Miller

Love the pics, wish I had been able to afford to go Sounds like it was a great day out!! Never see another Estate with a Vinyl roof! (although I suppose I never really looked until I got mine)

Christ! my 4 door has wobbled under braking since I got it but Im going to check it out now youve brought this up. I do love old fords but they do seem to keep coming up with novel ways to kill us, so far this month *Ive ran out of petrol going up hill due to non existant tank baffles on a mega busy duel carriage way at night. *Had flat battery when returning 20 mins later with fuel meaning I had to bump start the bugger backwards on said duel carriage way. *Had two Mk2 Escort bonnets crash down on my head on the same day. *Had complete braking failure when pulling into motorway service station *And had an Escort pin me againtst another escort when I let the jack down on hill forgetting to pull the handbrake after undersealing the rear arches (although the blame partially falls at my feet on this one) . And now I half expect all 4 wheels to fall of next time I pop down to the shops. Going by things having been it will then burst into flames and all the doors will jam shut and il never be seen again. So I should better go check the hubs..... just to be on the safe side

Midnight Blue, sometimes found on late 70s Fords. My Escort George Cowleys Granada Looks black in some lights, purple in others.

My Mk2 Estate was made in 1980 and registered on a W which is pretty late, although there are some X reg ones floating about. Someone on the Retro Rides Forum has an A reg Cortina Mk5 and I read somewhere that some of them hung around on forecourts for a while after the Sierra was launched and the last one wasn't registered until 1987! So keep an eye out for an E reg Cortina! Not being pedantic or anything (yeah right) wouldn't C reg make it December 1985? Thats pretty late considering the Mk3 Was launched in May that year.

say both say both say both say both

Im sure you can get classic insurance when your under 25. Ive been quoted £400 for a hot 1600 crossflow (vulcan head) mk2 Escort Sport by Adrian Flux on a classic policy, I think by limiting miles to under 5,000 and keeping it on a drive qualified me for classic. That was with 3 points and 1 claim 2 years ago. My mate is 21 and he's got a 2 litre Rs2000 Replica insured with Footman for about £400 as well, although he has been with them registered on that car for 3 years before he dropped the 2.0 in and has built a no claims. Just phone and play them off against each other, ive been pleasantly suprised by how far down they will come with just a few calls. Not looking forward to insuring the Estate when i've dropped a pinto in it though

recomend norwich union May be switching to Adrian Flux tho, sometimes Indian Call centres are *too much* hard work. Footman James has been recomended to me too several times.

Nice one sam! Cant wait to see what youl do with it

me too and I was told they made it very difficult for people to export them from their own county! Greedy gits LOL. That car is gorgeous, hope the upsidedown folks down under treasure it.

Well, its not mine anymore because I sold it on Sunday, but im sure its of interest to you chaps so here it is. The story with this one was a couple of months ago I got the itch for a fun OSF project as a second car to my escort. I started looking at two door escorts but became disillusioned with cars described as mint or very good turned out not to be when viewing them, especially as although I could afford one it did not leave much of my 3 - 4 grand budget left to do much interesting with them. So, I eventually started looking at Capris, and this one turned up in Bournemouth, was very honestly described, incredibly oringinal and rot free and with a price of £850 I couldn't refuse. I drove back the proud owner of a 1983 Capri with a big grin on my face . It's condition was what sold me, it was pretty much untouched by the welders torch, original strut tops, perfect arches, mint underneath and hardly a trace of surface rust. The only worrying thing was the valve seals witch caused it to smoke on start up. Then it started leaking oil which was worrying but thankfully this turned out to be a loose camshaft seal which we mangaged to pry back in without further problems. It was a lovely car but wasn't the one for me. To be honest I have always loved Capris but had never been in one before and although it was a smooth comfortable and relaxed drive it wasn't really the fun project I wanted in my heart. Sure Capri's can be wild but I was more after a car to thrash on the back roads and the Capri wasn't that kind of car. I wanted something light I could slap a 2.0 pinto in and go out scaring old ladys in. The itch for an escort project re surfaced and regretfully I listed the Capri on ebay. So there you have it, its gone and I miss it. When im older and more "mature" I've promised myself another on. At least its gone to a good home and the lad who brought it was grinning more than I was as he drove it off. Ive replaced it with the Mk2 Estate which, although not as tidy as the capri, is in a thousand times better nick than the two doors I had seen and in my opinion just as cool. Thats going to have a pinto winging its way into it by the end of the year and then the fun begins! Ah well, heres the pics of the capri, enjoy:

Not much is meaner than a matt black Mk1 Granada.

