For the love of Mk & Mk2's. Why
Discussion
I have a friend who has become obsessed about Ford Escorts, only mk1 and mk2's though, thank god!
My question is were they really all that good? I remember them well having driven a few and owned a 1.3 nail that would only just hit 90 and in my opinion didn't handle that well. A friend drove it into a bridge for me in the end.
Do we think Ford will sit up and listen to the fanboys and ever make another GT86 esque Escort or are these sort of cars, light, rwd and a bit fun, now dead? Killed by NCAP.
My question is were they really all that good? I remember them well having driven a few and owned a 1.3 nail that would only just hit 90 and in my opinion didn't handle that well. A friend drove it into a bridge for me in the end.
Do we think Ford will sit up and listen to the fanboys and ever make another GT86 esque Escort or are these sort of cars, light, rwd and a bit fun, now dead? Killed by NCAP.
kambites said:
90% of them were just mundane family hatchbacks.
Yes but one you could bung quarter bumpers on , rs alloys and shove a stage 2 head in.They were great , and i still have a load of respect for the mk2 escort. I grew up with them and they were damn good fun an great to throw about.
davepoth said:
Next year's Mustang may be a bit of a GT86 rival - two litre turbo engine and much lighter than the outgoing one by all accounts, and going on sale in Europe.
Yes, but how will it handle? It might have a pokier engine but if it goes round corners like it was built in the 50's then it isn't going to appeal to the "enthusiast" any more than the "underpowered" Toybaru.They were average cars whose most redeeming feature was the gearchange quality, something of a Ford feature at the time. The cooking versions had about as much in common with a full race/rally version as today's Focus has in common with the works car and generally these Escorts were popular with old(er) people. In case anyone doesn't know, you can stick the running gear of a 2.8 injection Capri into a 1.3LS in a couple of weekends but it doesn't turn the car into something fantastic.
Genuine RS specials are rare and a different animal, just like an RS2600 or RS32100 Capri. Still, good luck to the dealers who are raking in fortunes from mugs. As for RWD, so were most things of that era.
Genuine RS specials are rare and a different animal, just like an RS2600 or RS32100 Capri. Still, good luck to the dealers who are raking in fortunes from mugs. As for RWD, so were most things of that era.
V8RX7 said:
However why they are 5x the price of a Chevette I have no idea.
This is my point. Being 44 I remember them well and can't for the life of me fathom why someone would want to pay £20k+ for what is essentially in today's market a Fiesta. I have a friend who posts up a different picture of an Escort every day on FB with complete with drools. He owned two when he was young and they were both sheds. I can't help thinking it's just nostalgia gone mad.Then their is the weight and size thing. Do modern cars have to be as heavy as they are now because of crash protection? Could dropping the toys give people what they want, less is more.
9mm said:
The cooking versions had about as much in common with a full race/rally version as today's Focus has in common with the works car
Not quite true, the works cars still retained the same RWD configuration as the road car, unlike the modern WRC versions of e.g. the Focus which are 4WD. The suspension layout was the same as well, live axle at the back and McPherson strut at the front, albeit with extra location and competition dampers/springs for rallying.Whoever said they won a "few" rallies was clearly the master of understatement, they enjoyed phenomenal success on rally stages in the 70's and are still a very popular car at clubman level today.
V8RX7 said:
traffman said:
kambites said:
90% of them were just mundane family hatchbacks.
Yes Mr2Mike said:
9mm said:
The cooking versions had about as much in common with a full race/rally version as today's Focus has in common with the works car
Not quite true, the works cars still retained the same RWD configuration as the road car, unlike the modern WRC versions of e.g. the Focus which are 4WD. The suspension layout was the same as well, live axle at the back and McPherson strut at the front, albeit with extra location and competition dampers/springs for rallying.Fundamentally, the low powered versions handled much the same as the higher powered ones in my experience
9mm said:
you can stick the running gear of a 2.8 injection Capri into a 1.3LS in a couple of weekends but it doesn't turn the car into something fantastic.
As for RWD, so were most things of that era.
It bloody well does - they are great fun, I had loads but when I ran them probably 20yrs ago I was buying them for circa £2-4k with 200bhp+ Cosworth or tuned V6 engines in and they were quick cars - quicker than an Escort Cosworth (on a straight)As for RWD, so were most things of that era.
Even just a tuned 2ltr was good fun and felt quick.
Yes but in that era they were cheap, we are talking about the prices now and there really aren't many light, cheap, RWD cars available if you want to build a toy.
I had loads of RS Escorts back in the day and then they were good, I preferred V6 Capri's though. Moved on to MK1 Golf GTi's as they were just better. When people will rebuild rotten MK11 Pop shells from the ground up and others b
h about replacing sills on Porsche 944's shows it's not about cars just making money at the end of the day.
h about replacing sills on Porsche 944's shows it's not about cars just making money at the end of the day.Incredible international Motorsport success and rarity with a generous dash of scene tax. They're expensive because they can be. It's one of those instances where the seller can name his price and somebody will pay it, the longer it goes unsold, the higher the value.
Original AE86s had the same problem, just because Drifting took off in a pretty sudden way worldwide in the mid 2000s, the sellers and importers were demanding a premium because AE86s were most sought after RWD coupe. Cars that were complete sheds with sketchy history at best were asking £7k! Now that the drifting bubble has burst in the UK the prices have slowly dropped a little but they're still expensive.
Mk1 & Mk2 Escorts still demand high premiums because of their rarity, most are fully restored and/or modified. Because of the rules of rallying back then (rally cars were simply modified road cars at the time) it doesn't take much work to convert them to rally cars and so a lot of cars are bought as spares, mainly just for the shell, for classic rally teams etc which sometimes get crashed, written off and scrapped, rebuild new car.
Simply put, they're sold at high prices, because they can.
Original AE86s had the same problem, just because Drifting took off in a pretty sudden way worldwide in the mid 2000s, the sellers and importers were demanding a premium because AE86s were most sought after RWD coupe. Cars that were complete sheds with sketchy history at best were asking £7k! Now that the drifting bubble has burst in the UK the prices have slowly dropped a little but they're still expensive.
Mk1 & Mk2 Escorts still demand high premiums because of their rarity, most are fully restored and/or modified. Because of the rules of rallying back then (rally cars were simply modified road cars at the time) it doesn't take much work to convert them to rally cars and so a lot of cars are bought as spares, mainly just for the shell, for classic rally teams etc which sometimes get crashed, written off and scrapped, rebuild new car.
Simply put, they're sold at high prices, because they can.
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