RE: PH Heroes: Ford Escort Mexico
Discussion
Such Nostalgia! Yes, I too have fond memories of these cars, and, for me, the 70's was as good a time as any. Lots of fun to be had, no Health & Safety and folk mostly used there own common sense or ingenuity to improve the quality of daily Life. RWD, its the name of the game! Good wishes to all of you!
Aaah Oli, wonder if these deserted roundabouts near Dagenham are the two underneath the A13 at Ferry Lane. I work in the diesel design center opposite the heritage center and we use them regularly if appraising any new toy that one of us has bought. Imagine a Mexico would be a hoot round those!
Even a 5 cyl 200PS diesel transit that I was evaluating last year got a good minute or so of fun round those roundabouts...
regards
Ben
Even a 5 cyl 200PS diesel transit that I was evaluating last year got a good minute or so of fun round those roundabouts...
regards
Ben
, is that you doing regular displays outside the Ace Cafe by any chance ??
Sort of my era. Early 80's for me and paperboy wages. Early Escorts were all I could afford. It's amazing how good you become at welding when you oned Escorts that were several years old.
Can't remember how many I've owned over the years, but every single one of them got a 2.0 Cortina engine shoe horned into them, untouchable up to 90 MPH (Back then) useless thereafter though. brakes? they were for the other guy to worry about.
Getting up in the middle of the night and throwing stones at mates bedroom windows to get them up, just because it was snowing. I can't remember what Ive had for breakfast, but playing in my Escorts in the snow 25 years ago I'll never forget.
Happy days.
Can't remember how many I've owned over the years, but every single one of them got a 2.0 Cortina engine shoe horned into them, untouchable up to 90 MPH (Back then) useless thereafter though. brakes? they were for the other guy to worry about.
Getting up in the middle of the night and throwing stones at mates bedroom windows to get them up, just because it was snowing. I can't remember what Ive had for breakfast, but playing in my Escorts in the snow 25 years ago I'll never forget.
Happy days.
OllieC said:
who the hell worries about the safety of their car in a accident ?!
well i dont anyway. good little car, good choice and a good article. good.
You've never worried that some numpty on the road might crash in to you before you can react?well i dont anyway. good little car, good choice and a good article. good.
Still any car can be made safe with a good rollcage, modern bucket seats and harneses!
Great article, wish I could afford a good one.
My first car was a Mk 2 Escort 1100 pop...........
Loved it to bits. Must have had about 50bhp, but what a hoot to drive, very tail happy. My dad took me for a week's driving "holiday" in it when I was 17, to fast track me through the driving test. The route was Manchester - Tonyrefail (past the Rhondda valley, near Cardiff.) This took us through the Brecon Beacons. Even though the car had little power, and I had the L plates on, it seemed to go from apex to apex powered by telepathy!
Long live the RWD escorts, they were the dog's b
ks!
Loved it to bits. Must have had about 50bhp, but what a hoot to drive, very tail happy. My dad took me for a week's driving "holiday" in it when I was 17, to fast track me through the driving test. The route was Manchester - Tonyrefail (past the Rhondda valley, near Cardiff.) This took us through the Brecon Beacons. Even though the car had little power, and I had the L plates on, it seemed to go from apex to apex powered by telepathy!
Long live the RWD escorts, they were the dog's b
ks!I had a friend who crashed his mexico.. After attempting to wheel spin his Escort outside the local motor factors he forgot that it was not in 1st gear but was still left in reverse from parking up.. He catapulted back a crashed that poor Mexico.. Still to this day the funnest Crash ever...
Edited by saddler on Wednesday 27th August 20:36
Bomber Denton - your thread has arrivedThanks for the artice PistonHeads. Reminds me that I need to get my mk2 finished this winter. It's nearly convinced me to keep the crossflow and tune it a little, rather than sticking a Zetec in.
And Ben yes the i5 Transit is a bit of a giggle... never seen anyone get out of one yet without a silly big grin on their face. It's a beast.
And Ben yes the i5 Transit is a bit of a giggle... never seen anyone get out of one yet without a silly big grin on their face. It's a beast.
I had a yellow Mk1 Mexico it was only the 2nd car I'd ever owned at the age of 18. Number of plate OKK 333M with a great big pair of cibies on the front!
Slow by todays standards maybe but a great drivers car with just enough power. Loads of fun.
I did trade up to the MK2 Mex which I remember as being even better to drive.
