Yep - I think this generation of Escort was a textbook case of design flair overtaking build quality. In other words, it looked good on paper but not so good in the flesh.
The same ford fiesta or other shit like KA. Sometimes i think, the creators of that design, they made a joke from customers, cuz they knew they will buy it and will look absurdly on the street.
yeah it's pricless..top half...a suit from Primark with seat cusions in the shoulders and cut for Frankenstien's monster with short arms and short body...bottom half, George at Asda's 'smart casual' range...At least we're spared from seeing what side Jeremy dresses.
Kieran Grayson these were great, as long as you had a Zetec version it was fairly quick, Ford’s always steer very good and has good power, only thing is rust on these.
I love how he says "compact disc", instead of "cd-player". Even the fact that features like that and 16 valve engines, anti lock brakes and a single airbag were optional back then is downright hilarious!
It was 32 years ago bud 😀. Dont think even Rolls or much bar a Merc had airbags in 1990, most cars a CD player and ABS were still options i think. Yer right though, pure hysterical to think nowadays. Heck even the CD player went the way of the dinosaur.
Jeremy is spot-on with his criticisms. I remember my company bought, as "pool" cars, a new Escort and a new Vauxhall Astra (Mk 3) in 1991 and the latter was so much better in every respect: comfort, refinement, interior build & materials quality, performance, handling, engine noise levels, etc. The Astra very much felt like a car for the 1990s, while the Escort seemed to be stuck in the 1970s... and yet it had come along eight years after the good old Sierra!
And people call the new new top gear dull. They say that without Clarkson its naff and I say have you seen what old top gear was like even with Clarkson?
It's really quite odd to see Jeremy Clarkson doing a serious road test like this. Nothing explodes, there are no ridiculous comparisons and it's actually quite helpful!
Gary85PL Tell that to the sad wankers now who don't want information but entertainment...exactly why Top Gear went downhill, they started appealing to the losers who only like explosions and hyper cars...
6 лет назад+5
I preferred the old TG, Woollard, Goffey & others. An actual consumer information programme by serious motoring journalists. Quentin Willson's advocacy for all things class was a constant treat to watch. His segment provided a certain faith in the old car.
My favourite incarnation of TG will always be Clatkson, Needell and Wilson. Think it reached its highest point then and struck a balance between serious and fun.
I bought my Ford Escort brand new in 96, still runs perfect,not a spot of rust, driven year round through harsh Canadian winters and never had to put a wrench to it, aside from routine maintenance, even the a/c still blows ice cold after 14 long reliable years.
He's never been normal-and all the better for it,I read his column in performance car as a kid..He was just a bit random and bloody funny back in the 1980's
I remember going shopping with my dad when I was a kid. He had a 3 door escort at the time. We came back with the trolley, loaded the shopping in and drove off. 5 minutes later we realised we were in the completely wrong car! The key not only opened the damn thing but started it too..
That's the SECOND time I've now heard a story like that... Years ago, someone told me that the EXACT same thing happened with their neighbour's Toyota Previa - almost fact for fact. I used to have an Orion from this generation, but I can't say I ever tried the key in another Ford lock. The Orion I had had to be unlocked from the front passenger side first, otherwise the alarm would almost certainly trigger! Very unusual thing to happen anyway, this "mistaken car" phoenomenom...
I had one of these with a diesel engine. Heroic understeer , performance of a snail. On cold mornings if the engine didn't fire up first time that was it. The battery died. It was a new company car believe it or not. Oh yes, the diesel engine ate cam belts too.
My neighbours daughter had one in the mid 2000s and remember thinking “what a horrible car”, I can still remember the sound rattling sound of the engine. I never liked the look of them even before that. Even the “face lifted” version with the hole cut out of the front of the bonnet for the grille, somehow that looked even worse. Just what were Ford thinking in the early 90s? The late 90s weren’t too bad, I remember looking at facelifted Mark I Mondeo’s and facelifted Fiestas from the time and I always thought they were a lot nicer looking than their predecessors.
I had a math teacher that one of these when they were quite new, and remember being surprised about the really old-fashioned sounding engine. His must have been a 1.3 which was the "HCS" engine.
Got a chance to drive both the Ford Escort 4 and Vauxhall Astra hire cars in and around Glasgow whilst working there in 1992. All I remember about the Escort was it's hard seats, bland finish/drive & that you felt like you sat on it rather than in it. The Astra was the complete opposite A really good enjoyable driving experience. So the final scores on the doors in my opinion its the Astra mk3 - 4 and Escort mk4 - 0.
Had the diesel 1800 version from 1994. The thing rotted badly at the back, and the battery overcharged, rotting out the battery tray and letting water into the passenger side footwell. Lovely...
The Escort, and the even smaller Fiesta were very popular in North America too. With fuel injection, it started reliably in a Minnesota winter, but it was a truly blah compact car.
Ended up being one of his favorite cars by 1994. The RS200 version anyway. He even chose it over my beloved GT4 despite admitting the GT4 was better in every respect.
I had one of these about six years ago. It was £140 with tax and MOT and I drove it without fault for 5 months and about 6000 miles!! Long live the Escort :-) p.s I got £90 when I scrapped it!
When it first launched, it was a bit of a dud. But we had the '97 estate and it was quite good, though still noisy. But hey, it have us the Focus, the Mondeo, and the Escort RS Cosworth, and these are all brilliant.
Bit of a worry when a Maestro had more head and leg room, Bigger boot and better road holding. Also the Clubman Diesel was only £7777 at the time. I bought the Maestro instead (DLX with sunroof and central locking and velour trim. Finally gave in to rust at 170k! Those Perkins engines were agricultural but never went wrong :)
@@person.X. It made it to 15 years old :) Sadly my other which was a turbo model only managed 10 as someone ran into it when it was parked up. Shame as it had only done 78k.
