The Ford Escort replaced the subcompact Pinto in 1981 as the company’s first “world car” meaning the platform was used on multiple continents. It went on to become the best-selling car in the U.S. throughout most of the decade. The GL was the nicer version of what was designed as an economy car and the 1987 edition offered by the seller is said to have just 17,000 miles. Located in Big Bend, Wisconsin, this nice survivor is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $7,500.
Escort production in the U.S. would run through 2003 although the vehicle had grown up to a compact car in the 1990s. Besides replacing the Pinto, the Escort became the smallest vehicle in Ford’s North American arsenal with fewer dimensions than the imported Fiesta. Mercury would get a rebadged version of the Escort that they dubbed the Lynx. Initially, the Escort was powered by a 1.6-liter inline-4 but was treated to a 1.9 version by the time the seller’s car was built.
We don’t know the history of this Ford Escort GL or how it came to only have 17,000 miles (unless it’s a babied 117,000). We’re told it runs well, and everything works as it should. New tires have been installed and you’ll have an AM/FM radio to listen to while tooling around. The big question before us is this: is the Ford Escort a collectible car today and – if not – will it ever be? BTW, thanks for the tip Barn Finder “Kiwie49”.
not wishing to be too negative, but I fear the answer to the question is probably, hmmm, “no”
Cars that were ‘cheap-n-cheerful’ when sold new, and produced is huge numbers, are not likely to be sought-after collectibles in later years. There are exceptions to that, such as the VW Bug, or Austin/Morris original Mini which became cult cars and still are…but those were both pretty unique cars, had personality, and didn’t look like anything else out there.
There is a following for Ford’s more sporty versions of the Escort, the RS1600i and RS Turbo in UK/Europe, and to lesser degree the Escort GT and GT Turbo in US, but a fairly plain-Jane GL, probably not going to be a hot ticket.
This and it’s twin, the Mercury Lynx will never be close to mainstream collector cars. There may be a few people that have some dedicate to the model, but not enough to drive values. These will be an oddity that can draw some attention at a coffee and cars, but that attention will not equate to anything more than cursory interest.
This Escort will need to compete on price and condition with every other quasi collectible car, $7,500 isn’t likely to get it sold.
Classiccarfan is right there may be a few specific performance oriented models that have a following, but this GL won’t be part of that.
Steve R
I worked with a guy about 20 years ago that picked up a diesel powered escort. He loved getting 50 mpg, but gosh, it was slow. These were fun with a 5 speed, but the auto sucks all the fun out.
I beg to differ on these and all other cars that were once common place. For that reason, they are now as rare as he’s teeth, and while they will never grab the big bucks, I think there will always be a place for them in the collectors’ world. The interest at a car show will certainly be more than cursory. Mustangs, etc are so common as to become boring. But when did anyone last see one of these, a Mazda GLC, a Datsun F10, or some of the other cars that were purely utilitarian in their day?
For some people, this car would be more fun to own as compared to something which had one (or two) more zeros in its price. It’s even beige. I’m glad Russ wrote it up for us.