Forget buying an Escort GTi, you would be far better off with a 1.6lx or Zetec Focus.

I bought an ex-demo Escort 1.8 115bhp GhiaX back in 1996. It was 8 months old and had 4000 miles on the clock, it was probably the least enjoyable car I've owned and I've had over 30.
The engine was gutless, the steering lacks feel and the ride and handling are way below par for even a mid 90's car and thats when they were new. After three months I had the suspension changed to GTi spec by the Ford dealer, this didn't improve the handling much but the firmer ride soon introduced even more rattles and bangs.

When Ford brought out the Focus it must be the biggest step forward any manufacturer had achieved on a single model changeover.

If you want a cheap car to park in the train station but with no driving fun at all then one may fit the bill. But IMO even at £1000 there are better alternatives.

Cheers
Lee

Thats a lot of money for that car :eek:

Clean though :)

And it's the bland bubble shape. And no Carello headlamps, only the "basic" recaros (both of which the old shape cars had), and the horrible airbag steering wheel :(

I take it your not keen on it :D

Yup, I prefered the old ones with the power bulges in the bonnet and without that afterthought known as the oval grille. :cool:

But then, I am biased :D

I prefer the hybrid Mk5 RS2000 which has the MK6 back end but the MK5 front bumper and the oval bonnet. Thats what mine was like :p

FWIW I have seen a few come and go on e-bay over the last 12 months and very clean <20,000 miles examples will fetch IRO 5 grand.

I think the later rear lights and oval grille cluttered the clean lines in my opinion. That was what mine was like :lol1:

To me it looked like it was an afterthought to match their brand image of slapping oval grills on every model willy nilly. But I prefered the later side skirts :)

Did later 2wd RS2000s revert back to rear drums? I swear I've seen some with drums on the back, I wonder if it reatined the stiffening bar/arb on the rear beam too? :wonder:

Still a good car to drive in either form though, once you've tightened up the tired front suspension (lower arms, ARB buses and swap for gas shocks) which costs nowhere near what it would cost to do with an Impreza. Would be tempted to buy another one, but I think I should move on, not move back. :)

A mk5 RS2000 is a car i've always wanted a go of. I remember when they came out Autocar (i think it was) raving about how good they were which was a miracle considering how bad the base model was. Years ago my dad had a 1.4L which was truely awful.

Good advert too

I have also driven a 1.4CL (amogst other lesser escorts). How two cars with the same chassis can be so different to drive in every area is astonishing. It is like driving a completely different car.

But then I drove an Impreza 1.6 GL and realised it's the same with them too when compared to its Turbo siblings :lol1:

LOL i did the same 1.6 gl wagon, (API customer courtesy car) for that hour or so I hated Subarus :D

Are these the crappy old escort cabriolets i seem to see a lot of driven by chavs?