1980 Ford Escort GL 1.6 petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

A fun car to drive and also a piece of rally racing history

Faults:

Dashboard has begun to crack.

Minor oil leak.

Seats have been worn badly.

Electrics to the heater needed to be replaced.

Small amount of rust formed to the boot lid.

General Comments:

This car is a sleeper. Its a pocket rocket waiting to happen in the right hands.

Clutch is relatively light and gear changes are seamless.

The 1.6 litre engine pumping about 44kw of power allows brisk acceleration in peak hour traffic.

With that said, the back end may get a bit swirly when in loose terrain (I.e. A gravel driveway)

Steering seems heavy for a car that weighs less the 1000kg.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th July, 2001

10th Jul 2007, 10:03

I fully agree! I own a 1600 Mk2 GL. Easy on fuel, gets looks when you drive it around, and my god, in the rain or gravel it's all over the show!! Tremendous fun! :)

1980 Ford Escort L mk2 1.1 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A good, reliable, easily maintained, distinctive, love bomb of a car

Faults:

Well the starter went, and there's nobody that will do an exchange on it so I was stuck, but I got it reconditioned for £25.

The thermostat stuck closed and caused massive overheating and stranded me with no water.

Before I had it, the alternator cooked 3 batteries before it was tracked down and replaced and the water pump went, but all these items were original to the car when new so after 20 years you can't blame them for letting go.

General Comments:

I got the car from my mates aunt, she'd owned it for 6 years and the guy before had it from new.

There's virtually no rust on it with only 1 hole in the front wing which I'm seeing to. But these cars are known to rot badly in the door bottoms, floors sills and wings so be careful!

It's only a 1.1 so it's pretty gutless but economical, although once it gets up some speed it's quite quick.

The brakes are unservoed so they're pretty crap, and need to be in perfect condition to be of any use. On the motorway there's a bit of vibration under the brake pedal when they're applied.

All in all a well balanced, well put together little car, perfect for tootleing about in.

Getting rare too, and increasing in value (well soon they will be!) although spares are getting hard to find and can be very expensive, try £50 for rear light lenses, crazy money!

The ride's a bit choppy but it adds to the charm of the vehicle. Always turns heads, and attracts comments from people who used to own one.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th December, 2000

12th Jun 2001, 15:39

I have one that I'm doing up and there's more rust than car, but I have got loads of spares.

It's very gutless, it only does 75 mph. At the moment it's a bare shell, could you write down what speed yours does?

20th Jun 2002, 13:06

If you do a bit of simple tuning (exhaust from rallydesign.co.uk, K&N air filter and octane booster etc), a 1300 will do 70 in third no problem! But they do definitely need a fifth gear!

16th Oct 2002, 07:23

I own a mark two 1300 ghia 4-door. the colours terrible (beige) but I love her none the same. there is nothin better than an escort.

6th Mar 2004, 23:38

Bro, the Mk 5 Cortina's way more fun than a 1300 Escort.

I got my Cortina into 3rd gear on tar seal, and that's with a standard motor (air cleaner removed).

I had a 1978 Escort with a reconditioned 1300 GT motor, that was lucky to pull 2nd gear.

Also dough nuts and snakey's, you can't honestly say a Escort will out do a Cortina.

11th Apr 2006, 22:40

The mk5 cortina bloke is a bit of a tosser.

In reply to 12th Jun 2001, 15:39

4th Sep 2022, 20:30

Ok, 21 years late but I managed to crack 100 going downhill.

In reply to 4th Sep 2022, 20:30

7th Sep 2022, 15:18

First car I ever was in doing 100 mph was a friend's Escort. Late 80's car. Rattled like there was an earthquake. Didn't explode or anything though and lasted many years and miles, good car. Watch for rust though.