@@groovygraham Thanks for the reply. Yes exasperating to lose the Turbo at such relatively low mileage to an incident like that. 15 years is pretty good for a Maestro though :)
I had a 1.6 Escort for a few years and although I look back with it with fond memories I also think all Clarkson's criticisms are correct. There's no comparison to the Volvo I drive now.
It got pretty good later on, with the facelifted Mk6 and the 16V Zetec engines. But power steering, 14 or 15 inch wheels, the superior sport suspension and a third party stainless steel exhaust system were an absolute must.
@@dumdum7786 did they have diesel model? If they did it wasn't with a ford diesel engine, then if it was a ford diesel engine no ford mechanic knew how to service it because they wasn't traind
I currently have a 90 AMERICAN Escort, and it stuck works great every day. And using James May logic of having a slow rollypolly car to drive about in the city being more fun, it is quite fun, I must say. Sure, it only had 110hp at the engine 25 years ago, who knows what it has now, it still goes every time I turn the key
It wasn't until the next generation Escort ('91-97) that it became a derivitive of the Mazda platform. However, the CVH engine is the same as the one in this video, just as a 1.9L.
I just left a comment on another early 90s Top Gear video about the Jeep Cherokee, where I pointed out just how boring the automotive world was at that time. Immediately afterwards, I prove my claim by finding this Ford Escort Top Gear episode. If not for the humorous aspects, a car show wouldn't have lasted long in the early 90s!
I remember when my dad had this car I think he had different style bumper and also he had a wario sticker on the interior roof and his engine went bust and the car then died in a scrapyard R.I.P
I actually thought it *looks* very modern for 1990. It is 23 years ago now! Compare the styling to cars from 2-3 years earlier, the only ones that look even close to it are the Sierra and the Scorpio/Granada.
My uncle had a red ford escort, he also had a BMW, but since the escort was the "old car" he always drove it like we were on a rally, that thing was fast
when my dad's sierra went in for a new gearbox we were given the same 1.4 Escort as a loan car, remember my dad saying numerous times what a piece of sh##, can't wait to hand it back.
I'd forgotten what a dog this version of the escort was. Killed the escort brand stone dead. Nice to see Jeremy was giving it to you straight even then.
I totally agree with you. It is like the new Top gear is only about the trio having fun and loving themselves to death. Also driving a car on a track has got nothing to do with the real world. I just began to watch these old episodes a few weeks ago and I have never seen them before,because Top Gear was never on in Denmark. The old Top gear is simply miles and miles better than the new shit.
My dad had one as a company car to replace a Mark 3 Cavalier that was a far superior car. All I can remember is the 1.4 Escort was noisy, horrible inside and wouldn't start when it was raining, and he said the fuel consumption was rubbish when it actually worked.
+EastStandManc Fucking watch reviews on youtube. Top gear is an entertainment show , not an infomercial for dithering old berks wondering if they should get a Prius or a shitty Vauxhall Adam.
+Danny Hepple Yeah, not quite mate, Top Gear started out as a review show. It *ended up* as "entertainment" (in the loosest sense of the word), under Clarkson, May and Hammond. No reason it can't go back to proper reviews on the Beeb, while you and your pals get your POOOOOOWWWWWAAAAAHHHH fix on Amazon Prime. Both markets satisfied.
I used to watch the old top gear. When Quentin used to do it. It was informative as fuck. I like those types of shows, but you have to be fairly brain dead not to realise that type of content is found elsewhere now, the fucking boring stuff when you're looking for a new car, that seems fun for an an hour then gets boring as fuck. That's why they take the piss out of those losers that write in ask them to review cars for avergage people. What do you want? Camera pans of a ford modeo going along a country road with the presenter telling you how smooth the ride is and the fact it's missing a cupholder from the previous version ? There's a plethora of other mediums that go way further into detail about all that interesting stuff, its in written car reviews, even in the Top Gear Magazine actually. It's just like, hardly anyone gives a fucking shit about cars for normal people on TV shows unless you're a boring old cunt really, wating that shit every week. Go for a fucking test drive yourself if you're after a Fiat Punto...
+Danny Hepple "seems fun for an an hour then gets boring as fuck" You mean, for as long as Top Gear runs each week? Lol. Yes, media's changed, as has the way reviews are conducted; I certainly wouldn't expect the Beeb to go back wholesale to 'posh bloke in a cardi and cords' way of presenting, for example. That said, I don't think it's much of a stretch to ask for modern reviews of cars people can actually buy, all the way from second hand up to 60-70k. Throw in the occasional supercar, challenge or special, and there ought to be enough variety in that range to keep people tuning into BBC 2 at 8pm on a Sunday evening interested. If *all* you want is performance, there are some great niche channels on RUclips like Petrolicious, XCAR and \Tuned. At that point, we're back to your "Fucking watch reviews on youtube" bit, aren't we?
Yea but I don't understand. Car reviews for normal people arent entertaining at all. How can you fit even one comprehensive vehicle review into one hour. It's just a quick look. And therefore pointless. No one would watch it if the usual top gear fun is broken up by May tootling around in a Mini Clubman for 15 mins. You're acting like Top Gear has no viewers and needs added variety to keep tuning in. And I don't want just performance. I love the road trips across weird areas in old rickety cars. I like the test drives of powerful cars round the track. I like the competitions to get somewhere before Hammond and May. Breaking that up for a a couple of crap car reviews would seem odd. And they're probably thinking 'why don't they go on the internet for that stuff...or watch Fifth Gear.
