RE: My First Car: Mk2 Ford Escort 1.3
Discussion
My first car a MkII, very fond memories.
I had a 1.1, which I threw in a 1.6 block (with twin carbs) and a gearbox from a 1.3. Sxxx off a shovel back then.
I removed all the interior to weld new plates in the floor where I set light to my inner car roof and I remember driving to the scrappy's to get a new gearbox (kept chewing 3rd, not surprising) with no interior, just sat on a beer crate.
I had a 1.1, which I threw in a 1.6 block (with twin carbs) and a gearbox from a 1.3. Sxxx off a shovel back then.
I removed all the interior to weld new plates in the floor where I set light to my inner car roof and I remember driving to the scrappy's to get a new gearbox (kept chewing 3rd, not surprising) with no interior, just sat on a beer crate.
My first car too! A MkII 1.3L
I was 17, she was 18, bought and sold her for £250 and had 7 years of fun getting the back out round wet roundabouts. She never broke down, taught me about mechanics lying on the road with my dad in our overalls changing brake shoes. My mates loved the character of it when the rich kids were snapping up the new Ford Ka model, an 18 year old Escort had charm.
I had blacked out the rear lights, drilled a pool 8-ball for the gear knob, lowering blocks on the back. I (thought I) was cooler than Snoop Dogg.
The memories. I miss her to bits, sold it for more of a 'proper car'. Ended up with a Peugeot 306 XTDT that was built like Mr Potato Head and gradually disintigrated as a drove along. The final straw was the heater matrix going and -5 temperatures outside and in. I wanted the Escort back.
I was 17, she was 18, bought and sold her for £250 and had 7 years of fun getting the back out round wet roundabouts. She never broke down, taught me about mechanics lying on the road with my dad in our overalls changing brake shoes. My mates loved the character of it when the rich kids were snapping up the new Ford Ka model, an 18 year old Escort had charm.
I had blacked out the rear lights, drilled a pool 8-ball for the gear knob, lowering blocks on the back. I (thought I) was cooler than Snoop Dogg.
The memories. I miss her to bits, sold it for more of a 'proper car'. Ended up with a Peugeot 306 XTDT that was built like Mr Potato Head and gradually disintigrated as a drove along. The final straw was the heater matrix going and -5 temperatures outside and in. I wanted the Escort back.
evom3 said:
The year is 1987 my first car a 1978 Ford Escort MK II 4 door in Stratos Silver. It cost me £115.00 to insure it TPF&T. Happy happy memories. By the time I reached 18 with loads of extra work and overtime I managed to buy myself a 1976 MK II RS2000 in Venetian Red. I also remember what I had to pay for the insurance. A whoping £527.00!! That's probably the same as about 4k now. I only paid £1500.00 for the car so I guess somethings haven't changed all that much. The insurance cost was a third of the value of the car. Still have a massive soft spot for the old skool Fords. I want another MK II RS2000.....
Seeing those pictures of the MK II's made me feel all nostalgic!! I have attached a couple of pic of my old MK I which I sold about 7 years ago. It was running a Warrior 16v 2.2. 22o Brake.... ![](http://thumbsnap.com/t/pX7MqiL6.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/X72JT9LC" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/t/X72JT9LC.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/NiUVSLU7" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/t/NiUVSLU7.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/u1X8tDMH" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/t/u1X8tDMH.jpg)
This thread makes me sad... I started driving in a time where first cars were no longer Escorts have become either a french box, fiesta or corsa. 
Although I loved my first car, Squirtle the Saxo, it does not bring the same amount of cult status and fond memories like the Escort have for many of PH's
Although I loved my first car, Squirtle the Saxo, it does not bring the same amount of cult status and fond memories like the Escort have for many of PH's
Jayho said:
This thread makes me sad... I started driving in a time where first cars were no longer Escorts have become either a french box, fiesta or corsa.
Although I loved my first car, Squirtle the Saxo, it does not bring the same amount of cult status and fond memories like the Escort have for many of PH's
Doesn't stop you buying an old characterful car though. I started driving when the Escort was being phased out, everyone went for a new small car on cheap loans being thrown out at the time, I bought and 18 year old Escort for £250 and loved every minute of the 7 years I owned itAlthough I loved my first car, Squirtle the Saxo, it does not bring the same amount of cult status and fond memories like the Escort have for many of PH's
My first car too. 'Twas a bright yellow '79 MkII 1600 sport. Someone had helpfully inserted a 2 litre with lumpy cam, twin 40 webers and the close ratio RS box. Because of the fat tyres (enourmous looking 13/205s) it would go sideways in 3rd gear in a straight line if it was slightly damp. I would duck out for a quick session every night it rained. I still miss it horribly.
