‘Simple is Efficient’ - The Ford Escort Ghia Mk. III

The year is 1980, and this writer is making his first visit to the NEC Motor Show. Three cars seem to dominate this year’s display – the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirt, the Austin Mini Metro and the Ford Escort Mk. III. This 1982 Ghia sold by https://ycsc.co.uk/ is a reminder of the third generation Escort’s impact on UK motoring over four decades ago and so here are 20 facts about this fine machine.

1) The Escort Mk. III was Ford’s third European front-wheel-drive car—the first was the 1962 Taunus P4, and the second was the Fiesta in 1976.

2) Ford believed the Fiesta had helped overcome buyers’ fears about front-wheel-drive maintenance costs.

3) At one point Ford considered badging the Mk. III as the Erika’ - the codename of the development programme.

4) The more expensive Mk. IIIs used new 1.3-litre and 1.6-litre OHC engines; the cheaper versions employed the 1.1-litre ‘Kent’ plant.

5) The all-independent suspension was another Escort ‘first’.

6) Ford of Germany devised the ‘Aeroback’ hatchback styling, and the development costs amounted to £500 million.

7) The company initially regarded the Aeroback design as “too advanced for the family car market”.

8) The Escort Mk. III debuted on the 3rd of September 1980, and Autocar thought it looked as though it could “take over from its older relations without any problems”.

9) Bob Lutz, the Chair of Ford Europe, said: “We’ve worked on this car with love and devotion”.

10) Ford hoped to have 8,000 Escorts in its UK showrooms by the 26th of September 1980.

11) The Observer described the new Escort as “another winner to add to the past list of successes”.

12) The Sunday Telegraph noted the Ford Escort “will be competing in a market sector that accounts for about one-third of car sales in Britain”.

13) They also thought the Aeroback lines made it look like a saloon” rather “the conventional hatchback”.

14) The Ford Escort Mk. III defeated the Austin Metro and the Fiat Panda to become Car of the Year 1981.

15) Your friendly local Ford dealer could boast of the new Escort ‘s low noise levels, police-tested door and boot locks, and drag coefficient of 0.385.

16) One advertisement claimed the Escort Mk. III “pulls like a lion”.

17) The Ghia 1.6 five-door originally cost £5,033, and for this reasonable sum you too could enjoy “Velour trimmed seats”, a “Tilting/sliding screen sunroof with louvred screen” and a “Ford P21 push button radio”.

18) Optional extras for your Ghia included electric front windows for £130.21, central locking for £150.04, and headlamp washers for £68.61.

19) Rivals to the Escort Ghia included the Citroën GSA Pallas at £4,575, the Talbot Horizon GLS at £4,808 and the Volkswagen Golf GLS at £4,572.

20) In 1982 the Ford Escort Mk. III overtook the Cortina Mk. V as the UK’s bestselling car.

With thanks to Daniel Powell of Yorkshire Classic & Sports Cars for his time.

With thanks to Daniel Powell of Yorkshire Classic & Sports Cars for the permission to use the images in this blog.