I had one of these years ago. I drove it to Cornwall, parked up, went in a shop, came back,,, thing wouldn't start. ... some weird component in the ignition had broken. then it developed engine trouble no one could figure out. Another time in the forrest the exhaust fell off. Then another time the hooter kept beeping when i made turns needed repair.
I know I used to watch old Top Gear as a kid, but I can't for the life of me remember anything about it other than the fact Tiff Needell and Quentin Willson were in it.
The reason they're probably better now than they were back then is because the Fords back then were made in England. The Focus, Fiesta etc. are now made in Germany, and we all know that Germans make better cars than we do.
@@jeff4362 yes sir I'm not doing that my dad was visited by a man who wanted to buy my car for 5,000 I told the man no and he tried to give an update on what he can use the car for. Like do I look stupid to you sir 😂
We've got one of these, it's a facelifted 1.8 TD wagon. Never a rust spot (at least not yet xD) Runs and drives very well, extremelly comfortable, well made interior, lots of options, durable as f*ck, why the hell are you saying it's not one of Ford's best efforts? The only flaw I see are the bumpers which crack all over the place. Plus, they're extremelly cheap, we spent a grand and we have a Turbo Diesel with aircon, central locking, power windows, power steering, and so on.
To think: a Mk2 Escort was a viable and commonplace used car at that time...that's what I would buy. (Actually, I'd have a Moggy or a Riley One-Point-Five!) ☺
@gruffdan Not even close. The LYNX was an original Ford Escort clone and was sold alongside the US Escorts from 1981-1987 or so. The original US Escort continued until 1989 when it was replaced by a Mazda-inspired car but it kept the Escort name. Mercury got a version called the Tracer (actually beating the Escort to the market by a year.) This European version is different than all of the above, a decent car let down by lack of character. Few remain because they were unloved.
I just bought a brand new to me 98 ford escort zx2 just because i can. They say im a big spender. I think jeremy was listening to the cure and depeche mode alot during this era
That would add credence to my story. Am glad that an "insider" has backed up what I've understood. I was at Jaguar Cars from '99 to '03 and I think RPJ was head of PAG then, so we got to hear of such stories. I also helped do the cabin NVH assessment on SW164 when at a different company!
I have a buddy who had 2 of these at the same time. One red and one blue. Eventually one died, and the other has been parked at his work parking lot for over 10 yrs.
here in Poland the mk5/mk5fl or mk6 as some call it/and the mk7 are pretty worthless. But...thanks to that approach I bought a 1993 1.3 HCS carbureted MK6 for less than $100 USD in Polish money (400 PLN). Driving it since 2 months without doing anything to it, no problems, except for no idle, but that was there when I bought it, and I save myself with the manual choke. Started sputtering 2 days ago, feels like semi clogged fuel filter or system somewhere, gonna give it the most basic TLC and see what happens. It's my 1st car I actually legally drive after getting my license (not counting my Fiat Uno) and I really like it! It drives just fine, albeit slow. The engine is also a loud rattler, but I like it, because I at least have a tiny taste of the Polish FSO Polonez, which I want to own. Edit: the sputtering was due to wet ignition, car's fine still.
This is obviously different than the Ford Escort we had here in the United States. Our new escort was designed mostly by Mazda when it launched in 1991 and also was pretty rough around the edges but it was reliable and there still are several zipping around Miami. They were much better than the generation escort that came after. The predecessor to this escort was super blend and not very reliable.
is this the model made in Brazilia ? I've had one of them once, Steering was a bit soft but not that bad actually. It did keep up with the traffic like a good car should and it was comfy. But the build quality was a sign of things to come. This car would yearn for the day to come where it could be recycled. There was no thought given to the car that it should last for decades and be repaired over and over again. Build quality was to the sluggish side, Here in Denmark people would use the car to open beer bottles since they would knew that the car like a cheap lighter would have to be used and thrown away some day. The old Escorts are now dead and gone here, smoldered into the gutter along with melting water in the winter. Very few examples have survived today and only as scrap bangers or the few that have been taken extensive care of and stored in the garage for the most of their lifetime. I had my Brazil Escort for about two weeks and i sold it in a car trade with a mark II VW Polo with a sigh of relief.
we have an escort, the same in the video but only burgundy colour, its a very fine auto, although i dont drive(im only 15), but i hope our car will still drive for 3 more years, i want to try it out :P I wanted a Fiat Bravo but an Escort will do the job, its very spacious. i dunno why they mock to Fords, they are very good cars, atleast by my opinion.
This is when Rover had Ford in their pocket with the 200/400 but they couldn't make it count. A few years later, Richard Parry Jones of Ford Manufacturing, Europe, I understand, got into one of these soon having just driven a Peug. 306 and he went livid. It was at that point the the Focus was conceived.
I had the Estate version as a company car , to replace an '86 Xr3i that had a heated front window and ABS ( LOL ) It was dreadful , there was a recall for some engine fault that I can't remember. I remember how it drove though, very slow. And stuttering in city driving. The XR3i was pretty cool really , I wish they'd let me keep it. After I destroyed this cars reputation my company switched to Astra Estates , and I got one of those instead ( much nicer )
One of the old Ford's before the Mondeo and Focus. My first car was a Orion, saloon version of the Escort. It looked tidy but was a crude car to drive.
I was travelling in Argentina back in 1991 and remember being fascinated by VWs being branded as Fords and vice versa. I think it was the VW Apollo - a VW Ford Escort? I loved the old Falcons but when I tell my Argentinian sister in law about that she shivers - they were the chosen car of the death squads back in the 70s and 80s and bring back bad memories.
This was the car that was shared with Mazda around the world? In Australia, it was sold as the Laser, and was built at Fords last Sydney plant at Homebush.
I had three of these as company cars back in the 90s; a 1.4 hatchback, 1.8TD saloon & 1.8TD hatchback & they were all absolutely dire. To compound matters the dealer service was terrible. All in all it was enough to put me off Fords to this day.
