When I was a young kid, my dad was a part of a car club and one of the members had a Turbo Escort GT that made about 375 wheel horsepower and it was insane. He tracked down a motorless Mazda 323 GTX AWD and swapped the Escort powertrain into it. Fully caged and set up to race hill climb events, it handled insane. That was nearly 15 years ago, and I've been in 500, 600 even 800 wheel horsepower cars and nothing scared me or blew my mind quite like that GTX. Boost hit like a rocket and it handled so tight you thought you might detach your retinas. Sleepers are the move! Awesome review David
Still a shame that the mazda 323 gtx was overshadowed by the mitsubishi lancer evo, subaru impreza wrx and toyota celica gt four. The same goes for the nissan sunny gti-R. They're really underated little rally cars from the early 90's wrc era.
They had a 323 GT-R as well which made about 30hp more than the GT-X. Has a VJ23(about a 60 trim turbo)instead of the vj20 the GT-X had, it also had a webbed block for more strength and bigger injectors and a better flowing intake. They only produced 2,300 GT-R to the public which was the minimum amount they needed to be able to be in there really class.
Bro I saw the video and was like "isn't that that one guys I've been subbed to for years??" Of course it is! Love this car, this video, and your channel!
My late uncle had an Escort GT brand new in 1993 and took me for a ride at ten years of age through the winding roads of the countryside of Virginia and what a ride that was! It just kept onto the road and gripped through every turn and my did it go fast. I'd get one as a tribute to him one day.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention the red switch ,it's for the 2step, it's basically useless on the street except for hotboi fireballs and burnouts. Also the factory transmissions in these cars are made of glass. I swapped the one in mine to one from an SW20 MR2... pretty fun swap, shifter from a 99 Solara , axles from an 88 camry, clutch disk from Toyota helux ... ua-cam.com/users/stovallsgarage
Mazda made the case super smooth outside, so the gears can become super smooth inside /s G-series womp womp... Fantastic to see more details on the axle swap beyond what transmission was used! Mate of mine found a Kia Sephia 'box and hybridized some Kia/ EGT axles to get that to work.
I believe it...I remember hanging out at the local street race locations in Detroit some 20 years ago or so. There was one of those grandma colored, pearl green 4 door Escorts just like this one. It looked stock as day. Thing was absolutely wicked. It was blowing the doors off of every vehicle all night. Only car that it lost to that night was an old 60's Chevy Camaro with a 454 big block. And even then, it only lost by a hair. It hung with the Camaro the whole time. Never did find out out what was in the car because the owner refused to say anything other than it only had an aftermarket clutch (Yeah, right! lol). Legend has it that he did a full Escort Cosworth swap, but it's never been confirmed. One thing that IS known for sure is that car was an absolute savage
95 escort gt owner here with BP-05. This guys build and another gt that is black making about 400 too are the top dogs in the escort game right now very much respect for these dudes
I love my 97 lx. Idgaf it’s a fishbowl but i beat several cars off the rip it’s a lil beater but that thing flies. I ain’t beating shit in it but off the rip it’s pickup beats a lot of cars.
Oh man, the memories! I had one of these GTs back in the early 2000's. I'll never forget flying down I-64 with 4 passengers pushing the needle to 117 mph. It's a very good thing mine wasn't turbocharged.
Just FYI, it wasn't a mercury that was related to the Cosworth, it was the Merkur XR4Ti. I had a 1993 Escort LX-E. It was basically the GT in a full on sedan body. My sedan was 2450lbs. The GT was in the 23xxlb range. I'd still like to find a GT and build a track car out of it.
The sound of that 1.8 takes me back! I loved my '93 and '91 Escort GTs! That car is really cool, though if it was me, I'd put the interior back in! The wheels, especially though, are perfect for that car.
that's a plymouth version of the eclipse, but I bet you are thinking the plymouth laser RS with the diamond star motors 2liter turbo with the bump on the hood for the timing belt. toyota makes trds though so this is all over the place with makes and models. but I had the '91 laser RS second hand from someone who suped it up, and gee wilikers was that thing quick. I literally never raced anything that could beat it. I'd swear I could bend the speedo needle in under a quarter mile. best car I ever owned, and most prone to random failure as well. it was stolen and I just hope they kept racing it and didn't let it die. ah memories.
Ahhh yes the escort. I had a 93' I was trying to swap in the same motor back when I was in highschool. I loved that car. Watching this brings a smile to my face.
I've been watching Stovall battle with this car on his channel for a long time. I haven't clicked on a video so fast before. I'm glad to see it running and not tearing up transmissions finally.
That's shit is so dope. Dude I'm glad he built that we need more more more more more uncommon builds. Thanks David for being the guy who took the lead to review cars we would almost never see. Awesome car
Weird & ridiculously fast,fun cars make live more interesting. Really cool 90's build it's not often you see oddball cars from this era get a Rad refresh like this one.
