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Post by Dirty Epic on Feb 13, 2018 11:02:34 GMT
I saw this on the BBC Website. It's 50 years since the first Ford Escort rolled off the production line at the Halewood plant.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-merseyside-42995117/ford-escort-in-halewood-50-years-since-first-car-made
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0071mrm
Hope to watch the full programme on iPlayer this week. Strange to think the Escort eclipsed it's replacement the Anglia in being everything from a everyman car to a high performance sporting vehicle that was very successful in motorsport in the 70's and 80's. Supposed I'm biased to the Escort in having one - albeit the last of line, but for me it's certainly along with the Capri, Cortina and Granada one of the stars of the Blue Oval!  |
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The Saint
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Post by The Saint on Feb 13, 2018 12:38:18 GMT
Thanks for posting that DE, I will take a look on the iPlayer 👍
The Saint
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Post by D.C. Burtonshaw on Feb 13, 2018 13:10:29 GMT
Many thanks for that Epic, will check that out being an Escort owner myself. It's possible the classic car media may make something of this as its a special anniversary for the MK1.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Feb 13, 2018 20:47:59 GMT
Just watched it on BBC iPlayer very good just ffwd the other stuff around it. |
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Del Boy
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Post by Del Boy on Feb 13, 2018 20:55:20 GMT
50 years ? I thought 1969 was the first year of the Escort so I stand corrected. Mk 1 and 2 were the greatest and for me it all goes downhill from there for anything Ford. That might be a general trend for a lot of goods in the 80s > though. What class leading cars Ford built throughout the 60s and 70s and the Escort was a fine car in many guises.  |
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Post by Sam Tyler on Feb 13, 2018 21:13:53 GMT
I get your point Del but for me Ford went downhill once the jellymoulds started to appear: the Sierra after the Cortina, the mk3 Granada after the mk2, the mk5 Escort after the mk3 and mk4 (although the mk4 was a mk3 facelift), and then the icing on the cake was the Probe after the Capri.
Sam.
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Post by Gene Hunt on Feb 13, 2018 21:32:07 GMT
Nail on the head there Sam. Ford never made a worthy successor to the Granada after the MkII. The Scorpio the built from 1994 was probably the worst looking car they ever built in my opinion. The Ovoid design was something that I've never heard praise for.
Gene.
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Bojan Scores
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Post by Bojan Scores on Feb 13, 2018 21:48:32 GMT
Ironically the Renault 16 and Austin Maxi are far more influential and more intelligently engineered. However, the Escort was prettier and possibly better marketed. Shame the 16 and the Maxi are unheralded, as they’re the template for a lot of modern cars.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Feb 13, 2018 21:49:25 GMT
True Gene it was the design of that 94 Scorpio which killed Ford in the large car sector.  Seem to remember Top Gear back then taking aim at the Scorpio too. Shame really as if they'd have more conservatively styled the front and rear could have been a much better seller than it was and the big shame of it all was the car itself was reasonably good under the skin if perhaps not quite up there with the Mercs, BMW's and Audi's of the time.  Personally didn't mind the Sierra but can see why Cortina fans hate it but got to admit the RS500 used in the BTCC was the dogs bollox and then there was Jimmy Nail's Sapphire Cossie in Spender too.  As for Escorts personally like the mk3s myself but again do admit Ford messed it up when they introduced the mk5 in 1990 which realistically took 5 or more years to sort out with the facelifted mk6... Now if Ford only had that in 1990 instead of 1995!  |
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Post by Sam Tyler on Feb 13, 2018 22:16:54 GMT
Personally didn't mind the Sierra but can see why Cortina fans hate it but got to admit the RS500 used in the BTCC was the dogs bollox and then there was Jimmy Nail's Sapphire Cossie in Spender too. The Sierra certainly improved over the years from its original design, the RS500 and the Cossie Sapphire in particular but to go from the Cortina to this:  Bland or what? Sam. |
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Seem to remember Top Gear back then taking aim at the Scorpio too. Shame really as if they'd have more conservatively styled the front and rear could have been a much better seller than it was and the big shame of it all was the car itself was reasonably good under the skin if perhaps not quite up there with the Mercs, BMW's and Audi's of the time. 
