AMAZING timewarp Ford Escort van: a pilgrimage
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- čas přidán 22. 07. 2024
- This Mk3 Ford Escort 55 van is an amazing survivor - so I took it on a trip to its spiritual heartland.
The van has now SOLD - sorry, you're too late! Here's the link to the original listing though, in case you're curious: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156145999040
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Chapters:
00:00 The mission
00:38 First impressions
02:36 Performance
03:30 Ford at Bridgend
06:40 The half-ton hero
10:11 It’s for sale
11:37 It’s not just great, it’s good
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Third party image credits:
Patrick Le Quement book cover: Lignes/Auto (lignesauto.fr)
Bedford HA van: Scott Willoughby via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Morris 575 van: kitmasterbloke, CC BY 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Ford Escort Mk3 launch advert and brochure images - Ford Motor Company
Bridgend plant with Ford sign: Mick Lobb, CC BY 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Brilliant to see something basic and ordinary, but at the same time rare as hens teeth. I remember the passenger car version being launched as a child, our local dealer in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire had the banner across the window proclaiming “simple is efficient” which I think was their tagline for the launch. I later remember driving the estate version of the mk3 as a diesel, it wouldn’t set the road a light it was easy to drive and I think the styling has really stood the test of time, so uncomplicated and unfussy.
Thank you for the brilliant video on my van Martin, your production ethos is a cut above and you really do deserve more recognition 👌👍
Thanks a lot - it was a real privilege to borrow the van for the afternoon!
I had a B reg one of these. Had an 1100 Kent motor in it and I gave £50 for it. Revved like a flymo and handled like a gokart. Drove it for around 5 years, putting a 1300 Kent and gearbox in it which made it less frantic on motorways. Drove all over the country with the diving gear in the back. Did the rear wheel arches using 4 repair sections and the rear shock mounts. They all rotted, but an easy fix. Amazing that yours look standard. By year 5 it was getting disconcertingly crisp and a critical examination on my Dad's drive ended in a consensus that it was too far gone for another MoT. All the good bits got stripped and the bodywork cut up for scrap before the new neighbours next door moved in. Fuel delivery tube fell off the fuel tank as we unbolted the straps. Unfortunately the neighbours turned up a week early. As they rounded the corner with the removal van, there were their new neighbours, roof cut off, front in 3 pieces, cutting down the middle of the floor with a petrol powered disc cutter..... Oops. Back axle made a jolly nice logging arch.
Driven past this in Maesteg a few times nice survivor😊
The sound of that engine is so evocative of my teenage years. Mum had a 1.3L saloon.
Another great video Martin.
Thanks mate!
My sister's first car in 1989 was a 1981 W reg 5 door 1.3 GL. It had the more pleasant looking dashboard and exterior chrome trim but it lacked front seat head restraints. Ford were quite stingey about some features back then. I think they were optional in 1981 but standard a year later.
Lovely video Martin . learnt to drive in the early 80s in a mk3 Escort a 1.1 and a 1.3, they were great to drive, we had a 1.6 in the family which I borrowed now and then, this van is a great survivor I hope it finds a caring home.
I'd love to buy this if I had the money or somewhere to put it, unfortunately I have neither. It's almost contemporary with the A-reg Astra van I had years ago, which I wish I'd never got rid of, and which are also seemingly extinct.
I also once had one of the Escorts with no radio speaker and a rocker switch for the fan - an A-reg 1.1 Popular, all painted metal and grey vinyl inside. It was incredibly slow and noisy and had catastrophically rotten front floorplans and bulkhead - extremely common on these due to the location of the battery.
I am racking my brains trying to think when I last saw a mk. 3 Escort van... but I can remember when they were absolutely everywhere! Lovely to see one again, thanks.
They all just vanished one day, didn’t they? It was a real treat to drive this one.
Where I was an apprentice we unfortunately went from Ital vans to Maestros and missed out on the Escorts. My mum worked for Hoover and their appliance engineers had a fleet of Escorts in white over navy with a 3inch wide gold waistline stripe, looked bloody nice in their day.
Ooh yes, I remember the Hoover service vans, they did look smart.
Hi Martin hope you are well a great video as ever and what a survivor haven’t seen one of those for many many years it’s always great to see the commercials as many worked until they packed up it would be great to see it restored and enjoyed and would be great in the GTA fleet sign written! All the best Daniel
Thanks Daniel! I’m really quite tempted…but as you know I’ve got way too many already 😬
Now that’s a skill! I’m not into MkIII Escorts, I don’t care about their history, I don’t want one and it’s improbable that this will ever change. However, I really, really enjoyed your video. Well done again.
