HERE’S ONE WE DROVE

Aspiration was at the heart of every Seventies Ford – and this particular car, which sold for £3710 in Morris Leslie’s May 2019 classic car auction (01821 642574, morrisleslie.com) had a great deal to prove. With its thicklypatched top mounts, MoT tide mark rear quarters and Paddy Hopkirk steering wheel cover, it felt like a fiveyear old car frozen in time.

Not quite bottom rung, ‘L’ specification afforded you a few creature comforts; whoever specified it new paid extra for wider arches and 13x5 rally wheels (fitted as standard to the Sport) to broaden its stance.

This car also had XL side stripes, E/ Sport front disc brakes with a servo and a Sport twin-choke Weber to give the grizzling old Kent a bit more shove.

Clang the door shut behind you and the basic ingredients exploited by faster Escorts are there. Clever use of a limited budget got this L punching above its weight. Sharp rack-andpinion steering made it slightly tedious to manoeuvre at low speeds, but this became irrelevant on the open road.

The Type 3 gearbox did a remarkable impression of the heavierduty Type E fitted to faster MkIs, priming future owners for fast Ford ownership. Locating the ratios gently or bang through on the redline – the Type 3 cares not, and revels in its slick movement.

A K&N air filter gave the Kent a nice rort on acceleration, even though outright performance was nothing special. That it felt and sounded fast was key – and with access to the vast Ford tuning bin, your imagination didn’t have to work too hard.