in 15mins on Fox lane Leyland with about 4 spanners.....been there, done that, got the tee shirt..

[JD2329]

Superficially attractive in the day - along with the original Mk3 RS Turbo (in white), the quintessential Essex fast Ford.
However if you were coming to this from anything made in even vaguely recent times it would be something of a shock - to say the least.
The CVH engine is gutless and rough as a bag of nails, with an omnipresent thrashiness. Along with all Mk3 cabs it will suffer from terrible scuttle shake and light build quality pervades throughout. It’s not a driving tool, nor a cruiser.
I owned two Sierras in period, and while not exactly Germanic in terms of quality they felt far more substantial than a Mk3 Escort.
Looks as if the vendor can’t even be bothered to prep it for sale - down to the ‘original’ tyres, which if true, must be a serious hazard.
As a low mileage relic from another era it still probably has enough about it to find a buyer, but any five figure price tag is beyond comprehension, let alone the asking price.

[cerb4.5lee]

I do enjoy seeing an older nice condition Ford like this these days for sure. However I didn't lust after these back then and still don't now, I'd rather have the XR3(i) or the RS Turbo instead.

[reddiesel]

I owned an RS turbo back in the eighties and like this that was pretty crap too . I traded it for a Peugeot 1.9 GTI and if I was looking for an " eighties " anything , this is where my money would be going .

[Draxindustries1]

I like some old Ford's and have a Mk2 Cortina 1500GT and Colin Chapmans 63 Lotus Cortina both totally original inc paint.. I'm looking for a completely original Corsair GT.
Some Ford's really appeal but can't think of any Escorts apart from a Mk1 twin cam I'd really want.
This truly is a tarts handbag of a car
and £24k is ridiculous. Its worth £5k at the most..

• Edit- it doesn't have its original tyres as in the ad. It has Pirelli P6 on the rear and Dunlops on the front.

Edited by Draxindustries1 on Wednesday 4th January 18:17

[snoopy25]

£24k ??? ffs.....

[Water Fairy]

rossub said:

Leins said:

I wouldn’t pay that even if it was a Glynis Barber special

I’d pay it if she came with it.

Maybe in her prime but not now. And just like the Escort, when new they were fashionably attractive but well past it now.

They were technically very poor and outdated at the time. Toyota had their 4A engines whilst Ford had the CVH.........Imagine a biscuit tin with the lid removed then halve the torsional rigidity.

This has Essex written all over it.

[carlo996]

[Slowlygettingit]

Earthdweller said:

When I said I wanted a 35 year old escort I didn’t mean a Ford Escort!

Fantastic!

[birdcage]

Cost of living crisis check. Escort cabriolet 'special needs edition' 23k check.

WHO would drive this even to the tip full of grass cuttings

[Water Fairy]

markj113 said:

used to own one of these, mk3 escort cabriolet SE with factory fitted RS bodykit.

Also retrofitted a nice recaro interior and power hood that came from a guy I worked with that crashed his uninsured Mk4 version

All went downhill when an on call fire engine reversed into my car and his station master's car taking out the front right wing and the bodykit I could never find an original replacement for.

Bloody Fire Service