Did Capri Pintos have timing belt covers because mine didn't either?

ah, you coulds get lost in a Capris engine bay. Looks good, a lot less grubby than my old Capris one.

Love it!

Good Idea! Theres some cracking examples of what money and determination can do out there as you say, but as prices for the favoured models go insane im finding more and more time for simple budget machines (possibly because my bank balence keeps going down). I was flicking through an old (1999) issue of classic ford today and the feature cars and attitude were much the same but the prices of the classifieds made me wince! T&T'd Mk1s 2 doors going for under a grand with the majority of RS stuff under £3000. There was even a Mk2 RS2000 I think with MOT for £900 (was a bit scruffy). Im glad that the attitude is the same as with some scenes (thinking VW) prices have risen and the scene has split into different sub genres and lost its way a bit. Old ford owners seem to have stayed the same and its great that people are still driving £10,000 cars like they stole them . This attitude is what makes OSF's so special in my eyes. Ive really enjoyed some recent mag features on 4 door escorts and fiestas and the other unsung lower cost machines and they are a massive source of inspiration. I hope the mags keep it up attracting more people to the OSF way who may not have big budgets and want catering too with these features, as well as teasing us mortals with some of those fantastic feature cars that seem out of our grasp. I really hope to see your car in CF soon, up with the new old skool! Hope that wasn't off topic, just my thoughts on why your car should be in the magazine.

Ah the old Mk2 Polo number plate curse, heres my old 1100 Coupe. Smashed that one up, but great first cars. To be honest if you look after them theres no reason why a 1.3 Mk2 or Mk1 Escort wont be reliable. They were very reliable cars in their day (and still are) and while age has worn out bits the trade off is that theres less to go wrong and that they are easy to work on when something does. Had I been able to afford the insurance I would have had one as my first car, an 1100 MK1 fiesta would be more affordable insurance wise and still a cool OSF. The only other thing that would put me off would be the mortality of peoples first cars, they only ever seem to last a few months (round here at least) until they get smashed up.

Just begining to think I made it up, but theres a magazine road test of one on german ebay for sale and I just found this pic that I had on my hardrive. Think they were very rare, like our 1.3 2 Door Mk5 Cortinas. Really really love your MK1!

Oooh, im well up for that! Il try and get a few non OSF member escort driving friends to come along and we can all convert them

Excellant! I think that car is one of the cars that attracted me to old fords as a lad, its made my day that its still going. Looks much smarter now than it did then though, good work!

Close enough White Capris are the most gorgeous of all Capris!!

Always prefered the unpainted grille, must be all those episodes of the Professionals I watched!

*drool*

I think you could get them with a 1.6 in Europe!, at least the Mk2s I belive. Love that Mk1, great choice of first car!

cool, was a long shot anyway heh, you never know. Must be more Mk2 Estates in Devon left than I gave credit for.

Been out trying to make the escort feel a bit more loved in response to cossie350anglia's theory: tidied up the wheel arch and thankfully under the the flaking paint it turned out solid: Skimed some filler and covered it in redoxide primer for now, needs a tiny bit more rubbing down to finish. Did the same with the front panel which is tbh totally knackered. At least its one colour now and presetable until I can replace it. Wings could do with replacing, does anyone know of any companies that do pattern or fibreglass replacements for MK2 Esates or Vans? Also touched up a couple of places and generally wire brushed and under sealed flaky paint underneath for peace of mind. pleased to announce I havent found any rot yet. Ive also been given a very 1970s red mountney wheel and boss by Tony, and with the overall theme of the car it would be rude not to!! Off out for a drive now cheers, Miller