First car in 1986 with 2k to spend was either the below or a high mileage MK3 Escort 1.3L CVH, dad never got why I went for something so old and noisy. Please excuse the yellow Ford nose badge and the 80's fashion
. Car was stolen later same year, police arrived almost immediatley and you could hear my Escort joining the A10 and opening up (twin 40's and Janspeed), but they were more interested in tea and biscuits rather than giving chase 
. Car recovered 3 months later and I bought the salvage from insurance co for 100 quid and then sold it off in bits, think in all got about 700 quid. Logbook still with me and shell still exists but way beyond saving so CAR21T unlikely to ride again. Replaced this with another MKRS2000 in yellow, reg RJC944T....is that still out there.
. Car was stolen later same year, police arrived almost immediatley and you could hear my Escort joining the A10 and opening up (twin 40's and Janspeed), but they were more interested in tea and biscuits rather than giving chase . Car recovered 3 months later and I bought the salvage from insurance co for 100 quid and then sold it off in bits, think in all got about 700 quid. Logbook still with me and shell still exists but way beyond saving so CAR21T unlikely to ride again. Replaced this with another MKRS2000 in yellow, reg RJC944T....is that still out there.
My Escort story.......
Not my first car (a Mini of course), but I wanted a Mark 11 Scort as the next step up the spotty youth rite of passage. In 1987 I found a shagged Mark 11 Mexico in the Thames Valley Trader, a 1976 P reg thing. Rotten wings, engine in the boot in bits and a matt black paint job. I gave £350, and towed it from Lightwater to Newbury on a 4 wheel trailer behind my Dads work hack, a Riviera blue Escort 1300L Estate. Which struggled, a bit. Poor old FOO758T had a hard life including getting stolen once.
This Mexico shed was wheeled into the garage and bare metalled, revealing a lot of very skillfully applied plop in the arches. In the end it had rear arches (inner and outer), front wings, a pair of doors from an RS2000 in the local scrapyard (those were the days) and a colour change from Jade green to Diamond white. Gowrings the local Ford dealer supplied all the new bits because they were so cheap, including the side stripe kit which I had in red. A trimmer mate put a new black vinyl roof on and it looked the b
ks. A set of Capri Lazer wheels (4 spoke RS basically) of dubious origin were added along with an RS2000 Custom interior bought for 100 quid. The carpets and bumpers were crap, so I bought a yellow N reg 1100L 2 door, one lady owner, 40'000 from new and rusty wings for £40, sold the engine for £50, had the bits I needed and weighed it in. :-(
Now the engine. I weighed up the cost of rebuilds, various secondhand 2 litre Pintos and rang Ford. A Ford exchange recon 2 litre was £280 so that's what it had.
I used it all through 1988, replaced the Crapi wheels with 4 spoke Revolutions, added 2.8i Capri Bilsteins, then bought a mint RS1600i in black and sold the Mex for £1100. I saw it in Banbury in 1993, rusted to buggery with some spotty yoofs hooning it about, so that was the end of it. LLU365P if memory serves.
Oddly enough, I don't have any feelings of "I wish i'd kept it". The RS1600i? Now that was a lovely bit of kit.
Not my first car (a Mini of course), but I wanted a Mark 11 Scort as the next step up the spotty youth rite of passage. In 1987 I found a shagged Mark 11 Mexico in the Thames Valley Trader, a 1976 P reg thing. Rotten wings, engine in the boot in bits and a matt black paint job. I gave £350, and towed it from Lightwater to Newbury on a 4 wheel trailer behind my Dads work hack, a Riviera blue Escort 1300L Estate. Which struggled, a bit. Poor old FOO758T had a hard life including getting stolen once.
This Mexico shed was wheeled into the garage and bare metalled, revealing a lot of very skillfully applied plop in the arches. In the end it had rear arches (inner and outer), front wings, a pair of doors from an RS2000 in the local scrapyard (those were the days) and a colour change from Jade green to Diamond white. Gowrings the local Ford dealer supplied all the new bits because they were so cheap, including the side stripe kit which I had in red. A trimmer mate put a new black vinyl roof on and it looked the b
ks. A set of Capri Lazer wheels (4 spoke RS basically) of dubious origin were added along with an RS2000 Custom interior bought for 100 quid. The carpets and bumpers were crap, so I bought a yellow N reg 1100L 2 door, one lady owner, 40'000 from new and rusty wings for £40, sold the engine for £50, had the bits I needed and weighed it in. :-(Now the engine. I weighed up the cost of rebuilds, various secondhand 2 litre Pintos and rang Ford. A Ford exchange recon 2 litre was £280 so that's what it had.
