When Ford was rolling out the new Escort to replace the aging Pinto, they concluded there was a market for a sporty-two seat version of the car and the EXP was born for 1982. It sold well the first year, but sales fell off a cliff after that and the car was gone by 1988. The seller may have the lowest mileage surviving EXP on the planet, with just 6,200 said to be on the clock. It can be found in Strongsville, Ohio (southwest of Cleveland), and available here on Facebook Marketplace for $4,900. Thanks, Andy Morris, for uncovering this one for us!
The first generation of the front-wheel-drive EXP ran between 1982 and 1985 and – through 1983 – Mercury offered its own version, badged as the LN7. The EXP would be the first Ford two-seater since the 1957 Thunderbird and also the last two-seater until they resurrected the T-Bird in 2002. While the EXP was clearly a small sports car, buyers would sometimes yank out the rear carpeting and drop in some seats from the Escort, making space for two really tiny people to sit. The EXP rode on the Escort’s 94-inch wheelbase with four-wheel independent suspension from Europe’s 1970s Fords. After selling just shy of 100,000 EXP’s its first year, sales dropped by nearly 80% the second year and never recovered to be more than one-third of the EXP’s rookie season.
While the seller doesn’t elaborate on the car’s history, the reported mileage of 6,000-plus suggests someone thought in 1982 they were buying a future collectible and only drove it sparingly for 38 years. Or it was in storage for a good bit of that time. At any rate, it still rolls on its original tires, which are likely hard as rocks by now. While the seller doesn’t offer us any really good pictures, the car physically looks fairly good. There are no obvious dents or rust, but one photo suggests that some of the black on the bumpers may be fading or discolored. The seller does indicate that body has been “painted around,” but without indicating whether there were any accidents and carelessness to cause this.
The lone photo of the interior shows a car that has been kept up, but it would be nice to see carpeting, the headliner and door panels. The car is equipped with factory air conditioning (which may have strained the small 4-cylinder), cruise control and even an 8-track tape player (bazinga!).
What’s likely under the hood is the same inline-4 that propelled the Ford Escort, a 1.6-liter CVH rated at 70 horsepower. Since the car weights 200 lbs. more than the Escort, the use of a 4-speed in this car over the automatic was probably a good choice. At least it was economical in this configuration with reports of highway gas mileage exceeding 40 mpg. Since the EXP has not yet achieved (or will achieve) collectible status, the price guides that mention this car quote dirt cheap prices. This means the seller is going to have to find someone who had one and is trying to recover their lost youth in order to get his asking price. Even with 6,200 miles.
An eight track tape player in 1982?
These were plenty quirky and odd-looking, but I always kind of liked them. I’m always pleased to see a basic economy car which has survived; there can’t be very many at all left, let alone low-mileage ones. If you want to take something to Cars & Coffee that no one else will have, here’s a low-cost opportunity.
My very first car was an ’84 EXP. There’s 2 things I’ve heard a man never forgets, his first love and his first car..Can’t speak to the first love but I certainly remember my first car very fondly. Sure wish I could find one to restore.Preferably an ’84 but any year except the ’87. The body changed way too much to resemble the early models of the EXP
Yeah they were ok just dont overheat one, most met their demise from steel coolant lines that ran under the engine rusting out and leaking or the electric fan that didnt kick on when it should,
You would have to keep up with that, if you did they lived and were actually quite reliable,cant believe theres one left in this world.
Some larger rims and tires would totally change the look.
My Aunt had one of these. Same color as this one. Neat looking, very slow though. She and my Uncle moved on to a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. :)
I just bought an ’82 last month in decent shape for $1500 in Ohio and drove it back to Florida. The little car got 38 mpg and ran like a champ. Everywhere I take it she gets tons of attention. Just a fun little car!!
yeah, 8 track would have to go. Just keep it for originality. Like the phone dial wheels (resembles Porsche ones), but i’d go for 14 inchers. Should be some Escort wheels out there that fit.
