Six questions with A Mkii ESCORT owner

Dave Millburn explains the Escort’s appeal – he’s owned more than 100 of them!

1 Tell us about your MKII history?

‘I bought my first one 37 years ago when I was 17 and working at a Ford main dealer. Since then I’ve owned over 100 of them; I used to buy any MKII part-exchanges for £40-£50 and break them for spares. I wish I could buy complete cars so cheaply now! I didn’t break all of the cars that I bought though; I’ve run at least 35 MKIIS as everyday transport.’

2 Do you keep your cars standard?

‘I keep most of them as original as possible, but over the years I’ve done all sorts of modifications, including engine and gearbox swaps. I’ve also fitted a few limited slip diffs, but the lairiest upgrade I’ve ever made was a tuned 3.0-litre V6 engine. The car was really quick but it was terrible to drive, so I’ve stuck with four-cylinder engines since then.’

3 What’s on your current fleet?

‘I’ve got just one MKII now, bought three years ago. It’s a 1977 1.3 GL estate with just one previous owner, who clocked up 67,000 miles in it. He approached me on the Sporting Escort Owners’ Club stand at a car show and asked me if I knew anyone interested in buying his Escort. I went to see it and bought it on the spot without even driving it.’

4 What have you had to do to it?

‘The previous owner was a carpenter and he had used the Escort as a work bench, so it was covered in glue. I had to remove all of the glue by mopping the paint, but it’s actually come up really well. The old fuel had also gone off, so I had to flush the entire system through properly and replace much of the braking system. It then sailed through its MOT.’

5 What’s the appeal?

‘Part of the reason for buying so many MKIIS is simply because I want to try as many variations on the theme as possible. The thing about the MKII is that, if you buy something that you don’t like, there will always be a buyer for it if you want to move it on. They’re fun to drive, extremely practical and easy to work on, too. What’s not to love?’

6 What’s so special about your MKII?

‘The car is completely original as it’s been garaged all its life so it’s never been welded. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was genuine. The car started out as a dealer demonstrator before being sold to the guy I bought it from, and he used it just locally as his everyday transport for the next 17 years, before laying it up for two decades.’