Oh well. At least these old OHV engines are quite robust even after all these years. I got one of the 1.3 petrol models, rust fortunately avoided this example as it was stored in a garage from new, and it's been literally zero issues with the car ever since I got it, and even before that as I know the previous (and first ever) owner. Sounds horrible, the engine, and it is by design. It also doesn't have any power or torque, but hey, that small amount is at least available from down low, so unless you ride on the motorway you don't really have to rev it. Steering takes force. But it's 27 years old now and still runs without a single problem, oil changes and usual maintenance is all it gets, and it just goes and goes every single time. Also the seats are very soft, which is uncomfortable on long journeys but we don't do those in this anyway, and on short trips it's really nice. When we bought this car, we only wanted a beater for the least money possible (I drove a company car before, changed jobs, didn't get a new company car so needed something for the time being). But we still have it, even though since then we have other newer and/or more comfortable cars to ride around in. Kept it as a backup car, since this just works every single time. You get in, you get to your destination. Even though mine is in very decent condition (still without rust), it's not worth anything, so selling it is not worthy, and it earned our respect. I developed some kind of love for this car for how cheap it is to run and how reliable it is.
true..i particularly think the worst period for sheer jelly mold blandess has to be from around 85 to 95 with plenty of pigs before and after..The british cars of the 70's were also appalling..
clarksons voice has changed for the better he sounds like hes still wearing a nappy here today his voice is more mature and better. and now hes learnt to punch .hes better all round
I remember the Escort well from when they were new. As basic, reliable transportation, they weren't bad....for some drivers, that was enough. I've driven them, and as Clarkson stated, they really are quite dull and boring....they didn't handle or drive as well as many of it's contemporaries at the same price point.
This is one of those cars that looked old even when it was new
Yea true
Yep - I think this generation of Escort was a textbook case of design flair overtaking build quality. In other words, it looked good on paper but not so good in the flesh.
MK3 Astra was the same, looked dated almost as soon as it came out.
Jay Kay
Agreed
The same ford fiesta or other shit like KA. Sometimes i think, the creators of that design, they made a joke from customers, cuz they knew they will buy it and will look absurdly on the street.
What's so funny is Jeremy's uncompromising remarks mixed with the politeness of a junior employee who's just started a new job.
"As far as styling's concerned" Jeremy steps out the car with an afro....LOL
yeah it's pricless..top half...a suit from Primark with seat cusions in the shoulders and cut for Frankenstien's monster with short arms and short body...bottom half, George at Asda's 'smart casual' range...At least we're spared from seeing what side Jeremy dresses.
😂😂
Primark in 1990? Maybe, but nah, probably C&A!
I actually said "bloody hell" when I saw his hair. What a perm! His voice is like old James May
then goes on about wigging hahahahha
This is the most 90s era European looking car I've ever seen
Kieran Grayson these were great, as long as you had a Zetec version it was fairly quick, Ford’s always steer very good and has good power, only thing is rust on these.
Hardcore bland-out, Maaaan! It's so dull that it is nearly completely invisible.
If you consider honda European, you might be right..
And ford is an american brand. i know escort is not but its funny.
@@codykamminga9667 yeah i drive a 1.6 zetec escort hb and its really quick on traffic.
I love how he says "compact disc", instead of "cd-player". Even the fact that features like that and 16 valve engines, anti lock brakes and a single airbag were optional back then is downright hilarious!
It was 32 years ago bud 😀. Dont think even Rolls or much bar a Merc had airbags in 1990, most cars a CD player and ABS were still options i think.
Yer right though, pure hysterical to think nowadays. Heck even the CD player went the way of the dinosaur.
Jeremy is spot-on with his criticisms. I remember my company bought, as "pool" cars, a new Escort and a new Vauxhall Astra (Mk 3) in 1991 and the latter was so much better in every respect: comfort, refinement, interior build & materials quality, performance, handling, engine noise levels, etc. The Astra very much felt like a car for the 1990s, while the Escort seemed to be stuck in the 1970s... and yet it had come along eight years after the good old Sierra!
1990's: You can have a compact disc player!
2000's: wHerEs mY sOfT tOuCh dAsHbOaRd??
Informative, well spoken and articulate. Can this really be Jeremy clarkson?
And people call the new new top gear dull. They say that without Clarkson its naff and I say have you seen what old top gear was like even with Clarkson?
It's because thats how people spoke in those days. He was the new boy and not in a position to dictate or change things much!
"As far as styling is concerned" said Jeremy leaping out of the car in his hilarious haircut and shirt tucked into jeans.
I died at that point lol
@@reallyryan_ 1990 was the year when wearing shirts out became popular and has never died out.
looks like a rusty knacker brand new.
It's really quite odd to see Jeremy Clarkson doing a serious road test like this. Nothing explodes, there are no ridiculous comparisons and it's actually quite helpful!
Gary85PL Tell that to the sad wankers now who don't want information but entertainment...exactly why Top Gear went downhill, they started appealing to the losers who only like explosions and hyper cars...
I preferred the old TG, Woollard, Goffey & others. An actual consumer information programme by serious motoring journalists. Quentin Willson's advocacy for all things class was a constant treat to watch. His segment provided a certain faith in the old car.
My favourite incarnation of TG will always be Clatkson, Needell and Wilson. Think it reached its highest point then and struck a balance between serious and fun.
Oh god..... I found Top Gear haters..... How the hell can you hate the 2002-2014 Top Gear?!
This was before top gear went mainstream to entertain the masses, I prefer it when people used to think you were sad for watching it. 👀
I love Clarkson's Repton Boy's School accent, before he confected his 'everyman' affectation.
