Of course no Escorts were sold in Australia in 1987. You'd get a Ford Laser instead, which was a midly restyled Mazda 323. Yes, you could get a Laser Ghia, and a Laser XR3i. My youngest brother owned a 1984 Laser Ghia. Luxury! I noticed that finally the UK had caught up with most of the rest of the world and the Escorts all had front head restraints, plus standard front and rear seatbelts. All but the centre rear seatbelt being inertia reel. Front seatbelts and head restraints were mandatory in Australia from 1971, and a few years later rear seatbelts also became mandatory. The seventies fad in front seats was the high back "tombstone" bucket seats. By the eighties, the trend was to adjustable head restraints. I remember my brother's Laser Ghia also had two rear head restraints. Contrasting the Ford Australia range in 1987 with the UK Fords would be an interesting video.
Notice how the tailgate badges were plastic chrome on the L, GL and Ghia, yet they were only vinyl decals on the Popular, XR3i and RS Turbo which is a bit weird.
Cabriolets are always very expensive because of the separate design and the strengthened panels. They also have almost no room in the back. I did not know that there was a 1.6 Ghia Cabriolet.
@4:50 That 'stylish, spacious and versatile' Escort Popular has no engine size labelled on the tailgate so it's likely to be a 1.1 Popular too. It is a 1987 equivalent to my first car, a very stripped-out 1981 Escort Base 3 door. But at least this Popular comes with a parcel shelf and a radio now. Notice how Ford coloured out the 4-speed diagram on the top of the gear-knob on this car, if you look closely at the interior pictures.
The Mk4 Ford Escort was a very pleasant car indeed, keeping to it's tried and trusted formula of practicality economy and driving pleasure, with improvements over the Mk3 Ford Escort.
My next door neighbour came home with a brand-new XR3 I Cabriolet in a beautiful dusty light Metallic pink and it looked absolutely phenomenal I’d still love one even now
A great video and remember these cars well. I had started a new job as a trainee surveyor and the guy training me had a 1.3 Popular 3dr as a company car. I remember when he was due a new car and he got a 1.6L 5 dr and he was so pleased as it had a sunroof🤣. I also remember a friend had got a job in the local council IT dept and they were starting to do car schemes and he got a red XR3i with alloys and sunroof which seemed such a high end vehicle when we were young at the time and I had a Vauxhall Astra Merit 3dr as a company car. All the trim levels were so hierarchical in traditional companies!
I learnt to drive in a Mk4 1.3 Popular 3 door back in 1988. It was a nice car to drive then and had enough pull to do hill starts etc like everything when you're learning to drive. I had a 1.4L in 1997 for about 4 weeks but it hadn't been looked after and I had to park it on a hill every night just to start it. My mum had a 1.6 estate in 2006 which was a nice car too. They were everywhere because they did what they advertised. Took you from A to B without fuss or drama. The XR3i version was nice though, I never owned a Mk4 version but a friend did and they liked it. They were also used as Mobility car too, where if you had a disability, the mobility scheme would adapt the car to your needs. A neighbour, who still has a mobility car now, used to have one.
Passed my test in a late mk4 1.3L ,beige with beige interior. The interior of the popular wasn't that bad to say a peugeot 309 XE/GE , that had vinyl and painted metal door cards and no lid on the glovebox. Also GL and above had soft touch dash on passenger side. Alloy wheels were becoming a problem in 80s and 90s with theft so were often consigned to the options list even on high spec cars. ( also fleet managers were not keen on them). Thanks for all the lovely reviews.
My first car in 1993 was an 83 Escort GL, 1.6, 3 door. Not a high quality used car Unfortunately. I traded it in for a new Skoda Felicia in 1997. All Escort mk 3s had the same plastic headrests in Sweden, but you could buy a cloth insert in the centre. Matching the seats material and colour. The Fiesta and Taunus had the same seats and headrests as the Escort. The Mk 4 Escorts all had the higher spec headrests.
I can see that Ford continue to boast about their high-security locks here, but at least they stopped making silly Granada references like they did in the 1986 brochure.
Excellent! really enjoyed these Ford range brochures. Very odd little detail was the cigarette lighter moving position from the GL spec upwards. Thankfully, we didn't see a base model in Maritime Blue today.
The reg D242HVW on that red XR3i is fake. However, there was a C242HVW which was a red Ford with a 1.6 engine. First registered in November 1985 so extremely early for a mk4. Untaxed since January 1997 so would be long dead now. The image must be edited, because the front panels don't fit quite right and the door mirrors look coloured in when they should be unpainted black on the C reg mk4 XR3i.