This was my first car I owned a 1993 for escort gt, I wish I never let go of it you just build the dream car of mine for aure. So much respects to your build man 👍
I love these old Escorts!! Great video David!! I love these oddball car reviews and these weird and cool 90’s cars!! Reminds me in a way of my 1993 Ford Probe GT that you reviewed!! Keep up the amazing content!!
That's awesome. I had one of these Escort GTs for a beater. It was an automatic but I swapped it to a 5 speed. It was a fun little car even in stock form, I couldn't even imagine what it would be like with 400 HP. I now have a Mazdaspeed Miata which has the factory turbo version of that engine.
Any car truly can be a platform if you want it to be. Honestly, a car like this is way more special than your typical Mustang/Camaro/other typical fast car.... The sleeper status is where it's at for the most fun. Great video and interesting build :)
Had a friend that had one of these with a Mazda 2.0 that had a 8K redline. He said it was 180 HP. Was limited slip and had a close ratio transmission. Would burn out with 4 people in the car all of 1st, 2nd and half through 3rd gear. Had mazda suspension too and handled amazing. The speed limiter was removed. We buried the 120 MPH speedometer so for that as we were slowing back down I thought it was broke.
These are seriously fun cars to mess around with. I had a couple in my life. I was a member on FEOA (Ford Escort Owner's Association). We had a small handful of members with some serious beasts. Even remember a guy with a V8 conversion. Great cars to mod.
The British built Escort RS Cosworth is still the ultimate Escort. Cosworth is a British company. Even the 80's Escort RS Turbo looks better made than this 323 without flip up headlights. BTW Britain is not in Europe. Lol Looks like we're going to be in an alliance with the US going forward, so fingers crossed we start getting the cars.... But ford only make vans here now, so a RS Cosworth Transit anyone? We've done it a few times before, going back to the 70's was the first time with the first Transit Supervan!
Built a 96 with a GTR engine, one of only two I ever knew of around 20 years ago. Had the LX dash though as it had more of a dash with passenger airbag and fiberglassed it all to add more guages and make it all custom. Probably in a junkyard now but it was over 500hp and built internals. Biggest issue was the axles
I love crazy sleepers like this! This is literally the usdm model of the cozy! Great review. I hope that car last so people can hear and know about it for years to come.
I owned one of these years ago in high school. Was my first tuner car and was blue. 1.8 dohc has potential. First manual car so besides the leaking fuel issue and second clutch then destroyed trans I decided to get rid of it and got a DSM.
91-96 escorts are the same chassis as the early 90's mazda proteges. Im in the middle of my swap, it's a 93 Escort wagon with a 92 j-spec mazda 323 GT-R swap. Goes like this, these are all stock hp #'s for the 1.8's 127hp non turbo, turbo GTX 180hp(vj20), turbo GT-R 210hp(vj23 ball bearing water cooled)
I'm a huge fan of little Ford's. I loved my engine swapped focus. I really like the pre Mazda escort gt and how it looks like a baby fox body. Anyone remember the EXP escorts...the precursor to the zx2 😂🤣. The escort SR was a pretty fun car too.
So.....this you might enjoy. I currently have a 1990(pre Mazda) EGT. My dad has an Escort SR swapped 98 wagon, 5-speed. And we are building an SVT swapped ZX2 lol. I like to consider myself and him the king’s of weird ass builds
@@Slocusfocus back in 06 I did one of the first documented ( mnfoc ) auto zx3 to svt engine and trans swaps. You wouldn't think it make a huge difference but the zx3 is like 300 lbs lighter right from the get go. I filled at least one five gallon bucket with sound deadening I scraped off the car. By the time I sold the car it had ... One of one carbon fiber hand made hood . Rear tail gate shave Tubular control arms all around. Coil overs Hockey puck roll control mount. C.f.m aluminum intake runner actuator arm Full RF system with two 501s's running two p2 10's and a 800a4 running power components. Short shifter Cold air made from nacta ducting off a porsche cup car. Chrome delete headlights ( I used a heat gun to open the head lights and modify them) Light weight seats Rear seat delete Limited slip One piece flywheel stage two clutch E85 tune 80 shot kit....I caught a lot of people sleeping with that car .
Nice😎 I still have mine just tired of blowing transmissions in the thing been looking for a tsx to swap motor and trans😉for years now but just been super busy with other things. I’ve never seen a k swapped escort got on you UA-cam 🤤
This car brings back so many memories. 2 friends of mine had one. One was teal and 5 speed. One was like a laser red/pink, and automatic. The teal one was hooked up tastefully. But here is the thing. At the time, I had a 93 Miata. I didnt know they shared the same platform, until NOW. Except I actually had the 1.6l, and he had the 1.8l GT. 41 years old, and I just now find this out. Wow. So awesome. Thanks David for the content.
