When I was in my teens, a Ford Escort GT was not exactly a cool car. It was interesting, yes, as it was certainly gussied up quite a bit in ways that appealed to young drivers: a bodykit, unique front grill, rear spoiler, turbine-style wheels with color matched inner coves, fog lights, and sporty upholstery. The thing is, they weren’t cherished and because their values never achieved any meaningful increases, these cars were also regularly scrapped when their useful lives were over. Now, you can’t find a clean one anywhere, making this pristine 1991 Escort GT here on eBay a somewhat remarkable find.
This era of Ford product represents the peak of its relationship with Mazda, with plenty of platform and component sharing going on. The Escort was a twin to the Protege underneath the skin, much like the Probe was to the MX-6 and the Ranger to the B-Series pickup. The Escort GT was intended to compete in the crowded hot hatch space with the likes of the VW GTi and Toyota Celica, but it never seemed to give those cars much to worry about when it came time to go head-to-head. There’s no denying the Escort in GT trim was a looker, however.
Because they quickly became throwaway cars and were never special enough to make worth preserving, you rarely see one pop up for sale in any condition these days. This one likely survived in the condition it did partly because of the automatic transmission which likely discouraged much in the way of abusive driving. However, it’s a bit of a downer here, as most anymore who has been hoping to see one of these turn up for sale is almost certainly hoping to find a car with three pedals. The upholstery and original GT-specific floor mats are both in excellent condition.
The DOHC engine was a decent performer with the 5-speed but it didn’t capture hearts and minds like the high-strung engines in the GTI 16V and Acura Integra GS-R. However, as early 90s sport compact cars continue to grow in popularity as Gen Xers and “old” millennials buy their high school dream cars, it should come as no surprise that a car like this has been hoisted up for sale with a strong asking price, as there very well may be someone looking to re-acquire the car they drove in high school.
I am so glad your posted this!!! I saw this Escort this morning on fast finds while drinking my coffee. What memories this brings back. The first brand new car my wife and I bought was a brand new Ford Escort Sedan in electric blue. Seing this dashboard same color seats and carpet really brings back so many memores. We were proud of that car. It had power steering and power brakes air-conditioning and are you ready for this…. An AM AND FM radio!! We were living high on the hog. The 5 speed I believe was right from the Mazda and that car ran great. We got many good years with a young family out of that car But back to this GT. This is unbelievably clean. Even carpets are like new, I know ours after about 5 years and two small kids were stained pretty badly and we tried to keep it clean. I remember these well and this color too. Always liked the color keyed rims. I agree with Jeff the automatic is a bit of a downer but its probably what helped saved it. I surely hope it goes to a good home gets enjoyed and preserved at the same time. These were some very well built cars from Ford.
As a matter of fact, the Mazda 323/Protoge and Escort GT of this generation were kissing cousins, as the engine/transmission offerings were the same along with the chassis, and most, if not all of the tuning. If I was looking for an economy car of this vintage, this one would be high on the list.
Oooohhh…on second thought, that rust just knocked the price I’d pay down to about $2500. Just saw the chassis pics, and that’s paint over lots of rust.
Bumpers are made from neoprene for deep sea diving. That is how the rust must have started, all that salty ocean water…. Anyone want to tell the seller?
Right there with you. My first new car was a 1993 Escort Wagon (the car I learned to drive stick-shift with). May very well be the last time one of the big 3 built a car that could legitimately compete with the imports.
Good to see a throw-away car like the Escort which has been lovingly maintained. Though when studying the pics it isn’t perfect, it is very good. We sometimes use the term “period-correct” to refer to the 60’s and 70’s, but it fits here too for the 90’s. The color-keyed paint, wheels, and interior piping is a nice touch. I’d prefer a manual transmission.
Observation/nitpick: the display setting from this seller certainly makes sure one focuses on the vehicle, but to me it comes across as stark and unnatural.
Excellent article, Jeff. These are fascinating little cars, and some impressive versions found their way onto other roads across the globe. Ford released these in Australia as the Ford Laser. The hot ticket was the TX3 Turbo version. It packed the same engine but turbocharged. It pumped out 157hp, which it sent to the road through an AWD system. They returned a 15.6 over the ¼, which was pretty good for the era. Sadly, few of those survive.
