28 November 2011
When the first front-drive Escort went on sale with a suspension set-up that was badly flawed, we spared no one’s blushes in saying so. Many weeks passed before Ford came up with spring and damper revisions that were in any way satisfactory. And now, it would seem, history is about to repeat itself. Autocar & Motor’s pre-launch experience with a 1.4LX in Spain led to such negative comments in the magazine that, at the 11th hour, Ford halted production of 1.4-litre Escorts to add a front anti-ro...Read the full article
30 September 2010
What a heap of shite these cars were, rot boxes and an engine so coarse you wondered if it was running on sandpaper. My dad used to have one like this, a 1.4CVH (Constantly Very Harsh), it was a truly shocking car in every way, not one good thing about it apart from it cost very little.
14 May 2009
This car - admittedly in 1.6 litre form, but basically the same - was the last truly bad new car that I drove. After that every new car I have driven has been somewhere between mediocre and excellent.
19 December 2008
These were truely awful cars. I know standards were lower then, but not that low. Why did anyone buy one of these when you could still get a mk2 golf, or better still a 309 when they came out.
I guess it shows just how far Ford have come in the last 20 years
5 September 2011
I wouldn't have minded an RS Cosworth, but at the time, all I could afford was the poor man's hot Escort, the 1.8 GTi. I didn't mind it, and I also didn't mind the 1.8 TDi that I replaced it with, but I did treat myself to a bargain Escort in 2000 (it was one of the last ones) - a 1.6 Finesse. I thought that they were all OK. Admittedly, I did receive a 1993 Escort 1.6 estate as a courtesy car, and that was a heap.
I'm impressed that the Escort sold so well, what with the awful press it got. Imagine how many Ford would have shifted had it been blessed with positive reviews!
14 November 2008
Are these old tests genuine? They are written as if contemporaneous reports but I have my doubts...
I don't believe the original road test gave the Escort 1 star - Autocar wouldn't do that to their beloved Ford.
Anyhow - by far the worst car I've ever driven. So deeply incompetent it was dangerous.
23 December 2009
When the first front-drive Escort went on sale with a suspension set-up that was badly flawed, we spared no one’s blushes in saying so.
You mean the second front drive Escort, the first (1981-1990) had reasonable suspension and handling. All those XR3i's sold for a reason.
5 September 2011
All those XR3i's sold for a reason
I always wanted one of those!
30 October 2007
A friend of mine has a '93 Escort with the 1.4 CVH and by golly it's an... experience. What always surprises me is how low down you feel when you're sitting in it (and no, he hasn't lowered it). If it didn't ride like it was on bricks it could almost be vaguely sporting.
You either accept a Morgan as you accept the Himalayas or you go on to more splendid things, say, butterfly collecting. A Morgan merely is and that should be enough.
23 December 2009
All those XR3i's sold for a reason
I always wanted one of those!
The first versions were XR3's with 99 bhp before the fuel injected XR3i came out with 105 bhp. Nowadays those horsepower figures look low but it was 25 years ago. My youngest sister bought a new 1989 Escort Turbo, age 25, how insurance for the young has changed as well.
21 February 2009
Pfft! And we thought this was an improvement on it's predecessor...