I almost bought the wagon version of an early '90s Escort a couple months ago. Total grandma car, with only 15K on the odometer. Based on this video, my regret for passing on it has deepend.
You’re probably better off. It would need to be completely gone through because all of the parts/rubber are from the early 90’s. I found that out the hard way. Early-mid 90s ford also had problems with the odometer. The one in my 93 Cougar went on and off periodically.
This took me back to high school. I graduated in 2000, so the Escort was a cheap "sporty" car to buy. A couple of my friends had them. It was cool seeing a build like this. Keep the oddballs coming!
No way! You actually did it! I saw this guy post in the comments a few months back and actually checked out his channel and chatted a bit with him. His Escort is insane! Edit: didn't know you were friends with the guy.
Damn this makes me jealous that I'm stuck with the 1.9 model, it's definitely far from fast, but it's not too boring. Just wish there was more aftermarket for it.
Do what you got to do. No matter how well done the engine bay looks in an escort others aren’t going to be as impressed as other cars with a messy bay. Function first the rest will follow. I’m sure you can make something work.
I got my teal 1.9 in 94, it only had 15,000 miles on it, 250,000 miles later it looks like it but DAMN it was fun putting them on the odo. Like you I dream of puttin her in the garage, stripping her down and tricking her out, Then unleashing the beast!!!( little beast).
Great review, and this is not the only fast Escort. I have been running the 91-94 Escort GT's since 92 and have had many fast Escorts. I give mad respect to the builder of this one because he has skills that surpass the average builder. P.S. I am currently building a 94 Escort GT that will be my fastest build ever.
I can't wait to see it, there are a few builds out there that will far supass this thing lol. I did just start working on the 30psi tune, hoping its around 500 now... won't know until it sees the track or dyno...
@@StovallsGarage You are miles ahead of me, I'm just getting started on my build. When it's done I'll drive down so we can hang out. Been awhile since I have had the chance to be around Escort devoted people.
I really REALLY hope you get to drive at least one cossie on the channel at some point. We love them here in the Uk... Theyre really something special!
we used to race an Escort GT from this era in 24 hours of LeMons and Chumpcar. That little Escort and it's Miata motor was always in contention to place, if not win outright. Light, fast enough and few reliability issues outside of typical wear items, even in grueling endurance racing. My favorite aspect of the car was being able to out-brake almost any other car on in the field due to it's weight advantage and decent stopping power.
@@josephandreuccetti8043 hmm... I didn't build the car so I can't be certain. If I recall correctly it had Koni dampers on it when we were racing in the 24 hour endurance series
Man my second car ever was a ‘92 Escort LX and I loved it!! She was an auto but I’d have dropped a 5spd in there in a heartbeat. If I’d thought I had the option at the time I’d have surely thrown a turbo at her and worked a bunch of other efforts to make her a street scene beast! Great video, good to see things I could have done when I had my old girl 😉
You would think it would be cheaper than normal, but I have a 91 base escort and it cost more to insure than my 03 Corolla. I would say it's because of how rare the car is. I've had the car about 6 months and have only saw 2 others on the road! That's just what I think tough
Had two of these in the green '94 GT. Trashed three transmissions in them. Doesn't take long. Very fun car. Faster than most from that era, especially once you reach the higher rpms. Been looking for another 20 years later to do what you did here. Haven't found a green one yet.
Was thinking about turbocharging my old '96 LX, and this video has now swung me towards definitely doing it. Poor girl's been out of commission for four years now, she deserves an upgrade for the grand re-debut. This GT is spectacular, hard to believe there's a Miata engine in there; Makes it scream like a road warrior, that's great stuff
Starting with the ‘86 models, I always thought the 2-dr Escort/Lynx shared a lot of the body styling and lines of Ford’s foxbody. This model shares those same styling lines.
The Ford Escort was way ahead of its time when it came out as far as design. I had a 1994 ford escort and I had a 75 shot of Nos on a bone stock engine and auto transmission. I beat a 1995 mustang v6 with ease.
Now before I start this video, I wanted to share this story. You guys remember the first gen Neon? The Plymouth Neon? It came in that forest green color that always faded to like booger green. I saw one of those one night at a light on my way home from work. Sticker on the back said "It's just a Neon" It was not lowered too hard, no fancy lights or dash, no pillar guages, stock af and only 16x7 aftermarket wheels but the wheel well gap was taken care of. There was only 1 pipe coming out the back. The music that pipe was making was not some stock first gen neon and it was not a big 4 inch muffler on the stock engine. This was a modest pipe(2.5" maybe 3" at most) and it had a rumble, that low end turbo rumble. So I pull up next to the kid and that's when I heard it, he tried to hide it but how the hell are you going to hide that turbo blow off. I asked if he has the SRT-4 engine in there, he bashfully nodded and I gave him the thumbs up. Just thought I would share this, don't discount any car at a stop light, you never know whats under the hood.