I used it all through 1988, replaced the Crapi wheels with 4 spoke Revolutions, added 2.8i Capri Bilsteins, then bought a mint RS1600i in black and sold the Mex for £1100. I saw it in Banbury in 1993, rusted to buggery with some spotty yoofs hooning it about, so that was the end of it. LLU365P if memory serves.
Oddly enough, I don't have any feelings of "I wish i'd kept it". The RS1600i? Now that was a lovely bit of kit.
I still remember watching my brother service his escort, i was about 7 or 8 he did plugs points oil etc. I then watched him try to start it for an hour, remove plugs to check for spark etc. Then I notice something by the wheel and pick it up one minute later the car was running. The thing I found was the rotor arm he had forgot to put back in.
My elder bro graduated from a Mk1 1300E to a brand spank MkII 1300 Ghia after the E was written off.
It was bermuda blue, janspeed, appliance slot mags, lowered, Burton stage II head and a carb mod. (BWT660S)
Have great memories of following the RAC Rally for several years in convoys of escorts arround wales etc back in the days when it was a real rally.
He pxd the escort at Branton Motor Co (run by Shades Donnely) for a 131 Sport that was a setp cahnge in performance.
I learnt to drive in a 2.0 Cortina and a Capri 2.0s (dads company cars) and then went down the italian twin cam route with a 131 and then strada 105TC and 130TC.
Always prefered the twin cams TBH.
Great memories tho'!
It was bermuda blue, janspeed, appliance slot mags, lowered, Burton stage II head and a carb mod. (BWT660S)
Have great memories of following the RAC Rally for several years in convoys of escorts arround wales etc back in the days when it was a real rally.
He pxd the escort at Branton Motor Co (run by Shades Donnely) for a 131 Sport that was a setp cahnge in performance.
I learnt to drive in a 2.0 Cortina and a Capri 2.0s (dads company cars) and then went down the italian twin cam route with a 131 and then strada 105TC and 130TC.
Always prefered the twin cams TBH.
Great memories tho'!
My younger brother managed to get a stupidly low mileage rust free MKII Escort 1.3 Auto 3 Door for his first car - I ripped the piddle a bit cos it was hearing aid beige and an auto (you know how it is with brothers) but it was ripe for a engine and box swap, some box arches and decent wheels.
ES335 said:
However, my real formative years were in our '78 MK II Escort. Boy did I thrash that thing and it never complained.
Had a few very hairy moments in it but amazingly never really pranged it. The worst was when a Renault 4 indicated left and then turned right onto the gravelled forecourt of a pub as I was overtaking him. He glanced off the Escort which hadnt a mark on it but his Renault was toast. Probably a severe tinworm case that was about to go at any moment anyway.
Not enough tin on a Renault 4 to feed an anorexic tin worm! I think if you'd been on a push bike when you hit the Renault it still would've come off worse!!Had a few very hairy moments in it but amazingly never really pranged it. The worst was when a Renault 4 indicated left and then turned right onto the gravelled forecourt of a pub as I was overtaking him. He glanced off the Escort which hadnt a mark on it but his Renault was toast. Probably a severe tinworm case that was about to go at any moment anyway.
Picture the scene , 15th May 1989 , the day I passed my driving test and I have a bank loan for £1000.
Straight to the local Arfur Daly type car sales place and within 20 minutes I was the proud owner of a 1980 V Plate 1.3L MkII Escort in duck egg blue with dog tooth trim , square headlights , 2 doors and holes in the sills. . and all for £525.
16th May off it goes to get 2 new sills welded in , think it cost me £20 to get that done. A quick call to my mums insurance man and Im insured for a whopping £225.
I spent the remaing £250 on road tax , a radio cassette player, 2 door speakers and petrol.
I remember learning how to slide ( or drift as they call it these days ) in the rain , I went through rear tyres like nobodys busniss but then again , I was running 155x70x13 remeoulds , £15 a pop springs to mind and I also remember rippng the exhaust off when on one of my sliding moments I ran out of skill and left the road. Again pennies to replace.
Started to make some changes and fitted a twin carburretor , and a mate sold me a set of Cortina Ghia alloys and tyres . I couldnt believe how wide those tyres were ! ! 185's ! have to laugh when I think back.
Had the usual prang here and there and then sold it and bought a 1981 W reg Capri 2.0S with fishnet recaros . . . . and thats a story for another thread.