Tempo rims. Focus 1980 be. 4 lug mustang. Pinto. Ranger. Escort rims will fit I have a 1982 I bought new has 52 k on it love it it seems to be the only one around my parts.every where I go it draws a crowed. Even have been told that’s not a Ford you just put the Ford badge on it it’s not fast but even got stopped once by a local police and he just wanted to look at it his first car was a exp
There was never a 8 track in the exp. Cassette but never a 8 track lol
The ’82 EXP had several radio options.
Standard was AM which could be deleted for credit. Optional was AM/FM mono, AM/FM stereo, AM/FM stereo with cassette, and yes, AM/FM stereo with 8 track. Seems strange for ’82 but it’s true and this EXP has this odd option and it works! ( Had to buy some 8 track tapes on ebay) You can see these option choices on page 18 of the factory sales booklet.
I believe those wheels are 365 millimeters in diameter. Thanks Michelin! They’re actually 14.37 inches in diameter, which should be plenty of wheel for a car of this size and weight. The tire size is 165/70R365, which resembles the dimensions of a compact spare. Too bad the tires are no longer available new. Coker Tire will sell you ‘New Old Stock’ ones for display purposes, but you have to agree not to drive on them. https://www.cokertire.com/amfinder/index/index?finder_id=9517915
I do think these wheels look great, just as Ford’s other TRX wheels looked great. Shame about not being in a size that lets you take advantage of 40 years of improving tire technology or availability.
My god why? This is with near certainty the nicest one in existence, for whatever that is worth.
I’ve always wondered what the point of a sporty coupe (much less a 2-seater) that weighs more than the standard sedan it’s based on. Still would be cool to have today, it’d certainly be the only one at your local cruise nights or Cars and Coffee and probably even the only one at Radwood or the Concours d’Lemons.
I’ve wondered about this many times myself, especially when looking at all the special heavier coupe bodies FIAT offered in the days when most of their volume came from tiny rear-engined cars with about as many horsepower as a Dixie-Chopper zero-turn lawnmower.
Here’s my thought: The sedans were the initial products and whatever the budget was to be spent it got spent optimizing every aspect of the launch sedan. The coupe was an afterthought and a compromise based on the sedan that had to amortize any development expense on a volume predicted to be a very small percentage of total sales.
VW used the first model year Scirocco customers as beta testers for the MK1 Golf/Rabbit released the following year. As near as I can tell, it is the exception in that a Scirocco weighed about the same as a Rabbit with comparable equipment. Is that because the Scirocco was developed with the Golf to dazzle the press as opposed to as a token effort to amortize development costs of the mechanical components?
Test drive one of these. Returning to the dealership with the salesman in the passenger seat, the shifter knob came off in my hand. You could see that the salesman knew that it was game over at that moment. Bought a Civic Si and never looked back
With this having an Escort drivetrain, ya gotta watch these for blown head gaskets. Even low mile ones are prone to it. I know this because I had a couple of these years ago. I loved the fuel economy! Performance was adequate with a stick shift, terrible as an automatic. My favorite was a red 1981 2 door Escort “stripper” lol. Yup, an Escort stripper lol. Sorry, mind went into the gutter lol.
That car got incredible miles & took me every weekend to see my then girlfriend who lived up near Green Bay. Loved that car, makes me want this one.
Neat car!
It must be the waviness of the photo or something because the passenger side rear corner tire/wheel and fender look odd in the one shot.
I’m astounded they sold nearly 100K of them the first year they were sold. I had no idea. I remember seeing a fair number of them on the road in the ’80s but they didn’t last long. I liked the second generation’s look much better.
Turbo was available for the 84-85 years. Had 120 hp. With the 4 sp manual, it surprised a lot a rotted out Honda’s and Nissan’s at the time.
It would be fun to own this car and take it to local car shows . No doubt it would be the only one. Sure seems cheap to me if its as good as it sounds.