Aw, thanks Alastair!
I had a two door mk3 estate, thanks for sharing and bringing back the memories.
Do you mean the combi ? I had an ex BT van 1.1 engine. 3 door. Looks like a 3 door estate but with metal instead of rear windows
Your reviews are so refreshing. I now do need an old van in my life.
Glad you enjoyed it! It’s for sale, y’know…
@@GrandThriftAuto it will probably fetch a healthy price as well. Great find.
Nice video Martin,
I certainly remember these as my Dad worked for Royal Mail for 26 years and they stuck with Escort vans for a long time. Many of those vans then being dumped into the used market every time the fleet was due an update.
Interesting this one has other colours of paint and under the bonnet actually looked an orange/red colour.
I bought them outta bca , remember in like 2005 at a Royal Mail sale a g Reg pat van not romec rolled in with incredible low miles, they got rid of mk4’s by 96 so where had that been ??? Maybe some far flung island but wow we that turned up I was well,impressed
The 1.6 cvh vans went quite well
The 1.8 diesel was OK in the mk4 in the mk5 it was a lot slower. Had a friend with the 1.6 diesel mk3 it didn't seem to bad.
My dad had brand new mk3 escort van in 1985.. The first deseils.. he said it was a fast van with 5 speed gearbox..the deseil unit they got slower with higher mileage lack of servicing
When I die I definitely don’t want to be reincarnated as a high mileage van.
Brilliant find and what a rare survivor !!!
CVH did indeed stand for "Compound Valve Hemispherical"........but many people thought it was "Coarse, Vibratory & Harsh" 😂😂😂😂
If maintained properly they weren't a bad little engine really......
Well done Martin. You certainly do provide no shortage of variety, with your excellent videos. Anyway, Tommy the Toolbox reckons, that you would indeed find a small van tremendously useful and shouldn't hesitate in making the purchase. Additionally, with that sign writing, you would become the 'Real Deal' mechanic?
Get thee behind me, Satan.
Aaaah Saint Athan
My father was stationed there from whence I was conceived in a local static caravan
...... Still no reason to go back to Wales 😂
PS. The little side windows were what everyone smashed to break-in
I’m a van dealer , sometimes a van that was say white then got painted yellow when new and then painted again lasted better as loads of paint protected it better .
Then the customer turns up and expects a new 13 year old van and despises you for selling a painted van … I really hated van customers unless they made the effort to be ok with me .
About 2012 I started buying old cars and vans and leaving the new troublesome stuff alone .
My stock now of 20 vehicles the newest is a 17 plate Focus rs but the oldest a 76 rs Mexico
I live in Bridgend and I helped my friend buy the same van for his first vehicle, I had a mk4 van too and they were both great van's.
Siw mae from the other side of Swansea :)
I saw this on ebay a few days ago and am also tempted. I was given one identical to this, (even down to the faded blue paint) as punishment for blowing up my mk2 fiesta diesel when I was a junior surveyor. It was known as the Chicken S**t van as it was used to collect fertilizer from the boss's chicken farm. I loved it , probably because it was a lot quicker than my fiesta being a petrol. I did not want to give it back but was forced to eventually as they did not like the image it presented when I had to meet clients .The joke was on them in the end !
That's a great story!
Back in the eighties I always said that these were the fastest production car available, having trouble keeping up with them in my XR2.
Absolutely.
I love the bit of Dexion behind the seats
It’s a classy touch, isn’t it?
If I recall correctly the seats were grey vinyl faced. Engine Compound Valve angle Hemispherical combustion chamber. 1.1 and 1.3 discontinued in 1986 for the 1.3 OHV Kent/crossflow/valencia and the 1.6 from then on was lean burn with heart-shaped combustion chamberd so not a 'hemi' (hemispherical) head and strictly not therefore a CVH even though it was still called that. On the sales brochures the CVH was not named 'CVH' just 'OHC'. The MK3 van was never as fast as the Astramax which was the fasted thing on the road at the time ....
Ah yes, the Astramax…now those _needed_ a 140mph speedometer.
Excellent video, really enjoyed it. Unusual subject matter too. Thank you.
you never need a reason to buy a van 😂fun review
Surely you need a van to lug around all the bits for the rest of your fleet.
