RE: Shed of the Week: Ford Escort Encore

[Motorrad]

They were crap when they were new, I was given one to replace a Vectra which had immobiliser failure. I was actually glad to have the Vectra back it was so poor.

You can do better for 750 quid in the UK, shed fail, more like 250 quid.

[BFleming]

There have been better sheds (all of them TBH) but not many better gags than the 'Wayne Rooney' one above. Looking forward to next week's shed already, as anything will be better than this.

[TooMany2cvs]

thetapeworm said:

This one ... great for practising "detailing" on, came up a treat.

So you CAN polish a turd?

[BFleming]

Lotusgone said:

Hmm. I understand the need to explore the definition of "shed"...

That prompted me to get the urban dictionary out & see what they said. This made me chuckle: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=she...

Shed
Brit. slang for a crappy car, usually a hatchback, driven by a "Barry Boy".

A popular choice of the acned teen as their first "wheels", sheds are often "done up" with bits of nasty body kit, aftermarket exhausts and - in urban settings - a thumping uprated music system.

Shed owners often can't afford to put petrol in their cars so are commonly spotted on Friday nights meeting other non-driving shed owners in supermarket car parks to exchange advice on the best make of gaffer tape to stop bits of chrome and trim falling off their creations.

[PistonBroker]

Well, we've established it's rubbish, so shall we explore potential for it to redeem itself?

I'm thinking 2.0 Zetec upfront and resultant necessary upgrades to the chassis would make it into a fine sleeper.

[sbrind4734]

I had one of these in the same colour but wrote it off on the M20 due to a blow out in the fast lane. This was the day before my LGV test , which I passed. I am surprised there are still some of these about!!

[r11co]

I had three of these back in the day - a 1.4 HL, a 130BHP XR3i (they did a 105BHP version as well) and a 'Mexico' facelift (the name was a travesty but the spec was quite good for the time), and I really don't get the hate for these as they were in every way superior to the MKIII/IV hunks of rusty junk that preceded them. Took all three on several trans-Europe trips and they never missed a beat, handled tidly and the '3i was no slouch at the time.

Not my exact car, but the one I had was identical....

[Leptons]

My mum had one like that, in red. I don't know if this has already been said and can't be arsed to trawl through the comments but I seem to remember They had some weird arrangement that allowed them to run a cat without fuel injection.


P.S Scrap it.

[Balmoral]

Even Sam Toy (doing a Ratner) said they were rubbish.

[ThePeach]

This is a proper shed! Remember driving a bog standard estate as a courtesy car some 15 years back and loving it.

[Numeric]

I worked at Longbridge for a bit and the Morris Marina and Allegro owners clubs turned up - I had to say when asked that just cos a car is old doesn't make it any less horrid than it was when it was new - it's just old rubbish today where it was new rubbish back then.

I'm not sure they agreed with my views....

[DoctorX]

I had the misfortune to own a diesel version. By far the most unreliable, worst built and most expensive car to keep on the road I've ever owned.

[phil_cardiff]

If I remember rightly the facelift had a bit of Richard Parry-Jones magic thrown at the chassis and 16v engines.

It was in one of those that I broke 100 leptons for the first time on a private road...handles quite well too.

[Barchettaman]

There's normaly a 'reserve Shed' in case the chosen one gets sold or the advert disappears.

Can you put up the reserve anyway, as this Escort is such a dull, disappointing, steaming pile of poo?

[MarshPhantom]

r11co said:

I had three of these back in the day - a 1.4 HL, a 130BHP XR3i (they did a 105BHP version as well) and a 'Mexico' facelift (the name was a travesty but the spec was quite good for the time), and I really don't get the hate for these as they were in every way superior to the MKIII/IV hunks of rusty junk that preceded them. Took all three on several trans-Europe trips and they never missed a beat, handled tidly and the '3i was no slouch at the time.

Not my exact car, but the one I had was identical....

Being not as bad as some other Escorts doesn't make it a great car.

I had a brand new 55d van for a few months that struggled to do much more than 70 when new.

[forzaminardi]

Slow week for Sheds, evidently - unless this was just selected for the entertainment value.

Anyway, I know it's an 'Encore', but I recall the adverts for the contemporary special edition Escort 'Eclipse' which featured a couple of birdwatchers (ooer) spotting said vehicle and one snottily informing the other "It'th an Ethcort Eclipthe" in an annoying slightly lispy tone.

[Balmoral]

Numeric said:

I worked at Longbridge for a bit...

Escort, the Allegro for the nineties

[forzaminardi]

forzaminardi said:

Slow week for Sheds, evidently - unless this was just selected for the entertainment value.

Anyway, I know it's an 'Encore', but I recall the adverts for the contemporary special edition Escort 'Eclipse' which featured a couple of birdwatchers (ooer) spotting said vehicle and one snottily informing the other "It'th an Ethcort Eclipthe" in an annoying slightly lispy tone.

I'm mistaken, the advert was for a MkII special edition, presumably one of the last as the advert is from 1988:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY2CK-2s3mc

And the car in the ad looks much more appealing than the Shed.

[stevesuk]

I recall driving a '96 or maybe '97 Escort Si pool car at work a few times (was a 1.8 I think). Remembering that we're talking about 20 years ago, for the time it looked quite sporty with it's bright red paintwork, body kit and white dials - and I seem to remember it drove OK too. I wouldn't want the base model, fitted with what I assume is the same engine from a Ford Ka though

[TooMany2cvs]

PistonBroker said:

Well, we've established it's rubbish, so shall we explore potential for it to redeem itself?

That's easy.

PistonBroker said:

I'm thinking 2.0 Zetec upfront and resultant necessary upgrades to the chassis would make it into a fine sleeper.

I'm thinking it would be just as rubbish, just a bit quicker.