The newer Escorts . . .

It's a shame, but like most auto makers, Ford managed to squeeze as many sales as they could out of an honorable model name, all the while making the car less and less spectacular . . .

I remember the Escort GT of the late 80's . . . and how I longed to drive one, amazing . . . they looked so fast. Then again, American auto makers have mastered the art of making cars that look fast standing still . . . most notably Ford and Pontiac . . .

The Focus may shape up to be a suitable replacment for the sporty Escort . . .

Yeah, Ford kinda lost the ball later on. The 1997 redesign, with the exception of the ZX2, made the Escort into a pretty generic blob...the perfect car to be ignored in. That, plus the fact that probly 90% of them are automatics can really curb one's longing for the car. I much prefer the earlier models.

The Focus is a great car, like it or not. I hate the sedan and wagon, but I'd gladly take a ZX3. Focuses are being hit by the automatic bug though too...you should see what they have in Europe.

hey.. the 97+ escort 2.0 SPI is faster, and stronger than the 1.9 SPI.. Both are super.. but you cant run nearly as much boost on the 1.9 as the 2.0. The old EGTs and EXPs were really sweet.. but the designs of newer cars.. no matter what make is facing a diffrent slant from the older points of view.

I guess it's a matter of perspective, really. My first car was a 1978 Chevy Monza 2+2. 231CI V6 2bbl, no balls at all. My second car was a 1984 Escort GT Turbo 1.6 that I bought *new*. I've always had at least one Escort in my driveway since.

Going from a gutless V6 in an overweight RWD monster to a lightweight FWD with over 100HP was about the biggest wakeup call *ever*. I still favor RWD for some things - I'd never give it up for drag racing - but that little GT let me cruise at 95MPH on the highway with incredible ease. It was a dramatic step up.

My third Escort was a 1987 GT that I had ordered from the dealer. It was my first 'delete' car - defrost delete, A/C delete, power steering delete, sunroof delete. I kept the stereo. They told me the engine put out 112HP. Sure felt like a lot more. (Probably was, without A/C and P/S.) At the same time as I purchased this, I purchased a lightly used 1985 Escort with the CFI 1.9, I think it was. That thing was a slug, but still reasonably peppy for an Escort.

The last Escort I bought new is long gone at this point. At 60k miles it was turned into our first season rally car. It was a 1995 Escort Pony - one of probably a few thousand, at most. It was an absolute-delete car. Every single option was deleted, down to the radio. I threw a factory header from an 87 GT on it and went to town. I still miss that car, very very very very quick. Quicker than any and every GT I ever caught on the open road.

The most important part about all these cars - they never once failed me. Ever. I maintained them religiously - oil every 3,000 miles, coolant every 30k, etcetera. I got 135,000 miles out of my 84 Turbo before I traded it in. One of the guys in our rally team has a 2000 Focus ZX3 with the Zetec, and has spent more time at the dealer than I can imagine. He has owned it since late 99, and has only been able to put 12,000 miles on it. Bear in mind, he drives well over 12,000 miles a year, easily, because he's our long-distance parts runner. (He'll usually vanish for a weekend and come back with another 600-800 miles on the odometer.) I wouldn't buy a Focus if Ford gave it to me, if any number of them are like my friend's. ;P

Of course, I haven't owned *only* Escorts. I've owned everything from a 1980 Chrysler New Yorker to the car I bought back in May, a new Silverado 2500HD. I've owned a lot of compacts - for a year and a half I owned a lemon of an MX6, even - and by far and away the Escorts have always been quick to impress, especially the GT's. The later GT's - 91 through 94 - were rather lackluster, honestly.. not enough torque and too much weight from options. The sunroof and Jensen system were a bit overkill, I think. :( But still respectable cars, especially the 94's brakes. To this day, we use the 94 brake system when we run 15" wheels - gives us 60MPH-0MPH in a lot less than 100 feet!