I had one of these sell out under me. Was a 1994, blue, 5speed, everything worked on it, wanted $800. I really wanted that car, but when I called the next day after seeing it, someone had bought it. After it sold had to settle for a 94 civic. Civic is long gone, I think I would still have the Escort if I had been able to get it. Really cool cars.
Loving it, MR2 transmission is a swap for the 2AZ scions as well. Great transmission & a LOT stronger than the S**t box that came in the tC/xB. Bonus points for doing a car review in the Titusville/Cocoa Beach area hahaha
What do you think of this crazy sleeper?
ThatDudeinBlue I love it!! I love these old Escorts!!
Makes me want one!
Love it! same as the vids
My mazda5 sleeper 5 SPD with a fusion engine is more of a sleeper. :p
I live 20 minutes away from where you shot this, and the 17 year old version of me is very happy, because I wanted a turbo Escort real bad.
When I was a young kid, my dad was a part of a car club and one of the members had a Turbo Escort GT that made about 375 wheel horsepower and it was insane. He tracked down a motorless Mazda 323 GTX AWD and swapped the Escort powertrain into it. Fully caged and set up to race hill climb events, it handled insane. That was nearly 15 years ago, and I've been in 500, 600 even 800 wheel horsepower cars and nothing scared me or blew my mind quite like that GTX. Boost hit like a rocket and it handled so tight you thought you might detach your retinas. Sleepers are the move! Awesome review David
Still a shame that the mazda 323 gtx was overshadowed by the mitsubishi lancer evo, subaru impreza wrx and toyota celica gt four. The same goes for the nissan sunny gti-R. They're really underated little rally cars from the early 90's wrc era.
They had a 323 GT-R as well which made about 30hp more than the GT-X. Has a VJ23(about a 60 trim turbo)instead of the vj20 the GT-X had, it also had a webbed block for more strength and bigger injectors and a better flowing intake. They only produced 2,300 GT-R to the public which was the minimum amount they needed to be able to be in there really class.
I did the same in the early 2000's BPT1.8 out of a jspec 323, she was a screamer loved my escort wish I still had her
@@trustyone9427, I'm finishing up my j-spec 323 GT-R swap in my Escort wagon, right now. Just need to set the timing and tune the standalone ECU.
I currently have a GTX and a 93 Escort GT, love them both.
Oh man ,been waiting for this. Pleasure hanging out, gotta do it again sometime.
So glad to meet you!
Your getting a sub
Bro I saw the video and was like "isn't that that one guys I've been subbed to for years??" Of course it is! Love this car, this video, and your channel!
Oh! ...so this IS your Escort!
You got some good content on yer page!
Damn bro always been a dream to turbo one of these. Thanks for the inspiration. That's a bad ass escort.
So I actually don’t hate this car, have to say this is done extremely well
I never realized how cool the exterior of the 90's escort was. I LOVE that front end
It wasn't. It is now tho!🤣🤣
It just needed a few simple mods like suspension, wheels. To bring out the looks.
that grille looks HOTTTT
@@chE3z1 I just picked one up for my wagon, so I have the GT grille now
Agreed
My late uncle had an Escort GT brand new in 1993 and took me for a ride at ten years of age through the winding roads of the countryside of Virginia and what a ride that was! It just kept onto the road and gripped through every turn and my did it go fast. I'd get one as a tribute to him one day.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention the red switch ,it's for the 2step, it's basically useless on the street except for hotboi fireballs and burnouts.
Also the factory transmissions in these cars are made of glass. I swapped the one in mine to one from an SW20 MR2... pretty fun swap, shifter from a 99 Solara , axles from an 88 camry, clutch disk from Toyota helux ... ua-cam.com/users/stovallsgarage
Mazda made the case super smooth outside, so the gears can become super smooth inside /s
G-series womp womp...
Fantastic to see more details on the axle swap beyond what transmission was used!
Mate of mine found a Kia Sephia 'box and hybridized some Kia/ EGT axles to get that to work.
Nice car man🤙🏼
Alot of work to make it work.Definitely worth it.Love the build.Integra GSR swap would be a good option too
This is your car man I would love to see more videos I have watched you for 2 years sense I got my car and would love to see more of the build
Good ol' 3rd gear delete lol.
I have my 93 Escort GT sitting in my parents’ garage, left there when I enlisted in the Navy. What a cool project I have to look forward to one day.
I believe it...I remember hanging out at the local street race locations in Detroit some 20 years ago or so. There was one of those grandma colored, pearl green 4 door Escorts just like this one. It looked stock as day. Thing was absolutely wicked. It was blowing the doors off of every vehicle all night. Only car that it lost to that night was an old 60's Chevy Camaro with a 454 big block. And even then, it only lost by a hair. It hung with the Camaro the whole time. Never did find out out what was in the car because the owner refused to say anything other than it only had an aftermarket clutch (Yeah, right! lol). Legend has it that he did a full Escort Cosworth swap, but it's never been confirmed. One thing that IS known for sure is that car was an absolute savage
95 escort gt owner here with BP-05. This guys build and another gt that is black making about 400 too are the top dogs in the escort game right now very much respect for these dudes
I never thought a ford escort could look so good. This was my first car and damn it was embarrassing going to house party’s, had to park a block away
People always loved my ford escort.