It’s funny how certain cars bring up memories of people in your past. This one brings me back to a high school classmate who has an earlier version of this car that he totaled within a few months. I remember prior to his wreck we were messing around rocking it in the parking lot, after which it would not start. Apparently there was some kind of shut off switch that activated if you had too much body roll in anticipation of a roll-over? We had never heard of such a thing but apparently none that got reset he was back off to the races. I think he had three cars he totalled in less than a year and somehow never ended up in the hospital ( at least for any length of time). Peter G – are you out there?
Here’s another great import fighter for the time. I thought the Escort was more for the “Corolla/Sentra” crowd,but showed, we could do it too, just took a while. These offered all the things I hate about cars, belt drive cams, drab gray plastic interiors, FWD, BUT,,it got like 35 mpg and that was the selling point. People sure gave up a lot for that almighty precious gas mileage, for a while anyways. I think they were good, not great cars, and hardly American, made in Germany, New Zealand and Australia, but by golly, it had that blue oval, and that was good enough. I think there’s more of these finds than you think, just haven’t been found yet. They were very popular. The ’91 was the 2nd generation, and some say the Pinto replacement, but I’d take a Pinto anyday.
It’s a Mazda Howard..
Assembled in Wayne, Michigan or Hermosillo, Mexico (an early hatchback like this one was most likely made in Wayne).
Mate, over here in Aus, we got the TX3 version, turbo and awd.
Yes it’s a Mazda, but the block has FOMOCO, cast in it.
I’m a V8 man thru and thru, and a Ford man thru and thru, but we (wife wanted it) did own a 1985 TX5, non turbo, non AWD, and in the twistes, not even a speedway driver in a V8 commodore could keep up with the wife driving it.
I loathe front wheel drives, but the TX5, was the exception to the rule.
Even the NSW police couldn’t believe it was capable of 198kmh, got the ticket to prove it tho and that was in 1988. Again non turbo. 2L, naturally asperiated, 5 speed manual, front wheel drive.
It is undeniably cute and precious for how it encapsulates an era. Wow! Did I mention that this Escort GT was cute? The color and the ground-effects lend this vehicle great appeal. Close enough to my old stomping grounds to get the trailer back to U-Haul on the same day! Alas, someone else will enjoy the pride of ownership that will come from having this gem.
First time I saw one of these POS, I thought, Will someone please ESCORT it out of my sight? Times may change, but some of Vintage Rolls Canardly 😋 folks don’t!
My wife said that she would divorce me if she ever again catches me with an escort, so I guess it’s a no for me.
There’s a trend on Barn Finds of not mentioning the price or location of certain vehicles. If you’re going to write 3 paragraphs on the thing? At least include that. I know we can “click” on the link, but it seems silly to leave Barn Finds, and go to evilbay, just to see that info.
1994 my truck needed a week at the dealer for ac issues. Was given a 5 speed escort for a loaner. What a blast, beat it like crazy, ran it over 100. After years of suv/truck ownership learned I like small quick cars. Have had a good mileage 5 speed small car for a DD ever since. Trucks kept just for towing and hauling.
Nice looking car must be nice to drive a car that long then try to sell it for what it sold for new. 5 digit odometer better look it over really hard so you know what you’re getting
Had both the 89 Escort GT and the 91GT model.. The 89 model rode really nice on the road. The 91 GT was like a horse like ride. Guess which one is still in my garage……..
Agree, Andy; the ’89 Escort GT was really fun to drive. I was traveling on business at the time and Hertz rental had a lot of them with 5-speeds; I would actually request them.
I wonder if any of the snobs who wrote these comments ever drove a 91′ or newer Escort GT. The older ones were regular Escorts with decent handling and a higher output 8 valve engine. The 91′ GT got the 16 valve engine with 130HP, which in a 2200lb car is plenty. My son saved his pennies and bought a new one which easily left his best friend’s Rabbit trying to get around a turn with its trademark rear wheel in the air in the dust. Is there anyone in here who just likes the way a car feels and handles? It amazes me how Ford is discounted in so many ways. An average Ford handles better than any average brand in its class. VW is close, but the Japanese cars don’t even deserve a mention. And why is it that my 300,000 mile Contour and my 300,000 mile 05 Focus did not rattle at all, but every dim-witted magazine writer hears rattles when he tests Fords? I could go on, but that would be a rant. Oh, and my girlfriend’s Civic makes so much road noise you can hardly hear the radio.