Mentioned this before: in the late 1990s I owned a 1986 D reg 1.4 GL hatchback in silica gold (same colour as the estate version shown in the brochure). It was my second car after a 1979 Mini. It was alright. Certainly a big upgrade over the Mini. I didn't get on with those stubby stalks though. I once broke the indicator stalk but a secondhand replacement part was found and I managed to swap the parts over. minor jobs on the Escort were easy to DIY. I'm of the opinion that the Escort Ghia was perfectly acceptable here. It has velour seats so a big step up from the GL's tweed ones. I don't think alloy wheels at this time were much of a consideration on smaller cars at this time unless they were sporty versions. Customers may have prioritised other refinements like electric windows, sunroofs and central locking in 1987. Alloy wheels were likely dealer fit options - even on a Popular spec!
I got the 1.6 Ghia metallic blue in August 1987 E reg not a bad car, so I would of been studying that brochure at that time , traded it in then for the 1990 Orion Ghia injection in Tasmin blue one of the first with EFI that didn’t run well and went back to Ford several times it took 3 years to get it running correctly while they waited for a new computer tester and they had to modify the intake, also the bonnet was crushing the throttle cable that didn’t help, other than that not a bad car and kept that for 13 years,
Great video my dad had white 1.2 popular e reg sure it was a 4 door model , and I had a mate who's brother could get you the radio Shown in the L model for £25 ,don't know were he got them from ☺️ but I had one in my metro turbo and all my mates did 😂
Those cheapo A-frame headrests had been around a few years by that point. My Dad's 1980 Cortina had them, when he ordered the car he paid extra for the hard foam inserts that plugged onto the front of the A-frame to make them marginally less uncomfortable. Sometimes I think Ford hated their customers 😂
Of course no Escorts were sold in Australia in 1987. You'd get a Ford Laser instead, which was a midly restyled Mazda 323. Yes, you could get a Laser Ghia, and a Laser XR3i. My youngest brother owned a 1984 Laser Ghia. Luxury! I noticed that finally the UK had caught up with most of the rest of the world and the Escorts all had front head restraints, plus standard front and rear seatbelts. All but the centre rear seatbelt being inertia reel. Front seatbelts and head restraints were mandatory in Australia from 1971, and a few years later rear seatbelts also became mandatory. The seventies fad in front seats was the high back "tombstone" bucket seats. By the eighties, the trend was to adjustable head restraints. I remember my brother's Laser Ghia also had two rear head restraints. Contrasting the Ford Australia range in 1987 with the UK Fords would be an interesting video.
Notice how the tailgate badges were plastic chrome on the L, GL and Ghia, yet they were only vinyl decals on the Popular, XR3i and RS Turbo which is a bit weird.
Cabriolets are always very expensive because of the separate design and the strengthened panels. They also have almost no room in the back. I did not know that there was a 1.6 Ghia Cabriolet.
@4:50 That 'stylish, spacious and versatile' Escort Popular has no engine size labelled on the tailgate so it's likely to be a 1.1 Popular too. It is a 1987 equivalent to my first car, a very stripped-out 1981 Escort Base 3 door. But at least this Popular comes with a parcel shelf and a radio now. Notice how Ford coloured out the 4-speed diagram on the top of the gear-knob on this car, if you look closely at the interior pictures.
The Mk4 Ford Escort was a very pleasant car indeed, keeping to it's tried and trusted formula of practicality economy and driving pleasure, with improvements over the Mk3 Ford Escort.
I think that the 1980 Escort was a big improvement on its predecessor. It is rather overlooked because the Sierra and Mk 3 Granada were so impressive.
My next door neighbour came home with a brand-new XR3 I Cabriolet in a beautiful dusty light Metallic pink and it looked absolutely phenomenal I’d still love one even now
Wonderful- I remember that colour well
A great video and remember these cars well. I had started a new job as a trainee surveyor and the guy training me had a 1.3 Popular 3dr as a company car. I remember when he was due a new car and he got a 1.6L 5 dr and he was so pleased as it had a sunroof🤣. I also remember a friend had got a job in the local council IT dept and they were starting to do car schemes and he got a red XR3i with alloys and sunroof which seemed such a high end vehicle when we were young at the time and I had a Vauxhall Astra Merit 3dr as a company car. All the trim levels were so hierarchical in traditional companies!
