RE: Ford Escort Cabriolet 'Special Edition' | Spotted

[Cups Renault]

Lovely car, perfect embodiment of that era

Shame about the "flippant" nature of the article. Ruined it.
Imagine some of the bs laden tripe written nowadays for motors of ten times the price, that will be seen as utterly obscene in future given the economic issues of this day.
Probably gobbled up and consumed without one iota of thought by the individual who wrote this.

[J4CKO]

Cups Renault said:

Lovely car, perfect embodiment of that era

I think that is what so many are missing, yes it was never a great car but it has masses of nostalgia surrounding it, the image transcended its actual capabilities and lots of people enjoyed theirs, top down in the 1980s with some 80s tunes playing on a sunny evening.

I dont have any desire for one, and this one doesnt look that great and is probably double the price it should be, even allowing for being ambitious, would want utterly pristine for that money, and even then thats a niche market. But there is probably some 50 something Essex geezer done well who will fancy it and have a haggle.

Its like 80s computer/console games, they look dire now to those brought up on Xbox Series X, PS5 and PC games, but thats all we had at the time, and now 40 years later still have a soft spot for them, your opinion of stuff is formed when you first encounter it and that is difficult to shake. I still love seeing stuff like this, brings back memories of that time.

[cerb4.5lee]

J4CKO said:

Its like 80s computer/console games, they look dire now to those brought up on Xbox Series X, PS5 and PC games, but thats all we had at the time, and now 40 years later still have a soft spot for them, your opinion of stuff is formed when you first encounter it and that is difficult to shake. I still love seeing stuff like this, brings back memories of that time.

This brought back some good memories for me as well in terms of reminding me of the white 1982 XR3 that my Dad had back in the day. When he first got it I remember spending ages looking through the owners manual, good times.

I also remember when I got my Commodore VIC-20 years ago too, nostalgia is ace in many ways I agree.

[Agent57]

cerb4.5lee said:

I also remember when I got my Commodore VIC-20 years ago too, nostalgia is ace in many ways I agree.

Good times. We had a ZX Spectrum. Not your 16k nonsense either. 48 KB of raw computing power.

[s m]

Cups Renault said:

Lovely car, perfect embodiment of that era

Shame about the "flippant" nature of the article. Ruined it.
Imagine some of the bs laden tripe written nowadays for motors of ten times the price, that will be seen as utterly obscene in future given the economic issues of this day.
Probably gobbled up and consumed without one iota of thought by the individual who wrote this.

I’m surprised they’ve picked it out for consumption

The OP’s old Astra 1.3S would have left this for dead

[Kipsrs]

My sister had a new one of these, in blue, back in the day. . . Memorably bloody awful to drive, her boyfriend at the time had an absolutely gorgeous Dolomite Sprint which for some reason she preferred driving!

[Wren-went]

I will always have a soft spot for Escorts as my first ever car was a 4 years old MK4 F reg 1.8 DGL , my mum also.had several a MK3 A reg 1.3 Ghia & a MK4 G reg XR3i , great cars .

24grand for this.its not even an XR3! this would be at the bottom of the convertible range as there was also a Ghia , might be worth 4 but not £24,000 .

[Djtemeka]

That is one UGLY car. I wouldn’t have paid £2k for that heap let alone the ludicrous amount they’re asking.

Probably shows I’m not a Ford man then

[Agent57]

Wren-went said:

..its not even an XR3!

Well the badge on the mark 3 cabriolet said 1.6i but it was an XR3i in all but name.

Mark 4 cabriolet had the XR3i badge to match.

[J4CKO]

cerb4.5lee said:

J4CKO said:

Its like 80s computer/console games, they look dire now to those brought up on Xbox Series X, PS5 and PC games, but thats all we had at the time, and now 40 years later still have a soft spot for them, your opinion of stuff is formed when you first encounter it and that is difficult to shake. I still love seeing stuff like this, brings back memories of that time.

This brought back some good memories for me as well in terms of reminding me of the white 1982 XR3 that my Dad had back in the day. When he first got it I remember spending ages looking through the owners manual, good times.

I also remember when I got my Commodore VIC-20 years ago too, nostalgia is ace in many ways I agree.

I buy the remakes of the popular computers, bought an Amiga one last year, had a quick go and now its back in its box. Got a gaming PC, Xbox Series X on a massive telly and a Steam Deck I have used about five times, guess I am not all that bothered nowadays about games, like the idea but having kids, a dog, house, job and wife broke my ability to concentrate on stuff for hours.

[cerb4.5lee]

J4CKO said:

cerb4.5lee said:

J4CKO said:

Its like 80s computer/console games, they look dire now to those brought up on Xbox Series X, PS5 and PC games, but thats all we had at the time, and now 40 years later still have a soft spot for them, your opinion of stuff is formed when you first encounter it and that is difficult to shake. I still love seeing stuff like this, brings back memories of that time.

This brought back some good memories for me as well in terms of reminding me of the white 1982 XR3 that my Dad had back in the day. When he first got it I remember spending ages looking through the owners manual, good times.

I also remember when I got my Commodore VIC-20 years ago too, nostalgia is ace in many ways I agree.

I buy the remakes of the popular computers, bought an Amiga one last year, had a quick go and now its back in its box. Got a gaming PC, Xbox Series X on a massive telly and a Steam Deck I have used about five times, guess I am not all that bothered nowadays about games, like the idea but having kids, a dog, house, job and wife broke my ability to concentrate on stuff for hours.

I completely understand where you're coming from with this. I've been a big computer/console fan since the early 80's, but like you say the pull isn't there anywhere near as much as it used to be. I did recently pick up as PS Vita with my Christmas money though(I've also had a PSP since the were new), and I find those a bit easier now to just dip in and out of. Rather than being tied to a room/telly in comparison.

[b16ugg]

Used to own one B252 something great car loads of fun but £24k nope

[shih tzu faced]

Not for me but I do like to see old cars like this out and about, cheering up the roads in the summer months. Should really be a bit of retro nostalgic fun for someone to relive their youth, but the stupid prices that are asked for even very mundane crud these days has taken a lot of the shine off the classic car hobby. Everything is about money and investment potential now.

[JackJarvis]

Imagine going back in time 20 years and telling yourself these would be advertised for that sort of money.

[daytona111r]

You’d have to pay me £24k to drive around in that!

[Earl of Petrol]

I’ve never driven one but I don’t imagine it’s a great drive.
Nice nostalgia trip for some though but a £24k you’ll never get anywhere near your money back after 2-3 years.
I’ve got a thing about buying a Sierra Cosworth, a decent one is about twice the price of this Escort, but a bit of me knows it’s just an old car and probably disappointing.

[Harry Flashman]

But the Cossie is genuinely cool, whereas this skip is pants.

[ate one too]

Granted it was a different Escort Cabriolet but didn't Top Gear buy one for 600 quid for a cheap convertible feature ?

That is probably around what most folk would value this article's pile of white dog poo.

[Draxindustries1]

Earl of Petrol said:

I’ve never driven one but I don’t imagine it’s a great drive.
Nice nostalgia trip for some though but a £24k you’ll never get anywhere near your money back after 2-3 years.
I’ve got a thing about buying a Sierra Cosworth, a decent one is about twice the price of this Escort, but a bit of me knows it’s just an old car and probably disappointing.

Mrs D had one years back. You're right, they are very disappointing.
There's no doubt they go well even in std trim but it's a very low quality car, plenty of trim rattle and squeaks and a ride you wouldn't want to go far in.

[daytonavrs]

Makes my gifted to me free MGF VVC I acquired seem even better value for what it is. Also less miles than that one at I think likely at least as good condition.