READERS’ CARS FORD ESCORT
I have owned this Escort for 32 years, and in that time I have taken an £850 car and turned it into one with an agreed value of £20,000. But despite keeping it for so long, I love all kinds of classic. When I was growing up, dad had loads of cars that we now regard as classics – Cortinas, Minis, Anglias, Victors and more – and that is where my addiction started. I also have an older brother, Gary, who was into Ford Capris. I helped him restore a Mk1 years ago. Well I say ‘helped,’ but I was just a kid. I absolutely loved that Capri though, and it might have inspired my choice of first car, which was a four-door Mk2 Escort Ghia in Solar Gold.
I was 18 at the time, but had a lot of work done to that Escort. Everyone else was modifying them, but my car was so immaculate that it got me more interested in originality, which was unusual for somebody still in their teens. Unfortunately I had a bit of an accident in that car. I did have it repaired, but it never really felt the same afterwards. That was when Gary saw this other Escort Ghia. It was in the same Solar Gold, but was very