I bought my Ford Escort brand new in 96, still runs perfect,not a spot of rust, driven year round through harsh Canadian winters and never had to put a wrench to it, aside from routine maintenance, even the a/c still blows ice cold after 14 long reliable years.
You are lucky.
That's a US Ford Escort.... the early 90's Euro Escorts were dramatic!
If it was a European escort it would have rotted away by now!
£9-12,000 sounds a lot for a car in 1990. Makes me think that relatively speaking cars are cheaper now than they were 25 years ago.
+GracieVision For used cars yes but not for new, they still cost thousands.
9000 pounds back then is equivalent to 19000 pounds in 2018. this is called inflation. GracieVision is right, cars are cheaper now.
I guess people also had more money then.
£19,000 for that car sounds a lot.
New Fiesta is about £18,000!!
Jeremy doing his best to look like Phil Lynott is priceless 😂
And they've all rusted into the ground.
not all got 1 mk7
Shave the top left of the key, congrats you can open any ford of that era. Burn the lot of em
@@TheAndostro and my 95 RS2000 :) nicely tucked up in my garage.
@@snoozert3402 just like every other old ford, either in parts or needs many 😂🤣
MsBananasmel Whaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttt!?!?!
This was made when Clarkson was normal
+John S Normal? Have you *seen* that afro?
It was 1990 ...
He's never been normal-and all the better for it,I read his column in performance car as a kid..He was just a bit random and bloody funny back in the 1980's
:)
Yeah the madness hasn't set in yet.
This was my first car! I loved it but everyone loves there first. Clarksons description of power and handling is spot on!
I remember going shopping with my dad when I was a kid. He had a 3 door escort at the time.
We came back with the trolley, loaded the shopping in and drove off.
5 minutes later we realised we were in the completely wrong car! The key not only opened the damn thing but started it too..
That's the SECOND time I've now heard a story like that...
Years ago, someone told me that the EXACT same thing happened with their neighbour's Toyota Previa - almost fact for fact.
I used to have an Orion from this generation, but I can't say I ever tried the key in another Ford lock.
The Orion I had had to be unlocked from the front passenger side first, otherwise the alarm would almost certainly trigger!
Very unusual thing to happen anyway, this "mistaken car" phoenomenom...
"It's not a bad car" and just prior we were given all the reasons why it actually is.
I had one of these with a diesel engine. Heroic understeer , performance of a snail. On cold mornings if the engine didn't fire up first time that was it. The battery died. It was a new company car believe it or not. Oh yes, the diesel engine ate cam belts too.
My neighbours daughter had one in the mid 2000s and remember thinking “what a horrible car”, I can still remember the sound rattling sound of the engine. I never liked the look of them even before that. Even the “face lifted” version with the hole cut out of the front of the bonnet for the grille, somehow that looked even worse.
Just what were Ford thinking in the early 90s? The late 90s weren’t too bad, I remember looking at facelifted Mark I Mondeo’s and facelifted Fiestas from the time and I always thought they were a lot nicer looking than their predecessors.
I had a math teacher that one of these when they were quite new, and remember being surprised about the really old-fashioned sounding engine. His must have been a 1.3 which was the "HCS" engine.
In Australia we got the similar sized Ford Laser hatch and Ford Meteor sedans based upon the Mazda 323. A much nicer car by the sound of this review!
Got a chance to drive both the Ford Escort 4 and Vauxhall Astra hire cars in and around Glasgow whilst working there in 1992. All I remember about the Escort was it's hard seats, bland finish/drive & that you felt like you sat on it rather than in it.
The Astra was the complete opposite A really good enjoyable driving experience. So the final scores on the doors in my opinion its the Astra mk3 - 4 and Escort mk4 - 0.
Had the diesel 1800 version from 1994. The thing rotted badly at the back, and the battery overcharged, rotting out the battery tray and letting water into the passenger side footwell. Lovely...
The Escort, and the even smaller Fiesta were very popular in North America too. With fuel injection, it started reliably in a Minnesota winter, but it was a truly blah compact car.
the escort has been untaxed since 2002, and the orion 2000. So sadly looks like both are bean cans now
I bet they leak
The Orion name was actually canned in 1994 with cars rebadged as Escort saloons after then
***** He's talking about the cars in the video, not the models.
Chris Watson You've actually checked this on a website somewhere?Wow you need to get out more!
Only takes 2 minutes out of my very busy life (24 hour plumber) to check things like this.
Ended up being one of his favorite cars by 1994. The RS200 version anyway. He even chose it over my beloved GT4 despite admitting the GT4 was better in every respect.
I had one of these about six years ago. It was £140 with tax and MOT and I drove it without fault for 5 months and about 6000 miles!! Long live the Escort :-)
p.s I got £90 when I scrapped it!
When it first launched, it was a bit of a dud. But we had the '97 estate and it was quite good, though still noisy. But hey, it have us the Focus, the Mondeo, and the Escort RS Cosworth, and these are all brilliant.
Bit of a worry when a Maestro had more head and leg room, Bigger boot and better road holding. Also the Clubman Diesel was only £7777 at the time. I bought the Maestro instead (DLX with sunroof and central locking and velour trim. Finally gave in to rust at 170k! Those Perkins engines were agricultural but never went wrong :)
How old was your Maestro when it finally died?
@@person.X. It made it to 15 years old :) Sadly my other which was a turbo model only managed 10 as someone ran into it when it was parked up. Shame as it had only done 78k.
@@groovygraham Thanks for the reply. Yes exasperating to lose the Turbo at such relatively low mileage to an incident like that. 15 years is pretty good for a Maestro though :)
I had a 1.6 Escort for a few years and although I look back with it with fond memories I also think all Clarkson's criticisms are correct. There's no comparison to the Volvo I drive now.