I love my 97 lx. Idgaf it’s a fishbowl but i beat several cars off the rip it’s a lil beater but that thing flies. I ain’t beating shit in it but off the rip it’s pickup beats a lot of cars.
That motor was boosted from the factory...in Japan. That 1.8L was in the Mazda 323 GTX and the 323 GTR both were turbocharged.
Oh man, the memories! I had one of these GTs back in the early 2000's. I'll never forget flying down I-64 with 4 passengers pushing the needle to 117 mph. It's a very good thing mine wasn't turbocharged.
Just FYI, it wasn't a mercury that was related to the Cosworth, it was the Merkur XR4Ti.
I had a 1993 Escort LX-E. It was basically the GT in a full on sedan body. My sedan was 2450lbs. The GT was in the 23xxlb range. I'd still like to find a GT and build a track car out of it.
The sound of that 1.8 takes me back! I loved my '93 and '91 Escort GTs! That car is really cool, though if it was me, I'd put the interior back in! The wheels, especially though, are perfect for that car.
I love seeing unique, weird cars, especially unloved early 90s gems such as this Escort. Can't wait for an MX-3 or NX2000 to appear on the channel!
We got these in Australia as well, but they were known as the tx3 ford laser, we also got fwd and awd variants
I only know this because of the TRD Laser lol
that's a plymouth version of the eclipse, but I bet you are thinking the plymouth laser RS with the diamond star motors 2liter turbo with the bump on the hood for the timing belt. toyota makes trds though so this is all over the place with makes and models. but I had the '91 laser RS second hand from someone who suped it up, and gee wilikers was that thing quick. I literally never raced anything that could beat it. I'd swear I could bend the speedo needle in under a quarter mile. best car I ever owned, and most prone to random failure as well. it was stolen and I just hope they kept racing it and didn't let it die. ah memories.
TX3 laser are wicked! There is RWD one with a Turbo II 13BT mounted north-south config
Ahhh yes the escort. I had a 93' I was trying to swap in the same motor back when I was in highschool. I loved that car. Watching this brings a smile to my face.
I've been watching Stovall battle with this car on his channel for a long time. I haven't clicked on a video so fast before. I'm glad to see it running and not tearing up transmissions finally.
This gives me so much inspiration for my 1993 escort wagon. I just got bought a set of 15x9s for it and Mazda protege sleeve-overs.
How's that build going
I had a 1987 Escort , and even though i'm a Chevy fan . That Ford Escort was the best front/wrong wheel drive car i have ever driven .
That's shit is so dope. Dude I'm glad he built that we need more more more more more uncommon builds. Thanks David for being the guy who took the lead to review cars we would almost never see. Awesome car
Weird & ridiculously fast,fun cars make live more interesting. Really cool 90's build it's not often you see oddball cars from this era get a Rad refresh like this one.
This was my first car I owned a 1993 for escort gt, I wish I never let go of it you just build the dream car of mine for aure. So much respects to your build man 👍
I love these old Escorts!! Great video David!! I love these oddball car reviews and these weird and cool 90’s cars!! Reminds me in a way of my 1993 Ford Probe GT that you reviewed!! Keep up the amazing content!!
That's awesome. I had one of these Escort GTs for a beater. It was an automatic but I swapped it to a 5 speed. It was a fun little car even in stock form, I couldn't even imagine what it would be like with 400 HP. I now have a Mazdaspeed Miata which has the factory turbo version of that engine.
I've waited since people have turboed the miata for this. Favorite fwd compact car. Thank you for the vid man.
Had a 96 escort hatchback. Loved that car. Always wanted a GT. I had the GT side skirts and some aftermarket wheels on it and it looked pretty cool.
Any car truly can be a platform if you want it to be. Honestly, a car like this is way more special than your typical Mustang/Camaro/other typical fast car.... The sleeper status is where it's at for the most fun. Great video and interesting build :)
❤
Had a friend that had one of these with a Mazda 2.0 that had a 8K redline. He said it was 180 HP. Was limited slip and had a close ratio transmission. Would burn out with 4 people in the car all of 1st, 2nd and half through 3rd gear. Had mazda suspension too and handled amazing. The speed limiter was removed. We buried the 120 MPH speedometer so for that as we were slowing back down I thought it was broke.
Came turbo from factory over here, was called a Ford Laser TX3 Turbo. Very rare.
They looked just like a Mazda protege
Where is here? Australia?
Have you seen the 13B Turbo in it mounted north-south RWD?