The two barrel carbs on these were Two barrel- two stage, which was like cutting a four barrel carb, front to back. Kind of unique.
Then I think they went Variable Venturi in 1983, and were a bit difficult to get to run right.
I had one of these…we called the AC switch the “turbo” switch. You could feel a noticeable difference in power when the AC was turned off. Sadly rust and a broken timing belt did the car in. Fun to drive though.
My friends 1978 Cutlass with the V-6 under the hood had the same issue. When the air was on and you would floor it, it didn’t speed up nearly as “quickly” as when the air was off. He would floor it with the air on & hit the switch (slide it, anyhow) to turn it off & it felt like you suddenly had an extra cylinder or two lol. He referred to it as his “supercharger booster switch” lol.
I had a 86 (second gen) back in the early 90s. Loved that little car. Same color as this one , except mine was red inside too.
Some parts are easy to get for these, others impossible. Much more parts available for my Model A than an EXP. Buyer beware. Just the pic under the hood says 162,000 at least. Not that the former isn’t possible depending on how it was stored and documentation.
Like them or not, at least it wasn’t as boring looking as most everything else of that time or now for that matter.
That’s a pretty shiny steering wheel for a car with only 6,200 miles on it. Just another 38 year old car that averaged 165 miles per year. Does anybody really fall for this nonsense?
Larry its true I own one with 39k original miles but needs tank dropped and lines blown out but runs like a champ
That doesn’t explain the condition of this particular EXP that the seller is claiming has only 6,200 miles on it. Like the vast majority of low mileage offerings on this site, I don’t believe the claim.
I bought a red 84 New in Detroit back then.
5 speed.. .red interior, ran good and mpg was awesome.
When loaded with my buddies on a HOT summer night in heavy traffic the 1.6 would start to heat up….without the air on so I had to be careful.Took it back to the dealer and I got the “oh thats normal” BS from them. I remember asking them ” so its normal for a car to overheat”??
Othervthan that it ran good….drive it out to So Cal in 86 and traded it in for a New Chevy Turbo Sprint!
I had an ‘82 EXP that was originally black, and my parents had it painted a metallic burgundy. They gave this car to me in ‘88 for my 16th birthday. I loved it! Mine was a 4 speed, and I would love to know where it is today. Seeing this (almost) makes me want to buy it and drive back down memory lane!! ❤️
This thing is still for sale???
Bought one new in 82 after owning a Trans-Am. A big step down. Liked the frog look and front wheel drive.. It was the 4 speed and had a lot of slack-play in the driveline which was the most annoying thing about the car. Broken timing belt, bad ignition module- both times left me stranded on the road.
Has this car been sold?
Bought it over 1-1/2 years ago.
I still have the owners manual for my 84 model if you’re interested……..
I’m waiting for delivery of an ’84 I’m saving from the crusher. Don’t remember if the manual was with it. Or maybe you might be interested in the car.
Mainly interested in the vehicle.
Any sense about the availability of replacement parts for a vehicle like this?
Depending on the mileage and condition, … there may be a lot of restoration work involved with getting the vehicle road-worthy.
I am interested in the car.
Some parts are readily available, mostly because the escort used much of the same parts. Others are near impossible and you have to keep a constant look-out for them. You can find me on the EXP club on facebook. You have to join to post a comment. I’ll look out for you if you do then you can p/m me from there.
I had the 1982 model. It had insane electrical issues it would go through a regulator one month and the next an alternator. I had it for a week and decided to take a whirlwind drive from Phoenix to Chicago to surprise family at Thanksgiving. Made it there but on the way back the car just died just outside of a little town in Texas called Groom on a Friday night and was able to get it towed to a nearby truck stop the next day. They did not have any parts to replace the alternator so they charged the battery as much as they could and pointed me to the Amarillo Ford and made it to just off the exit and coasted into the parking when the battery died. Of course Texas was a no work on Sunday state. It was the longest weekend of my life, but the car was quite fun to drive when it ran.