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By the mid-1960s, Ford’s trusty old Anglia model was looking rather dated having been around in a few different iterations, since 1939. Ford Europe decided to retire the Anglia gracefully and replace it with a new small family car. It settled on a name it had already used for a short-lived version of the Squire in the 1950s, the Escort.
The Escort featured rear-wheel drive, either four-speed manual or three-speed automatic transmission and rack-and-pinion steering. Design-wise, it looked modern, with coke-bottle flared styling and a ‘dog bone’ front grille.
Production took place at both the Halewood plant in Merseyside and for left-hand drive models, in Belgium and later Germany.The Escort was officially launched at the Brussels Motor Show in January 1968.
Autocar called it “a big step forward from the Anglia for Ford” and said it offered “good value and a much safer performance than its predecessor”. The reviewer predicted that it would become a strong force to reckon with. However, nobody could have forecast that over the next six years, Ford would sell more than two million first series Escorts. In the UK especially, it was a sales sensation.
Escort production spanned for 30 years, being replaced by the Focus in 1998.
This 1972 Tawny Brown 1300L 4 door example was discovered by its third owner after a very long period of dry stored hibernation in 2018.
A thorough recommissioning was conducted, consisting of a windows-out full respray and comprehensive detailing of the engine and ancillary items. From what we can see, no welding was required due to the car being safely dry stored and covering such minimal mileage prior to storage.
Whilst the early history is no longer with the car, judging by the overall condition and superbly preserved underside, the indicated mileage of just over 25,000 miles could very well be authentic.
In the custody of its fourth owner the car has been enjoyed and regularly taken to local shows and admired for its originality, during this time it has covered a little over 2,500 miles.
A new MOT will be conducted upon sale for added peace of mind.