These are seriously fun cars to mess around with. I had a couple in my life. I was a member on FEOA (Ford Escort Owner's Association). We had a small handful of members with some serious beasts. Even remember a guy with a V8 conversion. Great cars to mod.
I have always liked Escorts, even though I’m from Europe,
(PS, the european Escorts are better)
go back to Europe we have enough infected people with covi viruses
El senor Trump I still live in Europe, like I would want to live in the US, as long as you guys still have a crazy orange faced president
The British built Escort RS Cosworth is still the ultimate Escort. Cosworth is a British company. Even the 80's Escort RS Turbo looks better made than this 323 without flip up headlights.
BTW
Britain is not in Europe. Lol
Looks like we're going to be in an alliance with the US going forward, so fingers crossed we start getting the cars....
But ford only make vans here now, so a RS Cosworth Transit anyone? We've done it a few times before, going back to the 70's was the first time with the first Transit Supervan!
Yeah don't remind us lol
@@FizireYT
Remind us of what? The various Transit Supervan's or the dictatorship that is the now blatantly failing EU?
Built a 96 with a GTR engine, one of only two I ever knew of around 20 years ago. Had the LX dash though as it had more of a dash with passenger airbag and fiberglassed it all to add more guages and make it all custom. Probably in a junkyard now but it was over 500hp and built internals. Biggest issue was the axles
Shout out to all my old ERDT members! I used to have a white 91 gt. Always wanted to turbo it. This certainly brings back memories.
I was there too. I still have the same screen name. Sold my "scort" back in 2006 and still get a little happy when I see one alive on the roads today.
I love crazy sleepers like this! This is literally the usdm model of the cozy! Great review. I hope that car last so people can hear and know about it for years to come.
These were everywhere when I started my career as a Ford technician in the 90s. This car, the EXP and the Merkur Xr4t1 were so slept on.
I wish they were more Mekurs I have never seen one in person.
Beautiful build my dad use to have that exact same escort but in red.This was actually the car that got me into cars.
I miss seeing these cars on the road. Damn that cash for clunkers program
Man, I was smiling ear to ear with you. They did some solid work!
dope. love oddball builds like this.
I owned one of these years ago in high school. Was my first tuner car and was blue. 1.8 dohc has potential. First manual car so besides the leaking fuel issue and second clutch then destroyed trans I decided to get rid of it and got a DSM.
My first car was a 92' Ford Escort GT in blue. I loved that car. Cool to see someone throw some power at one.
I had a brand new one back in 1994 and I can tell you that a stock engine would top end around 150. I loved that car.
Love that you want to review unique cars, kudos to the owner, well done!
91-96 escorts are the same chassis as the early 90's mazda proteges. Im in the middle of my swap, it's a 93 Escort wagon with a 92 j-spec mazda 323 GT-R swap. Goes like this, these are all stock hp #'s for the 1.8's 127hp non turbo, turbo GTX 180hp(vj20), turbo GT-R 210hp(vj23 ball bearing water cooled)
It's an E153 transmission from SW20 MR2 and the Camry from around that time too
A friend of mine had one that was all black, and spotless. Actually a good looking car. Haven't seen on in years.
I'm a huge fan of little Ford's. I loved my engine swapped focus. I really like the pre Mazda escort gt and how it looks like a baby fox body. Anyone remember the EXP escorts...the precursor to the zx2 😂🤣. The escort SR was a pretty fun car too.
So.....this you might enjoy. I currently have a 1990(pre Mazda) EGT. My dad has an Escort SR swapped 98 wagon, 5-speed. And we are building an SVT swapped ZX2 lol. I like to consider myself and him the king’s of weird ass builds
@@Slocusfocus back in 06 I did one of the first documented ( mnfoc ) auto zx3 to svt engine and trans swaps. You wouldn't think it make a huge difference but the zx3 is like 300 lbs lighter right from the get go. I filled at least one five gallon bucket with sound deadening I scraped off the car. By the time I sold the car it had ...
One of one carbon fiber hand made hood .
Rear tail gate shave
Tubular control arms all around.
Coil overs
Hockey puck roll control mount.
C.f.m aluminum intake runner actuator arm
Full RF system with two 501s's running two p2 10's and a 800a4 running power components.
Short shifter
Cold air made from nacta ducting off a porsche cup car.
Chrome delete headlights ( I used a heat gun to open the head lights and modify them)
Light weight seats
Rear seat delete
Limited slip
One piece flywheel stage two clutch
E85 tune
80 shot kit....I caught a lot of people sleeping with that car .
love it. my cousin had a mercury tracer with a home brewed turbo setup and it was a blast. thanks for finding this one to review!
Bro I’ve seen this thing in person at my local track here in Orlando
@stovallsgarage
BPD8 was boosted from from factory with Mazda 323 GTX/GTR from AU/JDM. I turbo'd my 93 Escort GT 20 years ago 🤣
What year is that car
@@hennessyviper 93
@@dwn5hft There are 3 other turbo GTs in my area one of them is awd. It's a rare but common thing lol.
