Ford Escort Mk1: PH Ad Break

Sport, saloon or estate? Ronnie Corbett decides!

Nothing like a bit of celebrity endorsement to flog your new car, right? It's certainly not a new tactic as proven by this Ford Escort commercial, which must be nearly 50 years old now.

Like a great deal of adverts, the premise is simple: Ronnie drives all the Escort available to prove just how diverse the Escort range is. He has many to chose from and so do you, potential Ford customer! Just as Ronnie thinks he's settled on a fetching red Escort Sport, Mrs Corbett decides on the estate. Poor Ronnie. He should be more concerned that all the cars are left-hand drive but there were clearly bigger priorities (no pun intended).

As is so often the case, this is a nice reminder of when car adverts could be just that, and didn't require moody lighting or a hidden metaphor to be successful. Plus, if you're lucky, YouTube will send you onto some Escort MkI rally vids soon after...

Watch it here.