Imported Fords from South Africa
Discussion
There is a company in Hampshire (no names) that imports older Fords from South Africa; Mk 1 & Mk 2 Escorts mainly.
Anyone any experience of them, they look absolutely top dollar condition in the photos. Do they arrive like this or given a full going over, respray etc?
If they are mint shells then they could be better value than a repaired UK rust bucket.
Happy to get a PM if you don't want to post on here
Thanks
Anyone any experience of them, they look absolutely top dollar condition in the photos. Do they arrive like this or given a full going over, respray etc?
If they are mint shells then they could be better value than a repaired UK rust bucket.
Happy to get a PM if you don't want to post on here
Thanks
It would be interesting to know exactly which area(s) of SA these cars are from.
About a year ago or so, I saw a couple on Ebay and they were sporting Durban registrations and claiming to be totally rust free - however - Durban has probably the most humid climate in SA, and back in the 70's / 80's, any car I'd ever seen from that part of the country was a rust bucket.
Even brand new Toyotas built in Durban back then would be rusting within 3 - 6 months!
If however these Escorts originate from well inland (and have lived there permanently) there's every chance they will be relatively rust free.
Back in '81 I bought a used Toyota which was claimed to have come from Jo'Burg. Sadly what I didn't know at the time, was the previous owner must have been a surfer, and evidently placed wet,, salty surf boards on roof of said car. Within 6 months of buying it the 5 year old car was rotten!!!
Who is Andy Fish? I Googled but found nothing.
About a year ago or so, I saw a couple on Ebay and they were sporting Durban registrations and claiming to be totally rust free - however - Durban has probably the most humid climate in SA, and back in the 70's / 80's, any car I'd ever seen from that part of the country was a rust bucket.
Even brand new Toyotas built in Durban back then would be rusting within 3 - 6 months!
If however these Escorts originate from well inland (and have lived there permanently) there's every chance they will be relatively rust free.
Back in '81 I bought a used Toyota which was claimed to have come from Jo'Burg. Sadly what I didn't know at the time, was the previous owner must have been a surfer, and evidently placed wet,, salty surf boards on roof of said car. Within 6 months of buying it the 5 year old car was rotten!!!
Who is Andy Fish? I Googled but found nothing.
The company importing is called mscimporters and their www has a number of cars for sale or sold and most look extremely tidy (in the pics).
Would love to know more but Andover is about 300+ miles from me, so not a quick run around the corner at lunchtime.
(Andy is a mutual friend, who was imorting a car for himself, not a Ford, and not linked to any of the above)
Would love to know more but Andover is about 300+ miles from me, so not a quick run around the corner at lunchtime.
(Andy is a mutual friend, who was imorting a car for himself, not a Ford, and not linked to any of the above)
TonyRPH said:
It would be interesting to know exactly which area(s) of SA these cars are from.
About a year ago or so, I saw a couple on Ebay and they were sporting Durban registrations and claiming to be totally rust free - however - Durban has probably the most humid climate in SA, and back in the 70's / 80's, any car I'd ever seen from that part of the country was a rust bucket.
In SA, rust is commonly known as Durban Chrome.....About a year ago or so, I saw a couple on Ebay and they were sporting Durban registrations and claiming to be totally rust free - however - Durban has probably the most humid climate in SA, and back in the 70's / 80's, any car I'd ever seen from that part of the country was a rust bucket.
Skyedriver said:
The company importing is called <edited> and their www has a number of cars for sale or sold and most look extremely tidy (in the pics).
Would love to know more but Andover is about 300+ miles from me, so not a quick run around the corner at lunchtime.
(Andy is a mutual friend, who was imorting a car for himself, not a Ford, and not linked to any of the above)
I had a look at their site, and all of those Escorts appear to be remarkably clean and dent free to say how old they are.Would love to know more but Andover is about 300+ miles from me, so not a quick run around the corner at lunchtime.
(Andy is a mutual friend, who was imorting a car for himself, not a Ford, and not linked to any of the above)
One or two of them had a really grubby engine and yet the strut top area was shiny clean. Odd that, I thought.