Nice😎 I still have mine just tired of blowing transmissions in the thing been looking for a tsx to swap motor and trans😉for years now but just been super busy with other things. I’ve never seen a k swapped escort got on you UA-cam 🤤
We need more of this. Love cars with tail lights that stretch from side to side.
This car brings back so many memories. 2 friends of mine had one. One was teal and 5 speed. One was like a laser red/pink, and automatic. The teal one was hooked up tastefully. But here is the thing. At the time, I had a 93 Miata. I didnt know they shared the same platform, until NOW. Except I actually had the 1.6l, and he had the 1.8l GT. 41 years old, and I just now find this out. Wow. So awesome. Thanks David for the content.
I almost bought the wagon version of an early '90s Escort a couple months ago. Total grandma car, with only 15K on the odometer. Based on this video, my regret for passing on it has deepend.
You’re probably better off. It would need to be completely gone through because all of the parts/rubber are from the early 90’s. I found that out the hard way.
Early-mid 90s ford also had problems with the odometer. The one in my 93 Cougar went on and off periodically.
Still have videos of mine from back in the 90s. Walked everything from the 305-954.
Bought a ‘93 Escort GT for $250 last year. Couldn’t have found a better smiles per dollar car
But at 250 dollars that's really not saying much is it? Haha
This took me back to high school. I graduated in 2000, so the Escort was a cheap "sporty" car to buy. A couple of my friends had them. It was cool seeing a build like this. Keep the oddballs coming!
I've always like these escort GT body style. They should of continued this hatchback/lift back body
No way! You actually did it! I saw this guy post in the comments a few months back and actually checked out his channel and chatted a bit with him. His Escort is insane!
Edit: didn't know you were friends with the guy.
It's an escort gt same motor that's in the protege of the similar rear and 323 or gtx without the turbo.
One of the coolest cars you have done. Leave it this way until it dies, and don't let it die!
Okay ngl this car looks amazing. Would be awesome to compare this to something like a EF/EG hatch.
Instant like. Haven't even watched the video yet. I'm sure the guys over at FEOA would love to see this vid. Don't be sleeping on the classics.
We already have, hahaha
Damn this makes me jealous that I'm stuck with the 1.9 model, it's definitely far from fast, but it's not too boring. Just wish there was more aftermarket for it.
Do what you got to do. No matter how well done the engine bay looks in an escort others aren’t going to be as impressed as other cars with a messy bay. Function first the rest will follow. I’m sure you can make something work.
I got my teal 1.9 in 94, it only had 15,000 miles on it, 250,000 miles later it looks like it but DAMN it was fun putting them on the odo. Like you I dream of puttin her in the garage, stripping her down and tricking her out, Then unleashing the beast!!!( little beast).
95 Ford escort gt was my first car. I miss that car! Been watching Stovall's videos for some time now.
a blast from the past...i used to want the escort GT of this body style, but the 94-95 mustang GT distracted me😏
Great review, and this is not the only fast Escort. I have been running the 91-94 Escort GT's since 92 and have had many fast Escorts. I give mad respect to the builder of this one because he has skills that surpass the average builder. P.S. I am currently building a 94 Escort GT that will be my fastest build ever.
I can't wait to see it, there are a few builds out there that will far supass this thing lol. I did just start working on the 30psi tune, hoping its around 500 now... won't know until it sees the track or dyno...
@@StovallsGarage You are miles ahead of me, I'm just getting started on my build. When it's done I'll drive down so we can hang out. Been awhile since I have had the chance to be around Escort devoted people.
"Stovall's garage" has some great content.
YES! I was looking for either him, or someone to comment ABOUT him...
@@MyCatInABox I've left a couple of comments.lol
Yes Stovall's Garage is a great channel. Makes me miss my old escort.
It's pretty sad TDIB didn't link his channel anywhere I could see. Stoval is way too cool
Blue dude literally rips around someone elses car for content and doesn't give his channel a shout out. What a crock of shit
The memories, from these old things. That grill is so unique.
You know what? He may like that electric Porsche, BUT, he smiles more in little beater like this!
I really REALLY hope you get to drive at least one cossie on the channel at some point. We love them here in the Uk... Theyre really something special!
we used to race an Escort GT from this era in 24 hours of LeMons and Chumpcar. That little Escort and it's Miata motor was always in contention to place, if not win outright. Light, fast enough and few reliability issues outside of typical wear items, even in grueling endurance racing. My favorite aspect of the car was being able to out-brake almost any other car on in the field due to it's weight advantage and decent stopping power.
Aaron Benson what kind of sus did the car come with?
