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?
They did make a convertible, I saw it in a movie. I don’t remember the movie, shocked me when I identified it. I Loved these cars.
According to Wikipedia: EXP and LN7 convertibles
Ford was experimenting with the EXP’s potential with the newly released EXPs and LN7s of 1982. A select few of each were turned into convertible models. These models are very rare as Ford did not sell any more than the estimated twenty-eight LN7s and recorded eight EXPs that were produced, not to mention what kind of costs were involved in converting these cars. The eight EXPs were converted by Dynamic Conversions in Hillsdale, Michigan. The 28 LN7s were converted by Andy Hotten’s crew in Ford’s St Thomas factory where most EXPs and LN7s were built. Very few of these convertible models are reported to be around today.
I didn’t pay much attention to these back in the 80’s when they were new but really do appreciate them now. Love the drop top version too Scotty. And the brochure. I always like it when they get included . I want to say those are EXP rims but, I don’t see them in the brochure either. Maybe they’re newer? I’d put them back on. For what it is, theres not too many clean ones left, they got all used up unfortunately. This looks like it could make a fun weekend runaround car for sure.
I’d say hold out for an 86-88 Sport Coupe model, with the updated interior and Escort GT goodies, but really how often do you see any EXP for sale?
Sharp convertible 😎 👍
i never saw 1 of these on the road in all my miles of driving. very ugly for sure
In 1982 I rented one in Pasco County, Florida. The rental agent warned me I would need to switch the AC off if going up the highway between Zephyrhills and Dade City. He was right, AC robbed at least 5 HP needed for the “climb.” Also, be forewarned: these Ford 1.6 SOHC engine heads “look for the light” and fail, fail miserably.
My sister bought a brand new Mercury LN7 in 1981. A sharp looking little car in all black, with the TRX wheel and tire combo. It was an ok performer, but that tire was made of stone, right off the rack. You’d feel a pencil if you ran one over, and they absolutely sucked in the wet. She replaced them a year later, and I just junked them last year, after trying to sell them on and off for 40 years.
I had a 1985 EXP when i first got married,the car reminded me of a go-cart, my car had the bubble back hatchback, loved the car but had to sell it when we had kids, I took out the rear deck lid and noticed 2 indentations in the floor pan and was wondering if i could put in rear seats out of an Ford Escort…..
We used to drive 300 miles every Christmas to my Grandparents house with our family of 4. The two shortest would sit in the back and were a little uncomfortable, and we didn’t even have the bubbleback hatch.
I think Escort seats would have worked with the bubble back. You would sit down another 6 inches from the stock setup. But legroom was another problem if I remember.
My first car was an 82. Loved it. Wasn’t a rocket but at least it had a 4 speed!
I owned an ’85 and it was one of the slowest, cheaply built cars I’ve ever had. I remember buying it from Fred Beans Ford on Roosevelt Blvd. In Philly and regretting it when summer came around and using the A/C with the automatic transmission. Needless to say that it was gone before the next summer rolled around.
Not sure even a mother could love that face.
Odd ball Ford for sure.
My favorite line of this write-up Scotty could be said for any of barn finds write-ups.
“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.” Ha. Truth!
The only EXP I remember was one a friend of a friend owned. I also remember it always needed something.
Good write-up SG. I don’t think the EXP will ever win a beauty contest, but I didn’t think they looked bad. And as Scotty points out, the mid-cycle refreshing to me kind of gave it a too-generic look. Nice convertible chop. The manual transmission is appropriate here. I like this flat steering wheel, it adds a no-nonsense vibe.
It almost looks like Ford might have thought about adding pop-up headlights, but there wasn’t enough money in either the development budget or the target sales price for that, so the pinched front fenders around the headlight buckets was the best the stylists could do with what they had to work with. Built on the same platform as the Escort/Lynx, the accountants squeezed the pennies in the development budget until all of the Abe Lincolns on the pennies they saved screamed in unison, LOL! I never minded the front end styling, it was also one of the first compacts with the then brand-new rectangular sealed beam headlamps. Love the convertible version!
Like the Honda Del Sol and Aussie Mercury Capri, the engine was at the wrong end of the car, LOL! It would have been much better if that four-banger was behind the seats, but again, there wasn’t any money in the development budget for that.
Remember these but couldn’t tell you the last time I saw one on the road. They certainly had some unique styling cues. It doesn’t look in too bad a shape overall for the year but those current wheels would definitely be swapped out for the originals ASAP. Enjoyed seeing the original brochure.
I was never a fan of the frog eye look, but it was unique, which I always appreciate something that stands out from the crowd.
That rear 3/4 view sure makes it look like it it the Thunderbird’s little brother.
Scotty, another big upvote for that sharp convertible!
This was a convertible. They are very rare, one ended up in a move. Look it up on Wiki
I owned one and it was fun to drive. It was a small car that fit my very large framed body. Not going to win any drag races but it was ok. Was bad for timing belt problems though.
Back when these littered the landscape, the thing that fascinated me about them was how badly that one piece molded nose fit… on every single one of them. That said, I knew a few that owned one and they were happy with it.
I had one and yes the fit was poor. The paint faded differently as well so it always looked funny. I just put a bra on it back when those were popular…
Engine looks the same as a Escort and easy to work on.
Always loved the look of these, even if their performance was rather weak. Think I’d hold out for one in better shape than this tbough.
I bought an elderly couple’s EXP for about a $1K and it had very low miles. They couldn’t drive any longer. White with gray cloth, Air that worked, AM-FM, rear defroster, pop-up moonroof, alloys and a stick shift. Excellent care. Only thing wrong with it was the gas struts for the huge hatch had given up the ghost. Good little car for the crowded city. Too bad I didn’t take care of it.
Imagine one of these with focus svt powertrain swapped in.
Whee!
More like WHEEE WHEEE WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!