Good points all, Thomas, but why, then have the bozos in management at Ford decided not to produce these great driving cars any longer? They’ve decided that all the potential buyer deserves is some white/grey ill-handling blob, unless one wants a Mustang which is the only CAR they still build.
As long as the public is convinced that only a Toyota will get them to the store and back, sales are going to be a problem and as long as US cars are built by unions, there can be no defense against the claim that Toyotas are better. $66 per hour was not enough, so they just had a strike for more money. Not once in my 40 years selling most every brand of car and being 9th in personal sales out of 166 Ford dealerships, working 50 hour days, did I earn as much as some guy on the assembly line who learned his job in 2 days and was good at it after 2 weeks. Non union US auto workers make $45 per hour and turn out better quality.
We should all be giving thanks that we have the Mustang for another generation. Not very many ‘driving sedans’ out there, even from ‘foreign’ manufacturers. It’s not bozos in management, it’s that this part of the market has largely gone away. Management is focusing their company on what sells, which today is trucks and SUV’s.
“Japanese cars don’t even deserve a mention”.
Miata folks would like to have a word with you.
Not just Miata owners. I worked at both Ford and Mazda in the 90’s. In Canada, we didn’t get the same Protégé as the U.S. The LX in the states had the twin cam 1.8, ours was sohc. We had the GT Protégé for 90 and 91 but never a 3 door 323. The Escort shared the same chassis with some differences. Rear toe was only adjustable on one side, Mazda was both. Replaced outer tie rods on Escorts constantly but not on Mazdas. Both made by TRW. I used to put Mazda parts on friends Escorts. My all time favorite car was a 1993 Mazda 323 25th anniversary edition I built. The engine and rear disc brakes came from an Escort GT, the trans and bigger front brakes from a Protégé GT. Front control arms (more caster) tubular front and rear sway bars and exhaust from a MX3. Rear suspension arms came from the MX3 as well( harder rubber bushings) Tokico Blue struts and Eibach springs. The engine was the jewel. Miata 10:1 pistons, Mazdaspeed miata cams with a ported head and intake. Bigger valves and throttle body coupled with an RX7 VAM rounded out the intake. Light flywheel and underdrive pulley on a polished balanced steel crank. All Arp fasteners kept it together. A 4 into 1 header and injectors from a supra. The last mods were polished 15″ 10th anniversary Miata rims and 205/50/15 Yokohama tires and 5th gear from a 2000 626 v6 ( shorter ratio) The anniversary 323 only came in dark green with a rood spoiler and a beige interior in the same material and piping as the MPV. Produced 170 hp, and flat out in 5th I backed off at 140mph. Still pulling at 7000rpm but I was on a public highway so…. Everyone who drove that car loved it except my ex wife. She made me sell it and I would give anything to have it back.
I had one and loved it. Perfectly reliable, great gearbox, revvy engine just a flat out hoot to drive.
I find most people care more about a car’s looks or their laughable image. If you are worried about what people think of you because of what you drive; I can only say, graduate high school already.
I had a 1989 GT and a 1995 GT. The 91 up 1.8 dohc versions are light years better in every way. The 1995 was an absolute riot to drive. 130hp, 2200lbs and a motor that pulls to 7 grand, these cars are quick and fun. 160,000 rock solid reliable miles before Michigan rust took its toll.
The Celica was never a performance car. It shouldn’t be mentioned at all unless we’re going to mention Toyotas always famous rot and rust issues still present to this day.
And to the guy that has a problem with the union workers in America; jealously will get you nowhere. Just because you sit in some cushy chair in the air conditioning, what makes you think you can judge somebody that actually works for a living? You sell cars? Your profession is the least respected of any. You lie to customers all day to fill your pockets.
And those non union workers have been doing a pretty terrible job lately. Japanese brands have had massive amounts of recalls lately. Hell, Toyota is recalling vehicles because the bumpers are falling off. If they can’t even do that, what else are they missing? Maybe too many drunk’s on the line at Japan Inc
“I wonder if these snobs ever drove a ’91 Escort GT” …right on.
