When the bods at Ford were first thinking about a successor to the 105E Anglia, they were influenced by the amazing success of the Mini Coopers and wondered briefly about opting for FWD. In the end they chose to evolve the Anglia’s classic layout of front engine and rear wheel drive with MacPherson struts at the front and longitudinal leaf springs at the back, but they did switch from a steering box to rack and pinion to sharpen up the steering. The styling was all new though, relatively plain but reasonably aerodynamic thanks to wind tunnel testing at MIRA, and also spacious thanks to a clear focus at the design stage on customer comfort.
The Escort was to be Ford’s first European car, with design input from their operations in the USA, Britain and Germany although it was finished in the UK. There were minor differences under the skin between Euro and UK Escorts, plus some models such as a lethargic 940cc version that was targeted at specific markets (Italy and France in this case) and not sold
