revtothelimit - motorbike forum

35 large for a Mk3 Escort? Tell him he's dreamin'!

I definitely like the vintage vibe of 70s/80s cars, but in my mind, Mk3 Escorts were always a bit shit, and the passage of time doesn't make them magically better. I reckon 1980-1998 were Ford's dark years, and anything between the Mk2 Escort and Focus was way behind the competition.

Give me a nice, shiny 205 GTi any day though and I'd get a proper semi on.

Google Car Cave Scotland. He is just outside Edinburgh (Bonnyrigg) and has lots of old Fords for sale. Ready to roll or restorations. He also imports some old Fords from South Africa what tends to have larger engine choices. Plus the lack of rust is a bonus.

I had an XR2 that shape, it was a fun little car, I've driven Capris, they're all shit to drive, if you want a rwd Ford buy a Sierra, they're actually pretty good, but you could probably get a 3 series BMW for less money, and they're better.

Slenver wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:04 pm 35 large for a Mk3 Escort? Tell him he's dreamin'!.

He's not though... they right Escorts are that money as are the right Capri etc.. Old fast Fords are crazy money.

I've never owned a Ford, but all my dads company cars when I was growing up were Fords, I can still remember them...

Red Cortina (probably 1981ish)
Sky Blue Mk3 Escort
Burgundy Mk3 Escort Estate Diesel
Silver Mk5 Escort
Blue Mk1 Mundano
Red Mk2 Mundano

The coolest was the Silver Mk5 Escort, it had a spoiler and a speedo that read up to 180mph (it was a 1.6), high reading speedo were a must for playground "My dads car is faster than your dads car" arguments.

He was a estimator for a engineering guards company, as a kid all our holidays were based around him going to pits to measure conveyors

Some quite fond memories of the trips.

Potter wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:07 pm I had an Astra GTE as a 19yr old and the birds I had queuing up just because of that car was off the scale, I'm a good looking bloke but that sent me into the stratosphere

Nah,you're wrong man.

It was your epic humility that had them all frothing.

I had a battered Belmont Astra that looked like shit but had the GTE motor. It was ace for the traffic lights Grand Prix.

@Potter - this is the place to go if you'd like an old Ford

https://mst-cars.com/

I'd like a mk1 with a Millington motor, fast road & touring spec

Potter wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:46 pm

G.P wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:36 pm @Potter - this is the place to go if you'd like an old Ford

https://mst-cars.com/

I'd like a mk1 with a Millington motor, fast road & touring spec

I posted that link a while back on another thread, they'll build one to your spec, there is a few test drives on Youtube.

Yeah, I've seen jonny whatshisname from the late brake show test the Mk2.
Retropower are doing 2 Mk1 builds at the moment, they chose not to use the MST bodyshells but do their own which I thought was rather odd but apparently they do so much reinforcement and change the whole back end geometry that it wasn't worth it. They did Gordon Murray's Mk1 so know what they are doing

Potter wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:31 pm I raced one of these on my Ducati 900SS and we were neck and neck, neither could pull away from the other in a straight line.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125442830681 ... -e9yGCNxT8

Your 900SS needs looking at, Cosworths are only 200 bhp

Le_Fromage_Grande wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:22 pm

Potter wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:31 pm I raced one of these on my Ducati 900SS and we were neck and neck, neither could pull away from the other in a straight line.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125442830681 ... -e9yGCNxT8

Your 900SS needs looking at, Cosworths are only 200 bhp

I was wondering that, they are pretty slow by modern standards. My diesel estate is faster.

For a minute there, I thought you had all come to your senses and were praising the Ford Classic......

David wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:47 am For a minute there, I thought you had all come to your senses and were praising the Ford Classic......

(Some things are best forgotten, many of them had fins on ).

Ford Pop (older style) FTW!

Count Steer wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 8:33 am

David wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:47 am For a minute there, I thought you had all come to your senses and were praising the Ford Classic......

(Some things are best forgotten, many of them had fins on ).

Ford Pop (older style) FTW!

As a kid I lusted after huge American cars with V8s and massive fins. When I move to London I saw ( and heard) one turning a corner at about 25mph. It heeled over about 10 degrees, and the tyres squeeled like a pig.

I decided I didn't want one after all.

My first ' proper " car was an e93a anglia...( started with messerschmidts)...I also had 100e's and 105e's , two classics, cortinas, a35, heralds, spitfires,vitesses, 2000s and 2.5s, Rover 95 etc.

Back in my youth as a 17 year old (1988) with a loan from an aunt, I purchased a mint Mk2 Escort RS2000 for £2750 which back then was a reasonable sum. At 18 I wanted the next best thing, a series 2 Escort RS Turbo (Fool) so sold the lovely RS2000 to a guy that collected cars. He was honest with me and said it was going straight to storage with some other nice bits of kit including a short wheelbase Audi Quattro.
To this day that RS2000 hasn't resurfaced and DVLA records still show it as off-road and never been taxed ot MOTd since. I've contacted several owners groups to try trace it.

Friend of my who is also a car trader has had several classic Ford's - a Mk1 Mexico that he sold for just shy of 50k and a Mk2 RS2000 for 40k.

Wish I'd kept mine!

Last time I looked (about 10 years ago) rusty 2 door Mk2 Escort shells were fetching £5K as people wanted them for rally cars, I welded one up in the late 80s, new inner wings and sills, from memory the parts were under £20, it did take a couple of days of prep work.

Cousin Jack wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 9:43 am

Count Steer wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 8:33 am

David wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:47 am For a minute there, I thought you had all come to your senses and were praising the Ford Classic......

(Some things are best forgotten, many of them had fins on ).

Ford Pop (older style) FTW!

As a kid I lusted after huge American cars with V8s and massive fins. When I move to London I saw ( and heard) one turning a corner at about 25mph. It heeled over about 10 degrees, and the tyres squealed like a pig.

I decided I didn't want one after all.

That's precisely why I want one. All the joy of being on a boat but without the water.

cheb wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:20 pm That's precisely why I want one. All the joy of being on a boat but without the water.

Absolutely. If the hubcaps don't pop off Starskey & Hutch-style at any bend over 20mph then it's not a proper muscle car

Slenver wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:48 pm

cheb wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:20 pm That's precisely why I want one. All the joy of being on a boat but without the water.

Absolutely. If the hubcaps don't pop off Starskey & Hutch-style at any bend over 20mph then it's not a proper muscle car

My first car,a Vauxhall Chevette lost it's hub caps every bump in the road,so it can be done without needing all that horsepower nonsense.