With Sandford fabric seats – Michael Carpenter’s Ford Escort 1.3l Mk. Iii

It was parked up in 1987 after five years on the road and 36000 miles because the owner made a mess of replacing the rear shocks. It was recently 'found' after the garage complex it was stored in had its roof replaced. The car was sold to Elton of UKBarnFinds, and I purchased it from him to put it back on the road. It is a fairly early Mk.III Escort with the two-bolt front strut, and is a bit different to the later models and quite rare, being a three-door model.

This writer sometimes thinks that his old friend Michael Carpenter is on a one-man quest to own every 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s mass-produced car in the world. When I first met him. Michael’s classic of choice was a Honda Civic Mk I, and since then a Triumph Dolomite 1500SE, a Morris Marina S2 Estate, a Singer Gazelle Series V, an Opel Manta 2.0SR, a Ford Escort Ghia Mk. II and a Vauxhall Cavalier and Astra 1200S two-door have occupied his garage. The 1982-model Ford Escort L Mk. III is clearly another element in Michael’s bid for world automotive domination.

It is also fascinatingly reflective of UK motoring in 1982, when ‘The 1980s’ had not quite commenced. Compared with some of the decaying 1970s (and 1960s) machinery this writer used to encounter in Hampshire at that time, an Escort Mk. III looked decidedly up to the minute. It was Ford’s third European front-wheel-drive car after the 1962 Taunus P4, and the 1976 Fiesta, and the ‘Areodeck’ styling was very accomplished.

Michael’s Escort is also a reminder that the Ghia and the XR3 were quite rare sights.  It was the likes of the L that were most frequently seen –in my case, in the Fareham Precinct multi-storey car park, outside of the Swanwick Post Office or heading along the A27 for Southampton. The driver typically had a tin of travel sweets in the glove box, and a Burton suit jacket hanging from the rear grab handle.

Their immediate goal of the Escort 1.3L driver was their next sale, which could elevate them to a 1.6GL company car with a halogen headlamps and “York upholstery as standard. In the meantime, the 1.3L’s reclining front seats trimmed in the finest “Sandford” fabric available to humanity, “P21 Ford push button radio”, and a cigarette lighter elevated it above the ‘Base’. The fact that the entry-level Escort lacked a heated rear window, a glove box, rear ashtrays, and a dipping driver’s mirror makes the early 1980s seem very remote.

Michael is currently refurbishing the Escort, and we look forward to updating you on its progress. Meanwhile, it is a fascinating reminder of when Pot Noodles were considered radical cuisine in some quarters, when people muttered about that dangerous new Channel Four, and how The Young Ones was corrupting Britain’s youth.

And to make readers of a certain age feel antique - Vyvyan’s Anglia 105E De Luxe was twenty years old when BBC2 first aired The Young Ones in 1982. If he had opted for a Ford as old as Michael’s is today, Vyvyan would be driving a 1938 7Y saloon…

With thanks to Michael Carpenter for his time.

With thanks to Michael Carpenter for the permission to use the images in this blog.