As for the claimed mileages - well 57000 Km on a ~30 year old car - and the distances people tend to cover in SA, I do wonder.
Just saying and all.
TonyRPH said:
I had a look at their site, and all of those Escorts appear to be remarkably clean and dent free to say how old they are.
One or two of them had a really grubby engine and yet the strut top area was shiny clean. Odd that, I thought.
As for the claimed mileages - well 57000 Km on a ~30 year old car - and the distances people tend to cover in SA, I do wonder.
Just saying and all.
They do look very clean, I was wondering if they had just been steam cleaned, or if they had been blown over with a quick coat of paint, but the paint scheme on a few would rather lead me away from that option.One or two of them had a really grubby engine and yet the strut top area was shiny clean. Odd that, I thought.
As for the claimed mileages - well 57000 Km on a ~30 year old car - and the distances people tend to cover in SA, I do wonder.
Just saying and all.
Hooli said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Wow. Whatever - I'd LOVE a SA spec Sierra XR8 
I saw one at the Chelsea Cruise last year - must be one of only a handful in the UK, surely?
I used to see one in Crawley, looked great fun.I saw one at the Chelsea Cruise last year - must be one of only a handful in the UK, surely?
TonyRPH said:
I had a look at their site, and all of those Escorts appear to be remarkably clean and dent free to say how old they are.
One or two of them had a really grubby engine and yet the strut top area was shiny clean. Odd that, I thought.
As for the claimed mileages - well 57000 Km on a ~30 year old car - and the distances people tend to cover in SA, I do wonder.
Just saying and all.
If they are from inland and not from the coast they are very likely to have survived 30 years and not rust. Hell, even Alfasuds don't rust in Johannesburg. One or two of them had a really grubby engine and yet the strut top area was shiny clean. Odd that, I thought.
As for the claimed mileages - well 57000 Km on a ~30 year old car - and the distances people tend to cover in SA, I do wonder.
Just saying and all.
When we used to sell an old car in SA we'd clean and polish the bodywork to show off its condition, but we wouldn't clean the engine bay, to show that we weren't hiding any oil leaks. That was a fairly common custom in SA, so it wouldn't be unusual to have an engine bay that's only clean on top. Or the seller is just lazy, after all Escorts are still relatively common out there and won't be seen as junior Ferrari priced classics as they are here.
The low mileage is unlikely. There's not the public transport infrastructure there as here so a car like an Escort is much more likely to see regular use. An Escort wouldn't have been bought new as a garage queen. It's much more likely that it has a five digit mileometer, and has been around the clock at least once and likely more during its life. Especially since it will be recording kilometers and not miles. And best of luck proving the mileage of a '70s mainstream SA car through documentation.
Edited by kiseca on Sunday 18th January 12:35
TonyRPH said:
As for the claimed mileages - well 57000 Km on a ~30 year old car - and the distances people tend to cover in SA, I do wonder.
Given that Ford didn't start using 6 digit odometers until well into the 1980's, I'd say it maybe 57km on it's secord or even 3rd time around the clock 
I had a SA MK1 escort back in the day,don't know why it was here but a nice 2 door car with 1.6 cross flow engine with cast iron manifold,single choke carb,anti tramp bars,reinforced top mounts,opening quarter lights,opening rear windows,bumper over riders front and back,capri MK1 3 spoke steering wheel and 13" wheel fitted with 155/13.It all look standard,the paint was dark green with no out side chrome trim,plastic wood inlay to the passeger side and the two clock dash and brown vinly seats.The escort was about five years old when I had it,I change the standard wings for mexico wings and quarter bumpers a set of MK1 RS2000 steel rims with 185/70 13 and sports steering wheel and used it for work for a while.
I always fancied a Perana Mk1 Granada, seem to remember a bright yellow one for sale from a dealer in Leicester a few years ago, here is a link to an article http://www.africanmusclecars.com/index.php/ford/gr...
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