Despite it being a working class Ford a car for the masses it still looks good today.
Good times.........
Slow by todays standards maybe but a great drivers car with just enough power. Loads of fun.
I did trade up to the MK2 Mex which I remember as being even better to drive.
Despite it being a working class Ford a car for the masses it still looks good today.
Good times.........
- Mk2 better? They were the 1.6 PintoI want one of these. My Fiat feels pure because of no ABS or ESP, TC or whatever system you can think of. But it is FWD and has power steering. I wish I could have a pure driving machine, without power steering, but with RWD. Although what I really would like is an orange Mk1 RS1600 because of the power hike.
I also love the Capri RS3100, especially in 420bhp race tune
I also love the Capri RS3100, especially in 420bhp race tune
I bought a new Mk1 Mex on 1 Jan 1975, Olympic Blue with stripes, although I did not order the stripes.
Cost about £1850 and sold it 2 1/2 years later for the same price.
It has to be the best car I ever had and advanced in its time - the MG Midget was popular then!
The sales brochure was an A5 sheet that stated "The sports car Doctors prefer".
Rear suspension was a little hard (softer on the RS 20000 ). To say the back end was lively is an understatement however, it always came back in line even if you were at 90 degrees towards a lamp post.
With careful driving managed to get 40 MPG that dropped significantly when booted. I later fitted twin 40 Dellortos that gave a superb induction noise and on a long run managed 25 MPG.
If I could buy it back today I would, even though technology and performance has passed it by - if you see HCX 666N on the road please let me know.
I later navigated in road rallies in a Mk 2 RS2000 - although more powerful, just seemed to be "rather sophisticated" when compared to the Mex.
Cost about £1850 and sold it 2 1/2 years later for the same price.
It has to be the best car I ever had and advanced in its time - the MG Midget was popular then!
The sales brochure was an A5 sheet that stated "The sports car Doctors prefer".
Rear suspension was a little hard (softer on the RS 20000 ). To say the back end was lively is an understatement however, it always came back in line even if you were at 90 degrees towards a lamp post.
With careful driving managed to get 40 MPG that dropped significantly when booted. I later fitted twin 40 Dellortos that gave a superb induction noise and on a long run managed 25 MPG.
If I could buy it back today I would, even though technology and performance has passed it by - if you see HCX 666N on the road please let me know.
I later navigated in road rallies in a Mk 2 RS2000 - although more powerful, just seemed to be "rather sophisticated" when compared to the Mex.
Edited by metro6r4 on Wednesday 27th August 21:58
Edited by metro6r4 on Wednesday 27th August 22:59
Leggy said:
I had a yellow Mk1 Mexico it was only the 2nd car I'd ever owned at the age of 18. Number of plate OKK 333M with a great big pair of cibies on the front!
Slow by todays standards maybe but a great drivers car with just enough power. Loads of fun.
I did trade up to the MK2 Mex which I remember as being even better to drive.
Despite it being a working class Ford a car for the masses it still looks good today.
Good times.........
Appears to be a common thread with the registration numbers - mine was HCX 666N. Slow by todays standards maybe but a great drivers car with just enough power. Loads of fun.
I did trade up to the MK2 Mex which I remember as being even better to drive.
Despite it being a working class Ford a car for the masses it still looks good today.
Good times.........
Edited by metro6r4 on Wednesday 27th August 22:56
Edited by metro6r4 on Wednesday 27th August 23:08
Re lightweight & safety - I've got nothing against modern cars getting down to the sort of weight this Mexico has & see no reason to jettison modern safetly levels to do it either. It's not done 'cos it costs bags loads of cash.
However I'm still not prepared to drive about on a regular basis in a car that has 34 year old safety levels in it & even less likely to do it in 1 that's been built this year & doesn't have them, like that dirt cheap Indian thing, even if it did somehow suddenyl offer RS levels of driving fun.
But as a little something for the weekend (fnarr fnarr) then an RS Escort Mk 1 or 2 would do very nicely & because I'm not the only 1 with that idea the prices now reflect that.
However I'm still not prepared to drive about on a regular basis in a car that has 34 year old safety levels in it & even less likely to do it in 1 that's been built this year & doesn't have them, like that dirt cheap Indian thing, even if it did somehow suddenyl offer RS levels of driving fun.
But as a little something for the weekend (fnarr fnarr) then an RS Escort Mk 1 or 2 would do very nicely & because I'm not the only 1 with that idea the prices now reflect that.
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