I leased one thru Ford A/Z Plan for 1 year and loved it. It had surprising passing power not expected. Like a go cart, handled well and was a blast to drive and revved very high with good pull.
Our Family owned standard Escorts thru the 80’s and we had 6 total (and 2 Mercurs) over several years we sold back and forth to each other + friends … including a 4 speed Diesel (Mazda engine) Escort that we bought for $5,000. when it came off lease from Ford.
Noisy, smelly diesel but we used them to tool around and spent nothing on fuel back then (40 ? Mpg?). Think about that. And, Dad took back seats out to haul bricks, etc etc from Home Depot!
This is a big big way-back memory!
Check it for rust, Good luck!
It’s a “chicken-and-egg” dichotomy, Bob. Are the reasons the grey-white blobs are selling because that’s the majority that’s available, or is it because there’s no decent “driver’s cars” from domestic manufacturers? Toyota has no trouble selling Camrys, Honda sells many, many Accords and Civics. Toyota even has a new hot hatch. Genesis in particular has introduced some appealing new performance sedans, and they’re selling. Ford continues to lose billions each year. Hmmmmm.
I always liked these cars (although make mine a 5 speed!). They disappeared from the roads pretty quickly – even here in rust-free AZ.
I occasionally still see one on the road.
Yes, I am a Mopar guy, through and through. But, in 2005 I gave my daughter in high school her first car. It was a 1994 ESCORT Wagon in the same color green with similar grey interior. It was a plain jane, but it had only 35,000 miles and was in mint condition. The quintessential “little old lady’s car”. It was the perfect “kids first car”. And it was great. Economical and trouble free. Now, back in the ’70’s, I worked for Chrysler. And most people don’t know this, but on a car with a good old mechanical speedometer, there is a way of telling if the speedo has been replaced with a factory unit. The digits marking the tenth’s of a mile should be a white background with black numerals. This car’s speedo has a white background with red numerals. The red numerals indicating the tenth’s of a mile is a tell tale sign that the speedometer was replaced with an OEM factory unit. Therefore, I question the true mileage of this car. It still looks like it’s in very nice condition but I don’t think it’s worth the asking price. Especially if the true mileage is unknown. Buyer beware.
I had an 88 Escort 4 dr sedan that had the GT head, header/exhaust, sway bars, front buckets, the 15″ wheels and rear wing, all from a GT, installed on her by a previous owner. It was a 5 speed. I took her to an autocross event and when they asked for my vehicle information, and I told them 1988 Ford Escort Sedan.. they said – Why? I answered Why Not?
I took 2nd place that day out of a field of over 25 cars, that included Porsches, Corvettes and others.
I joined the autocross club and raced several times, racking up enough points to place me third overall in the New England Region, Street Modified class.
She was a fun and useful little car that got about 40 MPG.
Today I have a similar sleeper, an 05 Toyota Corolla XRS – 200HP, 6 speed, 9000 RPM redline, Yamaha sourced NA 4 cyl., TRD suspension, LSD… another fun sedan that will hit 60 in just over 6 seconds, can run up to 148 mph and still will get 45 MPG on the highway, averages 34.
We got these over here in Aus, but they were called a Ford Lazer.
And we got the turbo version called the TX3, and AWD.
The early Escorts got a bad name because of the interference engine. BUT, the original Escort engine had a cross flow head and Hemi head. I worked at a Ford store in the ’80s and early ’90s and was cruising through the parts catalog and found a “high performance” cylinder head listed for the early engine and I found one in another dealer’s obsolescence inventory and bought it cheap. THEN I also found a high performance camshaft listed in the parts listing and it was not the used on the high performance head! I picked up one of these also. There was one or two years that used a factory steel tube header which I found one in a junk yard. And the best item is that the 2.3 HSC engine that they used in the Topaz/Tempo is actually a .040 over bore and slightly longer stoke of the the Escort engine. (no overhead cam) So with the the domed pistons of a stock early Escort (.040 over), the HP head and camshaft and the header, I had one HOT Escort wagon. Fry the tires in the first 2 gears and chirp 3rd. By the way, the manual transmissions in the early Escorts were bullet proof. In fact it was this gear box that was used on the Taurus SHO! (the clutch was the weak link on the SHO) I wish that I had kept that car . Sold it to a friend with the agreement to sell it back to me when they were done with it. A couple of weeks later in was in a flood and I did not get the chance to get it back.