@@josephandreuccetti8043 hmm... I didn't build the car so I can't be certain. If I recall correctly it had Koni dampers on it when we were racing in the 24 hour endurance series
Brings back memories. Mine was a white 1995 Escort Gt 5 speed stick
Ford escort gt! That was my first car! Man I really miss mine 😭😔
Man my second car ever was a ‘92 Escort LX and I loved it!! She was an auto but I’d have dropped a 5spd in there in a heartbeat. If I’d thought I had the option at the time I’d have surely thrown a turbo at her and worked a bunch of other efforts to make her a street scene beast! Great video, good to see things I could have done when I had my old girl 😉
Hi David, do you still play FH4? If you were to live stream the game would you do a open lobby with your viewers?
Hi
Dude! Right here driving around in Cocoa and Titusville. Perfect car for the area, a bit weird and fast. Hope you got to see a rocket launch!
He was hear for it, but it got scrubbed
imagine how low the insurance premiums are
Yeah because insurance would only give $800 for this car when the guy's probably put a few thousand into it..
You would think it would be cheaper than normal, but I have a 91 base escort and it cost more to insure than my 03 Corolla. I would say it's because of how rare the car is. I've had the car about 6 months and have only saw 2 others on the road!
That's just what I think tough
Only paying like 80 bucks a month for my 95 escort hatchback, way cheaper than my gmc
Tx3 turbo here in Australia, my first car bought for 200, replaced blown turbo w 75$ replacement. Sold it for 2500. Great car.
I was also a big fan of the old escort GT I have only seen one
I have 1. Just fished it out of a field about 3 weeks ago. Wanna check out my progress? Cosmetic so far. Instagram @ EscortProject350Z
Had two of these in the green '94 GT. Trashed three transmissions in them. Doesn't take long. Very fun car. Faster than most from that era, especially once you reach the higher rpms. Been looking for another 20 years later to do what you did here. Haven't found a green one yet.
I always enjoyed that model and my friend had one with a klze turbo swap
I didn’t think I was gonna like it.... but I love it! Nice job Antonio!
Thanks 😊
Nicest one of these I have seen yet, very nicely done.
Was thinking about turbocharging my old '96 LX, and this video has now swung me towards definitely doing it. Poor girl's been out of commission for four years now, she deserves an upgrade for the grand re-debut. This GT is spectacular, hard to believe there's a Miata engine in there; Makes it scream like a road warrior, that's great stuff
I have a forest green 93 escort gt Kia bp swapped in Orlando fl🖤
That's a rare color, I'm in Merritt island.
Starting with the ‘86 models, I always thought the 2-dr Escort/Lynx shared a lot of the body styling and lines of Ford’s foxbody. This model shares those same styling lines.
It reminds me of like something you'd see in Australia doing mad burnouts. I have no idea why I get that vibe from it 😂
We had the exact same platform that came factory turbo. Was called the Ford Laser TX3 Turbo. Many burnouts were done back in the day.
Εscort is literally my favourite car. Especially mk1 and mk2
Just went on Craigslist searching for one 😂
The Ford Escort was way ahead of its time when it came out as far as design. I had a 1994 ford escort and I had a 75 shot of Nos on a bone stock engine and auto transmission. I beat a 1995 mustang v6 with ease.
Wow I was just looking at one of these . I wanted to always make one into a project car since my dad had one
I wanna build one for my dad
Now before I start this video, I wanted to share this story.
You guys remember the first gen Neon? The Plymouth Neon? It came in that forest green color that always faded to like booger green. I saw one of those one night at a light on my way home from work. Sticker on the back said "It's just a Neon" It was not lowered too hard, no fancy lights or dash, no pillar guages, stock af and only 16x7 aftermarket wheels but the wheel well gap was taken care of. There was only 1 pipe coming out the back. The music that pipe was making was not some stock first gen neon and it was not a big 4 inch muffler on the stock engine. This was a modest pipe(2.5" maybe 3" at most) and it had a rumble, that low end turbo rumble. So I pull up next to the kid and that's when I heard it, he tried to hide it but how the hell are you going to hide that turbo blow off. I asked if he has the SRT-4 engine in there, he bashfully nodded and I gave him the thumbs up. Just thought I would share this, don't discount any car at a stop light, you never know whats under the hood.
Imagine a high school teen driving this thing and he pulls up next to you
Love those old Escorts! Rad that you featured it!!! 🚀🔥🏎
Looks completely different to the ones we got in the uk
I had one of these sell out under me. Was a 1994, blue, 5speed, everything worked on it, wanted $800. I really wanted that car, but when I called the next day after seeing it, someone had bought it. After it sold had to settle for a 94 civic. Civic is long gone, I think I would still have the Escort if I had been able to get it. Really cool cars.
The Lambos, GTR's etc are cool. But oddball cars like this? I'd watch. Hands down.
Loving it, MR2 transmission is a swap for the 2AZ scions as well. Great transmission & a LOT stronger than the S**t box that came in the tC/xB.
Bonus points for doing a car review in the Titusville/Cocoa Beach area hahaha