Not to be confused with what some folks refer to as an Austin-Healey “Bug Eye Sprite,” Ford’s unusual face, or fascia, for its first-generation EXP has sometimes been known for its frog eye-like headlights. This 1983 Ford EXP can be found listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Rogersville, Alabama, and the seller is asking $4,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to PRA4SNW for the tip!
Ford offered the EXP in two generations, and this is a first-gen car, made from 1982 through 1985. The following and last generation cars would be similar, but the front end was toned down a bit to get rid of the wide-eyed look. I like unusual vehicles, and I think the next generation dumbed down the look too much, but that’s just me. Boring-looking cars have always been easy to find; life is too short for that nonsense. There was a short-lived Mercury LN7 derivitave and those are pretty rare to see, not that Ford EXPs aren’t also rare to see today.
This was it for body styles: a two-door hatchback. I’ve always wondered what a convertible might have looked like… In case you were wondering as much as I was, yes, the original wheels and tires come with the car; they’re in the rear cargo compartment. That’s a huge relief; they would go back on in the first half-hour under my ownership. The seller says this is a solid car and not rusty, but there’s clearly some bubbling rust showing at the corner of the left taillight, and around the rear wheel arches, so I’m not sure what they mean by not rusty. Maybe not to the extent that it would be if it had been in the Upper Midwest for the last 43 years?
The pre-airbag steering wheel is great, and the rest of the interior looks good as far as I can see. There are a few cracks in the top of the padded dash, but the front seats look good. With such a small car (or a big car, or a medium car, or a small/medium/big truck, etc.), it’s always nice to have a manual transmission. This one has an MTX-1 four-speed manual, but a five-speed manual and a three-speed automatic were options. Here’s a fun brochure on these cars, and maybe one of you can decipher page 7, where it shows the colors. I don’t see that this Desert Tan interior color was available with the Medium Charcoal Metallic paint. Any ideas? I also don’t see the seller’s “original wheels” that are shown in the rear cargo area in the brochure.
Speaking of the steering wheel, the seller says the power steering pump has been bypassed, but it’s such a light car that it doesn’t really need it. I remember buying a Dodge Ramcharger once in northern Minnesota, and the seller said he didn’t even try the air-conditioning because they didn’t need it up there. Yeah, ok. So, I’m guessing this power steering was leaking or has some other issue. I’d fix it.
The engine is Ford’s 1.6-liter SOHC inline-four with 70 horsepower and 88 lb-ft of torque. Power is sent through that 4-speed manual to the front wheels, and expect a decent 15 seconds to get up to two-lane (60 mph) cruising speed. They say it runs and drives well and comes with a bill of sale. According to page 8 of the brochure, air-conditioning wasn’t available on the base (300B) model EXP; you had to move up to Group 301B to have AC. Have any of you owned a Ford EXP?
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