Ok, that claim was from over 35 years ago. Most of us know that the Toyota Corolla is the top-selling car of all time with over 50 million sold (!), but at one time, the Ford Escort was hot stuff worldwide. The seller has this time capsule posted here on craigslist in Placerville, California, and they’re asking a mere $2,600. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Tony P. for the tip!
For the record, the Escort’s world’s best-selling car claim was based on sales figures from 1982 through 1988, so there’s that. Are you sitting down? The Tesla Model Y is the top-selling EV worldwide and has a chance to take the top spot for best-selling car worldwide. They were the top seller for both 2023 and 2024. I never would have guessed that. Whether they’ll sell 50 million of them is yet to be seen. The tiiiiiiiiiimes, they arrrrrrre a’chaaaaanngin’.
Make mine a ’90 Escort, even with four doors, and I’d be happy. And where are you going to get this nice looking of a vehicle for $2,600? Sadly, we don’t get to see inside the hatchback compartment, and I’m sure it’s as clean as the rest of this car appears to be. There are some “soft dents” on the left front fender, but maybe those could be massaged out if a person took that fender off?
1990 was the last year for the first-generation Ford Escort, and they were made from 1980 for the ’81 model year until the end of 1990 here. A two and four-door hatchback and four-door wagon were the models offered here, but other markets got a convertible. The first thing noticeable here, other than the Bright Red paint, is the automatic seatbelts. Then there’s the automatic transmission. A manual would make this car fun to drive, although the seller says it’s really fun to drive.
The engine is made of vinyl, and… No, even with a decent amount of photos in the listing, the seller didn’t bother to pop the hood to show the engine. It should be Ford’s 1.9-liter SOHC inline-four with 90 horsepower and 106 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by the three-speed automatic sending power to the front wheels, they say it has a true 21,900 miles on it. Other than the dented left front fender, it does look great, condition-wise. For $2,600, who’s in on this Escort sedan?
Thanks Scotty for writing up this Escort. Good to see a very basic, everyday economy car which has survived. Someone else must have thought it was a good price, the posting is gone.
I really like where he said the engine is made of vinyl…..quality stuff.
This is an exact duplicate of the one my aunt bought new in LA in 1990. It was a good car for an 86 yr old in the LA Basin but not so much when she came over the Sierras to come visit.
The salesman gave her $200 trade in value on a car she’d inherited, said it really wasn’t worth that because it was so old-his 1955 Chevy 2 door wagon he’d bought new with 78k+ miles on it..saw the salesman with it a week later.
Great write up Scotty, on a vehicle we used to see EVERYWHERE on a daily basis, and now, sadly, are for the most part gone. How this Escort survived in this incredible shape is impressive. We had the 1.9 in our ’94 Escort Sedan with a 5 speed ( ewer generation than this one). And I will say, there is a drastic difference between the automatic and the stick. One thing that always impressed me was the lower end torque it had. ( now before anyone blasts me here, I mean figuratively speaking for a small 4 cylinder gas job.) You didn’t have to rev it up much at all to keep up with traffic. In fact, often times you could start hunting for the next gear in the 2600 to no more than 3000 rpm very comfortably. Sometimes you could even short shift it at a lower rpm than that even. I’m glad you wrote this up Scotty. Hope this goes to a good new home and stays this nice.
Also, perhaps a paintless dent removal company can massage those soft dents out.
The engine is made of vinyl- What?
Sorry, bad joke. I normally put an engine photo in the 5th spot, but the seller didn’t include one in the listing.
Good Joke !!!
At one point our family had a 3 door Mercury Lynx with a stick as a second car. One my cousin’s family had a “loaded” 2 tone black/silver Escort wagon and two Ford Fiesta’s. Very nice basic find and writeup.
A nice upgrade for you here Charles Atlas!
I owned an 1988 1/2 Escort, the first year of this new body style. Purchased in 1991. Mine was the same color, 2 door, with standard transmission. I sold it to a college coed after 6 months because there was no A/C.
VIN 1FAPP909XJT175679
Ah yes. The automatic shoulder belt nightmare of the late 80’s-early 90’s. If you got our of your car too fast the motorized belt retractor would almost tear your head off, and would always tear your hat off, knock glasses off your face. Worst ever.
I took Driver’s Ed in a near twin to this car but with red velour interior.
What a find! I had an ’87 back in college. I remember the red velour interior-and overhead digital clock. I’m wondering about that interior. I would have thought LX trim would have cloth seats….not vinyl. That said-lots of memories.
Those things were so simple a monkey could work on them ( me ) had one in a two door silver with a stick … definitely preferred over the auto
Motorized seatbelts, definitely a low point in automotive history. Regarding Teslas, I don’t hear many complaints from people who own them, irrespective of who owns the company and how he runs it.
My sister bought a brand new Escort in 92′. Teal color with a stick. As a testament to Ford’s quality back then she literally couldn’t kill it. Had it 16 years, 265k miles and drove it to the point where her mechanic said it was pretty much unfixable, or not worth fixing.
I’d buy this car in a heartbeat, especially for $2600,00. I paid more than that in 1990 for a 1987 Escort Hatchback ($3,000.00) that I drove to work 60 miles, one way. Mine was a manual and super fuel stingy, no air con, but a perfect little econobox.
We even took that car on our honeymoon in 1990 because of the cargo space and fuel mileage. I was sorry to get rid of it, but the shock towers rusted out in the rear, a common issue.
Posting deleted.
I had one that ended up having almost 400,000 miles on it. Hit several deer, had different colors of body paint, was able to fix anything under the hood myself. It ended up being a great car.
License plate read “Derhntr”
I doubt the public is aware of how many 1.9 Escorts dropped a valve seat for no obvious reason. It would mostly happen to the 2nd or 3rd owner, with it being assumed the previous owner must have overheated the engine or what not. Trouble is, the composite seats would often fail around 125,000 mi., and I would not trust used heads re mounted on another engine, even after close inspection and with new head bolts.