Jeremy clarkson's gone a long way from giving a thorough review about everyday cars to racing across Europe in a buggati.
love his hair. his voice is a lot deeper now and developed Quentin's mannerisms
I had a winered '96 ,,Flair" Coupe. It was a beautiful car. Practical and nice to drive.
Appalling car. Ford were really taking the piss by this point.
Couldn't agree more, I had three of the bloody things as company cars during the 90s :-(
Exactly. Not to forget the Capri replacement...the Probe, a god awful monstrosity. At least Vauxhall released the Calibra.
@ ERL
appaling? it looks quite cute ... but I drove it -- technically, it is an assault
My first ever car was the escort 1.4 lx. I loved it but everyone loves their first car. It was pretty shit tbh. I should have bought a golf
It got pretty good later on, with the facelifted Mk6 and the 16V Zetec engines. But power steering, 14 or 15 inch wheels, the superior sport suspension and a third party stainless steel exhaust system were an absolute must.
Yes yes but where can I buy the compact disc model?
Anywhere, but in later models
I'd like the diesel
@@dumdum7786 did they have diesel model? If they did it wasn't with a ford diesel engine, then if it was a ford diesel engine no ford mechanic knew how to service it because they wasn't traind
@@michaelgrace1298 Ford 1.8 diesel
If Top Gear stuck to shows like this. JC probably wouldn't have got big for his owe boots and not sulk over steak.
I currently have a 90 AMERICAN Escort, and it stuck works great every day. And using James May logic of having a slow rollypolly car to drive about in the city being more fun, it is quite fun, I must say. Sure, it only had 110hp at the engine 25 years ago, who knows what it has now, it still goes every time I turn the key
+DRIV3R24 Well,your should work well.After all,it's a Japanese car down that ford skin
It wasn't until the next generation Escort ('91-97) that it became a derivitive of the Mazda platform. However, the CVH engine is the same as the one in this video, just as a 1.9L.
***** Sorry,I didn't know that.
(I don't live in USA...and bron in 92,so I didn't know that they have both gen sold in '90.)
I just left a comment on another early 90s Top Gear video about the Jeep Cherokee, where I pointed out just how boring the automotive world was at that time. Immediately afterwards, I prove my claim by finding this Ford Escort Top Gear episode. If not for the humorous aspects, a car show wouldn't have lasted long in the early 90s!
Ha, he deserves his legendary status after rocking that hair.
Would love to see a format for a car programme, on TV or RUclips like this!
I remember when my dad had this car I think he had different style bumper and also he had a wario sticker on the interior roof and his engine went bust and the car then died in a scrapyard
R.I.P
In this video Alan Partridge reports on Ford Escorts.
Stuart I I’m not driving a mini metro
I actually thought it *looks* very modern for 1990. It is 23 years ago now! Compare the styling to cars from 2-3 years earlier, the only ones that look even close to it are the Sierra and the Scorpio/Granada.
32 years ago now.
And here in Brasil we had the Escort with a CHT engine (Renault) , later with a AP engine (VW/Audi), and later a Zetec (Ford).
Power steering and cd players are an option? my god have we come a long way.
Or we have gone backwards
My uncle had a red ford escort, he also had a BMW, but since the escort was the "old car" he always drove it like we were on a rally, that thing was fast
when my dad's sierra went in for a new gearbox we were given the same 1.4 Escort as a loan car, remember my dad saying numerous times what a piece of sh##, can't wait to hand it back.
I'd forgotten what a dog this version of the escort was. Killed the escort brand stone dead.
Nice to see Jeremy was giving it to you straight even then.
I totally agree with you.
It is like the new Top gear is only about the trio having fun and loving
themselves to death.
Also driving a car on a track has got nothing to do with the real world.
I just began to watch these old episodes a few weeks ago and I have
never seen them before,because Top Gear was never on in Denmark.
The old Top gear is simply miles and miles better than the new shit.
Looks like a Ford Laser we had here in Australia from 1991-1996 my grandfather had one.
My dad had one as a company car to replace a Mark 3 Cavalier that was a far superior car. All I can remember is the 1.4 Escort was noisy, horrible inside and wouldn't start when it was raining, and he said the fuel consumption was rubbish when it actually worked.
You hardly get to see a Ford Escort these days..!!! 🤔
I remember there were 100s of 1000s of them...!!! 😀
Wow, a proper review of an affordable car!
Can we stick to these on Top Gear in future please, BBC?
+EastStandManc Fucking watch reviews on youtube. Top gear is an entertainment show , not an infomercial for dithering old berks wondering if they should get a Prius or a shitty Vauxhall Adam.
+Danny Hepple
Yeah, not quite mate, Top Gear started out as a review show. It *ended up* as "entertainment" (in the loosest sense of the word), under Clarkson, May and Hammond.
No reason it can't go back to proper reviews on the Beeb, while you and your pals get your POOOOOOWWWWWAAAAAHHHH fix on Amazon Prime. Both markets satisfied.
I used to watch the old top gear. When Quentin used to do it. It was informative as fuck. I like those types of shows, but you have to be fairly brain dead not to realise that type of content is found elsewhere now, the fucking boring stuff when you're looking for a new car, that seems fun for an an hour then gets boring as fuck. That's why they take the piss out of those losers that write in ask them to review cars for avergage people. What do you want? Camera pans of a ford modeo going along a country road with the presenter telling you how smooth the ride is and the fact it's missing a cupholder from the previous version ? There's a plethora of other mediums that go way further into detail about all that interesting stuff, its in written car reviews, even in the Top Gear Magazine actually. It's just like, hardly anyone gives a fucking shit about cars for normal people on TV shows unless you're a boring old cunt really, wating that shit every week. Go for a fucking test drive yourself if you're after a Fiat Punto...