I can still remember my 3 mates chipping in for petrol to go cruising , 50p each ha ha ha that got us £2:00 of fuel which lasted us all night , well a few circuits of the town and parking up at the local boy racers haunt.
Still , taught me a lot about car mechanics , it was either fix it and go cruising at night ,or let it be and sit watching Blankety Blank with the parents - MEH !
Straight to the local Arfur Daly type car sales place and within 20 minutes I was the proud owner of a 1980 V Plate 1.3L MkII Escort in duck egg blue with dog tooth trim , square headlights , 2 doors and holes in the sills. . and all for £525.
16th May off it goes to get 2 new sills welded in , think it cost me £20 to get that done. A quick call to my mums insurance man and Im insured for a whopping £225.
I spent the remaing £250 on road tax , a radio cassette player, 2 door speakers and petrol.
I remember learning how to slide ( or drift as they call it these days ) in the rain , I went through rear tyres like nobodys busniss but then again , I was running 155x70x13 remeoulds , £15 a pop springs to mind and I also remember rippng the exhaust off when on one of my sliding moments I ran out of skill and left the road. Again pennies to replace.
Started to make some changes and fitted a twin carburretor , and a mate sold me a set of Cortina Ghia alloys and tyres . I couldnt believe how wide those tyres were ! ! 185's ! have to laugh when I think back.
Had the usual prang here and there and then sold it and bought a 1981 W reg Capri 2.0S with fishnet recaros . . . . and thats a story for another thread.
I can still remember my 3 mates chipping in for petrol to go cruising , 50p each ha ha ha that got us £2:00 of fuel which lasted us all night , well a few circuits of the town and parking up at the local boy racers haunt.
Still , taught me a lot about car mechanics , it was either fix it and go cruising at night ,or let it be and sit watching Blankety Blank with the parents - MEH !
Ahh, the Mk2 Escort. JYG162N was mine. An 1100l two door with sport suspension. Drum brakes all round.... Vista Orange, and rust........lots and lots of rust. Painted the sills in black bitumastic in an effort to preserve its life.......... every year come MOT time the bitumastic tide mark got ever higher!
Mountney Steering wheel, Kienzle clock and rev counter on a snazzy (read crappy) centre console..
Got T boned by a sleeping idiot one saturday morning in Torquay.. Sold it for 100 quid to some bloke down the pub. Replaced it with a 1967 Triumph Vitesse (Cactus Green, dunlop racing alloys and a Brixham engine - mighty fast! till it blew the diff spectacular stylee whilst racing a Porsche 924 up Porlock Hill...)
Happy days
Mountney Steering wheel, Kienzle clock and rev counter on a snazzy (read crappy) centre console..
Got T boned by a sleeping idiot one saturday morning in Torquay.. Sold it for 100 quid to some bloke down the pub. Replaced it with a 1967 Triumph Vitesse (Cactus Green, dunlop racing alloys and a Brixham engine - mighty fast! till it blew the diff spectacular stylee whilst racing a Porsche 924 up Porlock Hill...)
Happy days
1980, me a 20 year old Sales Rep graduating from my own 8 year old Morris Marina to a brand new Gold coloured Ford Escort 1.3 Popular Plus (it was one model up from the Popular and one below the L) I was as happy as Larry because as a two door with black bumpers and trim it looked sporty - I even picked the Pop Plus sticker off the boot, I picked it up from a Ford dealer in Rochdale after handing over a company cheque for £3000.
Loved it, scariest moment was 5 up on the M6 on the way to the NEC Motorshow, touched 105 in the rain, the back end going very light as we took the slight bend by J15. Next car was Mk3 1.3L which was way faster...that would hit 113 on the same stretch of road.
Loved it, scariest moment was 5 up on the M6 on the way to the NEC Motorshow, touched 105 in the rain, the back end going very light as we took the slight bend by J15. Next car was Mk3 1.3L which was way faster...that would hit 113 on the same stretch of road.
never had one but as a kid i drove a neighbours Mark 1 on the sly when they visiting my parents (people left keys in the ignition those days); also had a few scary spins (as a passenger) in a neighbour's rebuilt Mark 1 Mexico - remember going sideways a lot and bumping my head off the foam rubber tied round the roll cage. apart from being a real fun car, i reckon the quality of the gear shift has never been bettered. a college mate into historic rallying eventually had about 20 (mix of Mark 1s and 2s) in his back yard until the local council come round with a clear up notice and spoiled the fun. his opinions on subsequent Escorts is unprintable ...
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