The Ford Escort Mark I became famous around the world—but never in the USA, Ford’s home country. Here’s a quick look back at a memorable car.
Introduced to the world at the Brussels Motor Show in January of 1968, the Escort Mark I replaced Ford’s ancient Anglia line and quickly became the United Kingdom’s best-selling car. By 1974, Ford of Britain was able to announce that two million units had been sold, the greatest production level ever achieved by a Ford model outside the USA. The Mark I was produced in England, Belgium, West Germany, and elsewhere, and it was sold nearly everywhere, including Israel and Japan—but never in the United States. And that was a shame, according to the subset of American drivers who enjoyed light, agile sedans in the European tradition.
With a 94.5-inch wheelbase, a rear-drive, unit construction platform, and a curb weight of barely 1,700 lbs, the Mark I was offered with a generous variety of engines, from a 996.7cc Kent pushrod unit to the 1.6-liter Lotus-built Twin Cam four, and even a couple of Cosworth powerplants (BDA and BDB). A hot performer, the Mark I was competitive in all types of small-bore sedan competition, but in the world of international rallying it was a superstar, dominating the scene for years. One of the more memorable victories was in the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally with Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm, which inspired a series of Escort Mexico high-performance models. In this neat little period film courtesy of Duke video, Americans can gather more of a sense of what we missed. Video below.
Lets not get too starry eyed over those things. A very boring and very basic narrow gutted pommy pram. With very few actual performance cars.
Here in Oz we got the awe inspiring 1100 pushrod with drum brakes and 12″ wheels as the base version. with unpadded masonite door trims.. And rubber floor mats. beyond basic!!
Complete with diffs that could not handle the awesome power!!
I guess the majority were 1300s with very maybe carpet too. By the end in 76 they were a little better, carpets and heaters. And very skinny 13″ wheels
The twin sumps were very few and had nil resale in period as they all had stuffed smokey leaky junkers.
BDAs,, only as rally cars and quite late in the run.Though dont forget the very few with the 2 litre OHC cast iron lump which went well and were reliable enough though were really too much weight over the nose.
The Mk2 were a little better, a bit heavier and longer and had the 1.3 as base. 1.6 as middle which was ok and the aforementioned 2 litre lump.
But even in period were really just another car. And reasonably high maintenance with suspension components and the like.
Yes I have owned a few as a dealer and most were simply boring. Give me a Corrolla!! And they too are boring. The Mk2 RS/ rally pack or Ghia 4 doors were a bit better property.