+Danny Hepple
"seems fun for an an hour then gets boring as fuck"
You mean, for as long as Top Gear runs each week? Lol.
Yes, media's changed, as has the way reviews are conducted; I certainly wouldn't expect the Beeb to go back wholesale to 'posh bloke in a cardi and cords' way of presenting, for example. That said, I don't think it's much of a stretch to ask for modern reviews of cars people can actually buy, all the way from second hand up to 60-70k. Throw in the occasional supercar, challenge or special, and there ought to be enough variety in that range to keep people tuning into BBC 2 at 8pm on a Sunday evening interested.
If *all* you want is performance, there are some great niche channels on RUclips like Petrolicious, XCAR and \Tuned. At that point, we're back to your "Fucking watch reviews on youtube" bit, aren't we?
Yea but I don't understand. Car reviews for normal people arent entertaining at all. How can you fit even one comprehensive vehicle review into one hour. It's just a quick look. And therefore pointless. No one would watch it if the usual top gear fun is broken up by May tootling around in a Mini Clubman for 15 mins. You're acting like Top Gear has no viewers and needs added variety to keep tuning in.
And I don't want just performance. I love the road trips across weird areas in old rickety cars. I like the test drives of powerful cars round the track. I like the competitions to get somewhere before Hammond and May. Breaking that up for a a couple of crap car reviews would seem odd. And they're probably thinking 'why don't they go on the internet for that stuff...or watch Fifth Gear.
The Escort was designed in 1987, that one can spot some cues from it in early Mondeo design proposals of 1987.
I had one of these years ago. I drove it to Cornwall, parked up, went in a shop, came back,,, thing wouldn't start. ... some weird component in the ignition had broken. then it developed engine trouble no one could figure out. Another time in the forrest the exhaust fell off. Then another time the hooter kept beeping when i made turns needed repair.
I know I used to watch old Top Gear as a kid, but I can't for the life of me remember anything about it other than the fact Tiff Needell and Quentin Willson were in it.
The reason they're probably better now than they were back then is because the Fords back then were made in England. The Focus, Fiesta etc. are now made in Germany, and we all know that Germans make better cars than we do.
I love my Ford escort 91. One day I will
Mod it up, and stand back at what I've created.
A monster 👹
Crap car but never send it to the scrap. They've become so rare.
@@jeff4362 yes sir I'm not doing that my dad was visited by a man who wanted to buy my car for 5,000 I told the man no and he tried to give an update on what he can use the car for. Like do I look stupid to you sir 😂
Yep yep it is
The Escort from 1990 was an utter dog, a wretched rust box of the worst kind.
Not one of Ford's best efforts, very rust prone as well.
We've got one of these, it's a facelifted 1.8 TD wagon. Never a rust spot (at least not yet xD) Runs and drives very well, extremelly comfortable, well made interior, lots of options, durable as f*ck, why the hell are you saying it's not one of Ford's best efforts? The only flaw I see are the bumpers which crack all over the place. Plus, they're extremelly cheap, we spent a grand and we have a Turbo Diesel with aircon, central locking, power windows, power steering, and so on.
To think: a Mk2 Escort was a viable and commonplace used car at that time...that's what I would buy. (Actually, I'd have a Moggy or a Riley One-Point-Five!) ☺
I liked his video game reviews more than his car reviews back then.
I had a K reg one of these as my first car in 2006.
@gruffdan Not even close. The LYNX was an original Ford Escort clone and was sold alongside the US Escorts from 1981-1987 or so. The original US Escort continued until 1989 when it was replaced by a Mazda-inspired car but it kept the Escort name. Mercury got a version called the Tracer (actually beating the Escort to the market by a year.) This European version is different than all of the above, a decent car let down by lack of character. Few remain because they were unloved.
hearing that original top gear song play brought a tear to my eye.
It's so odd how he's so much more confident as time goes on.
I just bought a brand new to me 98 ford escort zx2 just because i can. They say im a big spender. I think jeremy was listening to the cure and depeche mode alot during this era
That would add credence to my story. Am glad that an "insider" has backed up what I've understood. I was at Jaguar Cars from '99 to '03 and I think RPJ was head of PAG then, so we got to hear of such stories.
I also helped do the cabin NVH assessment on SW164 when at a different company!
The fiesta is now the best selling car in the UK.
It's sad to see what became of Jeremy Clarkson. Here he obviously is a good reviewer. His egomania took off later.
I have a buddy who had 2 of these at the same time. One red and one blue. Eventually one died, and the other has been parked at his work parking lot for over 10 yrs.
when Clarkson looks young you know the car is old
Drove a brand new one of these to cornwall one way. Nice in its day. I came back in a rover 820 si. Much better !
Wow, a limousine! Power steering and air con as an extra. The latter 16v models were much livelier.
Jeremy sounds very posh in those days
He is posh he went to repton
BBC accent
here in Poland the mk5/mk5fl or mk6 as some call it/and the mk7 are pretty worthless. But...thanks to that approach I bought a 1993 1.3 HCS carbureted MK6 for less than $100 USD in Polish money (400 PLN). Driving it since 2 months without doing anything to it, no problems, except for no idle, but that was there when I bought it, and I save myself with the manual choke. Started sputtering 2 days ago, feels like semi clogged fuel filter or system somewhere, gonna give it the most basic TLC and see what happens. It's my 1st car I actually legally drive after getting my license (not counting my Fiat Uno) and I really like it! It drives just fine, albeit slow. The engine is also a loud rattler, but I like it, because I at least have a tiny taste of the Polish FSO Polonez, which I want to own. Edit: the sputtering was due to wet ignition, car's fine still.