Only the 1st year (1981) had an interference engine. In 82′ they came out with an optional engine, the Escort HO, a few bucks more, but worth it. These were all 1.6L.
Another one I keep forgetting could be had with a slushbox. I always thought there should’ve been a 5-door version of the GT, but they should’ve been manual-only.
Aus has been called the lucky country, now I know why.
We got the 5 door TX3, turbo, AWD.
But has mentioned earlier we owned a TX5, bigger car, and with kids needed it.
There really was in a way. The Escort LX E, and the Mercury Tracer LTS. Both had the Mazda 1.8 dohc and 4 doors. I had a 1991 Tracer LTS 1.8, 4 door automatic, Escort GT in disguise.
I learned on my mom’s 92 LX-E. Then when my wife and i married and her old rusting 86 camry was disintegrating, we bought my dad’s friends 93 LX-E.
The close ratio 5speed was buzzy on the highway, but amazing on backroads. It was light and small, but fit 4 adults with ease. Love everything about those cars (except for the “automatic” seatbelts)
As a Lincoln Mercury dealer, I would drive the Tracer LTS with 5-speed most of the time and I thought it was fun to go to dealer meetings and see all the other guys come in their Town Cars and Marks. They, like too many other dealers just don’t get it, they are not car guys. I was pleased to find that one of the biggest dealers in the Philadelphia district also showed up in an LTS.
I’m looking at the window sticker of my 1991 Ford Escort LX coupe with a 5 speed trans. in ultra blue clearcoat metallic. The clearcoat paint was a $91 option. It started discoloring on the entire roof, and peeling off the lower door panels in less than a year. Ford repainted the doors, and roof at no charge.(The early days of clearcoat paint were a disaster). The only other negative for my model was the standard 13″ wheels. You had to take a curve at a low speed, or the tires would squeal. It didn’t make any sense, because the car came standard with front/rear Macpherson strut suspension, and front/rear stabilizer bars. Go figure. The best color for the ’91, and ’92 GT was white. It transformed the cars look to stunning IMHO. At least they came with larger tires too.
My 1995 GT was white with the 7 spoke wheels, It was a good looking car. I still miss that little beer can.
Dave Sutton, sorry I got carried away with the union remarks. I tried to get into the operating engineers in 1972. Local #4 in Boston. My own brother was a member and I had gobs of experience with backhoes and excavators. They wanted $2000 in cash for a book. That would be like $10,000.00 today, so I started selling cars. Have you ever gotten down in a trench to fix an operating sewer line? I have. And I never had an unlisted phone or avoided a customer with a problem, and I don’t lie even when it’s hard.
Bought a 2 door LX in fall of ’90, sticker was $10,166. My first fuel injected, overhead cam engine; made in Wayne, no problem with clear coat. Only problem I had with it was my fault, wasn’t paying attention to change interval on the cam belt. Bought it for the wife, 18 years later, it’s what I got when she wanted a divorce. Drove it for 3 more years, still ran great at 219,000 miles, but rust was getting bad. Best money I ever spent on a car!
As I remember, all 91′ and above Escort GTs were built in Hermosillo, Mexico. The auto plant that MIT declared was the best in quality in the world. My son owned the 91′ GT and I have owned 2 Fusions and a Plymouth Acclaim, all built in Mexico and have all been trouble free cars.
Yes, the Plymouth too, The Mitsubishi V6 and the 3 speed automatic. In 94′ the 4s were awful and the auto overdrive trans was a nightmare.
I have a 1995 Escort GT in the “Ultra Violet” decor group, which has the same painted items (wheels) as this Cayman Green model. 816 were built with the package in 1995.
My car has 39,050 miles. Special ordered it loaded but with a manual trans senior year of high school. It was the only option loaded radio delete car with ABS. One of one Escort GT 😂 I installed a very high end audio system in February 1995.
Wrong. Wayne Assembly Plant built my 1995 GT.
Thanks, Mike. With all the worthless information that I have bouncing around my head, every once in a while there is a crash.