Not a vehicle that lights my fire but certainly something that would catch my attention if I saw it.
At the moment it feels like what I need for the rest of the fleet is a compactor 😔
Great stuff, 10k subs soon...
It’s been on the cusp of 10k for about a year now, mind…thanks for being around since the start! Chatting with regulars means more than numbers.
It would make a fantastic parts chaser for your other projects
Oh stop it.
Very nice Martin, really enjoyed it. Charming and unpretentious van that does the job. I had a 85 5 door escort many years ago and really enjoyed it.
Thanks a lot Gentil. I’ve always had a soft spot for the mk3 Escort: I really fancy a 1.6 Ghia - a 5-door or even better the ultra-rare 3-door if I can find one.
@@GrandThriftAuto yes, the Ghia was really nicely equipped.
Not many of them came to Jamaica. Yes,the cars were sold in greater numbers but still not many.
Drove the face-lift model from 1986
What a nice and unexpected surprise! Very nice car and really good video, thank you, Martin 😃👍🏼
Thanks a lot Frank!
@@GrandThriftAuto Welcome! Copyright 2022? 🤔
@@fhwolthuis Oh no, did I drag in the wrong closing title? That was bound to happen at some point… Think of it as a bonus surprise for anyone who watched to the end 😁
@@GrandThriftAuto 😂
A great video - as always! The mk3, in van terms was always quite handsome - odd to think that they were once on virtually every street corner! Didn’t CVH stand for ‘Coarseness, Vibration, Harshness?’
I’m pretty sure it did 😬 Cheers Simon 👍
I had an Escort 1.3L mk2 1980V traded it in for a Escort 1.3L mk3, then Orion 1.6GL mk2. I preferred my mk2. Dad had 1.6 mk4&5.
Weren't TW registrations from Ford press of fleet vehicles all the new XR3 launch on the un opened motorway were TW i seem to recall
It’s an Essex registration and you’re right that a lot of the Ford press fleet were TW cars, but I don’t believe all TW cars were necessarily first registered to Ford. In fact my own Granada is CxxxHTW.
Love your video's, but....any update on the Rancho?
I'm making progress on it gradually - work has got in the way quite a lot over the last few weeks. I plan to post an update when I reach some sort of milestone, maybe in a month or so. I was hoping it would go a bit faster, but I need to earn a bit of cash when I can!
As a great fan of this channel, I wonder if any other viewers know of a channel on CZcams (my account was hacked, so I had to re-find all my favorite channels again) … the channel I can’t find is a British chap restoring a 928 Porsche. All I can remember is he says something along the lines of ‘du machina’ at the beginning of each episode
I don't know that one... I assume it wasn't Gary Mavers or Todd Gibbs, who seem to be the most prolific 928 restorers on here?
@@GrandThriftAuto no, unfortunately not. He had a very basic set up, and a very rough 928, but I found it enjoyable viewing. Oh well. Appreciate your response though… and more great films… when your ready ☺️
@@PatrickHostler Thanks! I’ve been working 7 days a week for the last few months but am finally coming out of that now and starting to catch up on the backlog of car work again.
@@GrandThriftAuto Cwiiiipes… you need a holiday sir!!!
@@PatrickHostler I do! Don’t tell anyone but my current plan is a trip to visit the Matra Museum in Romorantin in a few weeks’ time.
I helped plant a girder at the engine plant when it was being built. I think I did anyway… I mean I was 6 and I pressed some kind of button which lowered a yellow metal thing into the ground. Thanks Grandad! Great review :) There was a 1.4 CVH as well although not sure if that made it to the van?
Well the buildings are all still standing, so you must have done a decent job with the girder! You’re right about the 1.4 CVH of course - I didn’t mention it as it came in later with the mk4 Escort (including the van I think). The Sierra’s 1.8 was a later CVH too.
@@GrandThriftAuto That makes sense!
It could be useful for picking up Matra Rancho panels and parts 🙂
I’ve got a perfectly good dustpan and brush for picking up Rancho panels 😉
You forgot the Bedford Chevanne. It was some weapon.
The only 80s small van I would consider would be a Golf, if I could find one. On the wee side but well built and robust.
The Golf was definitely smaller - fair point about the mighty Chevanne though.