Absolutely
I learnt to drive in a Mk4 1.3 Popular 3 door back in 1988. It was a nice car to drive then and had enough pull to do hill starts etc like everything when you're learning to drive. I had a 1.4L in 1997 for about 4 weeks but it hadn't been looked after and I had to park it on a hill every night just to start it. My mum had a 1.6 estate in 2006 which was a nice car too. They were everywhere because they did what they advertised. Took you from A to B without fuss or drama. The XR3i version was nice though, I never owned a Mk4 version but a friend did and they liked it. They were also used as Mobility car too, where if you had a disability, the mobility scheme would adapt the car to your needs. A neighbour, who still has a mobility car now, used to have one.
Thank you for sharing your memories always interesting to read
Lov e to see a Escort Turbo brochure from 87/88 if possible.
Yea amazing cars
Passed my test in a late mk4 1.3L ,beige with beige interior. The interior of the popular wasn't that bad to say a peugeot 309 XE/GE , that had vinyl and painted metal door cards and no lid on the glovebox. Also GL and above had soft touch dash on passenger side. Alloy wheels were becoming a problem in 80s and 90s with theft so were often consigned to the options list even on high spec cars. ( also fleet managers were not keen on them). Thanks for all the lovely reviews.
Thank you so much
My first car in 1993 was an 83 Escort GL, 1.6, 3 door. Not a high quality used car Unfortunately. I traded it in for a new Skoda Felicia in 1997. All Escort mk 3s had the same plastic headrests in Sweden, but you could buy a cloth insert in the centre. Matching the seats material and colour. The Fiesta and Taunus had the same seats and headrests as the Escort. The Mk 4 Escorts all had the higher spec headrests.
I can see that Ford continue to boast about their high-security locks here, but at least they stopped making silly Granada references like they did in the 1986 brochure.
Excellent! really enjoyed these Ford range brochures. Very odd little detail was the cigarette lighter moving position from the GL spec upwards. Thankfully, we didn't see a base model in Maritime Blue today.
Absolutely
The Ghia does not appear to offer much more than the 1.6 L which was the pick of the range in my opinion
I would say so
The reg D242HVW on that red XR3i is fake. However, there was a C242HVW which was a red Ford with a 1.6 engine. First registered in November 1985 so extremely early for a mk4. Untaxed since January 1997 so would be long dead now. The image must be edited, because the front panels don't fit quite right and the door mirrors look coloured in when they should be unpainted black on the C reg mk4 XR3i.
Mentioned this before: in the late 1990s I owned a 1986 D reg 1.4 GL hatchback in silica gold (same colour as the estate version shown in the brochure). It was my second car after a 1979 Mini. It was alright. Certainly a big upgrade over the Mini. I didn't get on with those stubby stalks though. I once broke the indicator stalk but a secondhand replacement part was found and I managed to swap the parts over. minor jobs on the Escort were easy to DIY.
I'm of the opinion that the Escort Ghia was perfectly acceptable here. It has velour seats so a big step up from the GL's tweed ones. I don't think alloy wheels at this time were much of a consideration on smaller cars at this time unless they were sporty versions. Customers may have prioritised other refinements like electric windows, sunroofs and central locking in 1987. Alloy wheels were likely dealer fit options - even on a Popular spec!
Thank you for sharing your views
The Peugoet 504 Cabriolet interests me. It is the only 504 with the PRV6 engine.
CATalogue channel.
I don't think that these cars made it to Australia.
I got the 1.6 Ghia metallic blue in August 1987 E reg not a bad car, so I would of been studying that brochure at that time , traded it in then for the 1990 Orion Ghia injection in Tasmin blue one of the first with EFI that didn’t run well and went back to Ford several times it took 3 years to get it running correctly while they waited for a new computer tester and they had to modify the intake, also the bonnet was crushing the throttle cable that didn’t help, other than that not a bad car and kept that for 13 years,
Interesting thank you for sharing your experience
Great video my dad had white 1.2 popular e reg sure it was a 4 door model , and I had a mate who's brother could get you the radio Shown in the L model for £25 ,don't know were he got them from ☺️ but I had one in my metro turbo and all my mates did 😂
Maybe best not to know how he came upon those radio’s
Those cheapo A-frame headrests had been around a few years by that point. My Dad's 1980 Cortina had them, when he ordered the car he paid extra for the hard foam inserts that plugged onto the front of the A-frame to make them marginally less uncomfortable. Sometimes I think Ford hated their customers 😂
They certainly like to make the lower spec buyers suffer
Is the facelifted Sierra in the February brochure or was that launched at the same time as the Sapphire?
Facelift shown at the same time as the Sapphire in March in these brochures
Driven a D reg 1.1 poplar and the engine performance was appalling.
I can imagine
The XR3i doesn’t look right without the spotlights… they were an option
Yea I think most went for that option like the alloys
West Yorkshire Police used Escort Populars for their panda cars into the 1990's
Aw really - I guess that would make sense