No, H was used from August 1st 1990.
This is obviously different than the Ford Escort we had here in the United States. Our new escort was designed mostly by Mazda when it launched in 1991 and also was pretty rough around the edges but it was reliable and there still are several zipping around Miami. They were much better than the generation escort that came after. The predecessor to this escort was super blend and not very reliable.
is this the model made in Brazilia ? I've had one of them once, Steering was a bit soft but not that bad actually. It did keep up with the traffic like a good car should and it was comfy. But the build quality was a sign of things to come. This car would yearn for the day to come where it could be recycled. There was no thought given to the car that it should last for decades and be repaired over and over again. Build quality was to the sluggish side, Here in Denmark people would use the car to open beer bottles since they would knew that the car like a cheap lighter would have to be used and thrown away some day. The old Escorts are now dead and gone here, smoldered into the gutter along with melting water in the winter. Very few examples have survived today and only as scrap bangers or the few that have been taken extensive care of and stored in the garage for the most of their lifetime. I had my Brazil Escort for about two weeks and i sold it in a car trade with a mark II VW Polo with a sigh of relief.
we have an escort, the same in the video but only burgundy colour, its a very fine auto, although i dont drive(im only 15), but i hope our car will still drive for 3 more years, i want to try it out :P I wanted a Fiat Bravo but an Escort will do the job, its very spacious. i dunno why they mock to Fords, they are very good cars, atleast by my opinion.
i was wrong, it was a shit car, it's now in the dumb yard. thankfully, we have a new car.
This is when Rover had Ford in their pocket with the 200/400 but they couldn't make it count.
A few years later, Richard Parry Jones of Ford Manufacturing, Europe, I understand, got into one of these soon having just driven a Peug. 306 and he went livid. It was at that point the the Focus was conceived.
I had the Estate version as a company car , to replace an '86 Xr3i that had a heated front window and ABS ( LOL ) It was dreadful , there was a recall for some engine fault that I can't remember. I remember how it drove though, very slow. And stuttering in city driving. The XR3i was pretty cool really , I wish they'd let me keep it. After I destroyed this cars reputation my company switched to Astra Estates , and I got one of those instead ( much nicer )
One of the old Ford's before the Mondeo and Focus. My first car was a Orion, saloon version of the Escort. It looked tidy but was a crude car to drive.
I have a P10 nissan primera eGT hatchback from this period, H to N registration....1990 to 1996....I've got a 1995 model, best car I've owned.
The car was also produced in Argentina. As far as I recall the coupe model was powered by 2.0 VW engine (there was a regional merge called Autolatina)
I was travelling in Argentina back in 1991 and remember being fascinated by VWs being branded as Fords and vice versa. I think it was the VW Apollo - a VW Ford Escort? I loved the old Falcons but when I tell my Argentinian sister in law about that she shivers - they were the chosen car of the death squads back in the 70s and 80s and bring back bad memories.
It's so weird seeing this car in brand new condition. So clean.
It don’t even look new when it is
This was the car that was shared with Mazda around the world?
In Australia, it was sold as the Laser, and was built at Fords last Sydney plant at Homebush.
i feel sorry for people who had to buy cars in the 90s
I had three of these as company cars back in the 90s; a 1.4 hatchback, 1.8TD saloon & 1.8TD hatchback & they were all absolutely dire. To compound matters the dealer service was terrible. All in all it was enough to put me off Fords to this day.
Nothing frightening inside unless you have the North American model, equipped with an automated strangulation device, the electric seat belt.
jeremy is in top gear since 1988
Oh well.
At least these old OHV engines are quite robust even after all these years.
I got one of the 1.3 petrol models, rust fortunately avoided this example as it was stored in a garage from new, and it's been literally zero issues with the car ever since I got it, and even before that as I know the previous (and first ever) owner. Sounds horrible, the engine, and it is by design. It also doesn't have any power or torque, but hey, that small amount is at least available from down low, so unless you ride on the motorway you don't really have to rev it. Steering takes force. But it's 27 years old now and still runs without a single problem, oil changes and usual maintenance is all it gets, and it just goes and goes every single time. Also the seats are very soft, which is uncomfortable on long journeys but we don't do those in this anyway, and on short trips it's really nice. When we bought this car, we only wanted a beater for the least money possible (I drove a company car before, changed jobs, didn't get a new company car so needed something for the time being). But we still have it, even though since then we have other newer and/or more comfortable cars to ride around in. Kept it as a backup car, since this just works every single time. You get in, you get to your destination. Even though mine is in very decent condition (still without rust), it's not worth anything, so selling it is not worthy, and it earned our respect. I developed some kind of love for this car for how cheap it is to run and how reliable it is.
clarksons "professional impress the producer voice" before he stopped giving a crap and didnt hide his true opinions :P
It looks so old fashioned now! I had a 1.3 GL in blue
This was the time when he was starting to morph into the Clarkson we all know now
Didn't know Bob Ross used to review cars
Hints of Mr Cholmondley-Warner.
Cars of 40s, 50s, 60s all looked stunning, many 70s, 80s and 90s cars looked so bad that you would want to be found dead in them.
true..i particularly think the worst period for sheer jelly mold blandess has to be from around 85 to 95 with plenty of pigs before and after..The british cars of the 70's were also appalling..
Now, in 2010', 90' cars look better than most modern ones
I remember watching this when it first aired.
clarksons voice has changed for the better he sounds like hes still wearing a nappy here today his voice is more mature and better. and now hes learnt to punch .hes better all round
I remember the Escort well from when they were new. As basic, reliable transportation, they weren't bad....for some drivers, that was enough. I've driven them, and as Clarkson stated, they really are quite dull and boring....they didn't handle or drive as well as many of it's contemporaries at the same price point.