Bedford boss not vx
@chiefrocka8604
Thanks Chief, they were indeed Bedfords. Edited 👆
My first car was a Mk3 1.3 cvh Escort. Unfortunately, mine wasn't at all free revving. In fact, it was positively allergic to revving. Maybe the vans were a bit better?
This one felt quite lively, admittedly with very little load in it. I wonder whether the van engines were tuned differently somehow? Different compression ratio maybe?
We're now all waiting for the follow up video where you bought it
Hehe - and the one after where my wife throws me out…
@@GrandThriftAuto Then do a "living with" review of my motorhome 😂
@@spitfiretrading You’re really not helping 😉
So you are why the eBay listing mentiones 'if you have to ask your wife ... don't bid'! ;-)
@@GrandThriftAuto
When they spanned the nation in their heyday, the mk3 always seemed to have a healthy appetite for rotting their battery trays. Always seemed an unusual feature to me.
Yes, I think this one is on at least its second battery tray.
I'm guessing by the telephone code, this was originally used by a company in Rayne, Essex.
Yes, it belonged to a car mechanic in Rayne until fairly recently. It still has his work and home phone numbers painted on it! I blurred them out as I have no idea whether they're still his/someone's numbers, and don't want to have to take the video down if someone decides to try calling at 2am after fourteen pints...
The Mark III Escort Van copied the Australian 1979 XD Falcon Van. A vaugley Granada Mark II based design, on the old XA-XC Falcon running gear but with a Third window.
Ah, I was trying to think what other vans had an extra side window - I’d forgotten the XD Falcon did 👍
No not sure that’s correct the European ford escort was front wheel drive and transverse engine and then the bodywork design was by Uwe Bahnsen and was similar to the cortina Granada etc
From what I recall the XD was conventional front engine rear drive layout
@@danielrussell446 The Escort Mark III Vans styling appeared, about three years before it was released. Good example is the XD Falcon Sundowner Van, which I owned. Bahnsen accused Ford Asia Pacific of plagiarism in that the Ford Laser and FWD Mazda 323 copied the Escort Mark III's data points. This worked in the opposite direction, with Ford of Europe copying Ford of Australias Falcon Ute (pickup) and Van Ford. From 1976-1979, Ford Australia had Uwe B's Granada Mark II design engineer helping in Australia with the XD and XE Falcon design up till 1979. I am taking about styling, not body engineering, the Falcon Van is a huge rear drive car with a 116 inch wheel base (294.6cm)
I would have thought any van would have mirrors both sides. Imagine the blind spot otherwise.
Yes, you’re probably right about that, although Ford did go to some length to make its base models punitively miserable in those days.
@@GrandThriftAuto I did own a 1984 1 litre popular fiesta. 2 speed fan. 1 mirror. No radio. Or speakers. No heated rear screen of wiper.
Oh dear, the tablets are not working, are they. I hoped it would be at least mint.
Mint is good, but so is preserved authenticity 👍
Harsh
Would look really good with the GTA logo painted on the sides in a distressed style
Just sayin’ 🤐
Ha! Or maybe a Modern Heroes logo...?
I used to have one as a company car, it was very noisy and slow in general it was rubbish.
It’s not the quietest vehicle ever, I’ll give you that.
They weren’t the quickest van and and why did Ford put 140 mph speedos in them?
That handy extra window made them so much easier to steal too. Break the glass and unlock the door.
copyright 2022?
Oops 😬
I would rather have that than my2020 connect, with as blue, and constant problems, know everyone at the dealers by their Christian names. Only thing that's good on my new Connect is the heater.
Earlier Connects much better. 19/20 plates on can be troublesome. Splits in top boost hose will kill the performance then the DPF. Usually.
I had a 2020 1.5 diesel connect had a add blue failure twice back to the dealer on both occasions. The 2016 one 1.6 diesel (95hp)got to 207k with no issues at all.
It rather depresses me that virtually every surviving Mk1 Escort by default has to be turned into a high performance replica - and here to illustrate the point you show a Mexico-ish estate and an RS2000 van. It’s as monotonous as virtually every new car sold now is an SUV. “Oh look” I think when I see one “another Frankenstein cannibalisation of grandma’s Escort 1100L.” Yes, back in the 1970s every school run, every driving lesson, every trip to the shops that featured a Mk1 Escort was done in an RS2000 with fat wheels, spot lights and graphics. That REALLY is how it was back then! 🙄
Couldn’t agree more. I did look for standard ordinary versions on eBay to illustrate the point I was making but…there weren’t any.