Ford Escort Mk2
When Ian Yates met his future wife Linda as a teenager, he had already developed a passion for Fords. Now, three decades on, the couple are passing that same passion on to their son.
Fond memories of their first car lead this couple to a South African import.
This story really starts 30 years ago, in 1991 when Ian and Linda first met. They were only 17 at the time, and at college together. Back then, Ian had a Red Mk2 Escort, a 1300 four- door Popular, and was already a confirmed Ford enthusiast. We can blame his family for that – dad had a Ford Anglia and then a Mk1 Cortina when Ian was very young, while his grandad had a Mk5 Cortina that Ian remembers very well. Tellingly, his three brothers also went on to have various Fords.
As for Linda, she was yet to be indoctrinated in the ways of the Blue Oval, but as she says: 'Having a boyfriend at the age of 17 who had a car was one way to impress your friends!' Clearly Ian had charms that went beyond a 1.3 Escort though, as the couple have just celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary. The red Escort was eventually changed for a blue 1600 Ghia, and over the years other Fords came and went. They had a Mk1 Capri for example, a Jamaican import with aircon which they did up a bit and then sold on.
Then there was a Mk3 Capri, a Mk1 Sierra passed down from Ian's grandad, a Mk2 Mondeo 2.5 V6 Ghia X that Ian's dad gave them, plus a Mk4 XR3i that used to belong to his brother and in which Ian and Linda brought their son home from hospital when he was born.
'That XR3i had an extremely hard life,' recalls Ian, 'as it got driven into by lorries and buses
four times when it was parked up, and every time it was put back on the road again. In fact, I bought it from the insurance company after it had been written off in my brother's ownership and I rebuilt the front end. Eventually I parked it up at work, walked over the road, heard this crunch and turned around to see a car sitting on its bonnet. That is what finally finished it off.'
Other cars have equally vivid but slightly less destructive memories. Take that Mk3 Capri, for example, a car which Ian decided to paint one day while Linda was at work. 'I do tend to make sudden decisions,' he admits, 'and that was probably not one of my best, I was just bored and got the paint out.'
'I can't really remember how much I knew about what he was going to do,' adds Linda, 'I just remember getting in after work and getting paint all over my hand. And it was a horrible green too, one that I would call Slime Green. The car went like the clappers and was a brilliant car for us, but the paint was not one of its best features.'
There have been other Fordrelated moments that could have been disastrous, but which actually have more of a comic twist. Take Ian and Linda's wedding, for example. As Linda says: 'I had my own way a lot with the wedding day, but I did allow Ian to have exactly what he wanted with the cars. He chose a 1910 Model T Ford for us, and a 1926 Model T eight-seater bus for the wedding party. They were fantastic, but
Having a boyfriend at the age of 17 who had a car was one way to impress your friends!
when you hire a classic car for your wedding, they do make it clear that these things can break down. Well, in the middle of the High Street on a Saturday afternoon, the bus did just that.'
'I so much wish we had pictures,' continues Ian, 'because the wedding party had to push this thing up the High Street dressed in their top hats and tails. In the end our car went back to pick some of them up, and the rest were bundled into a minicab. That's the joy of classic cars for you.'
That's the background, but how about the beige beauty in our pictures? 'In the early 1990s Linda and I used to go away for weekends to Littlehampton in the red Escort,' explains Ian, 'and we have so many fond memories of the car and those times. But as youngsters we didn't really see the joy of keeping cars back then – however much we loved them they weren't classic, they were just old bangers. I would love to find the red Escort and I do keep dreaming that it might have been tucked away in a garage somewhere and not been crushed, but despite always keeping an eye out for its registration number, I've never been able to find any trace of it. So we decided that if we couldn't have the actual car, maybe we could get one like it.'
The search for a suitable candidate had been going on for some time when this one popped up on Ian's radar in 2019. It had been imported into the UK from South Africa by Car Cave up in Scotland, and was a four- door 1.6 GL. ' We were looking originally for a red car, but the red ones all seemed to have had bigger wheels or a bigger engine fitted and stuff like that. Putting those back to original wouldn't have been easy, and I was drawn to the originality of this car. My first thought was that it would be easier to get the beige one and spray it red.'
That plan has since been dropped. As Ian says: ' We decided that this is a more grown up version of the red car, so we should leave it as it is. After all, it would never be the red Escort, just a red Escort.'
We think that is very definitely the right decision, and it does mean that Linda can now go to work of a morning safe in
the knowledge that the Escort won't be painted a different colour by the time she gets home in the evening.
The couple hadn't seen the car before arriving in Scotland for a test drive, but they had seen hundreds of photos. Those had shown that it was incredibly original, a survivor that had so clearly been loved and cherished by its former owners in South Africa's New Cape. In fact, the pictures had sold it to Ian and Linda, and it was telling that they only bought a one-way ticket to Scotland to 'view' it. As Ian admits, he knew before leaving home that he was going to buy it.
Now, I should sound a note of caution here because sometimes, when you go back in time and drive the car of your youth after an interval of some three decades, it can be a bit of a disappointment. After all, you have moved on and will be a different person after spending 30 years driving other and ever more advanced cars. Add a pair of rose-tinted spectacles to the mix and the potential is there for a bit of a disaster.
Fortunately, that was not the case here. 'That first drive was great,' says Ian, 'just like going back in time. But I know I'm not 17 any more, so I am a
different person. I like to think I am more sensible, and certainly I'm far more likely to keep to a steady 50-55mph and not go near the red line on the rev counter. I love driving the Escort, though. If ever I get stressed, I just take it out for half an hour or so and I come back a different person.'
Ian was a mechanical engineer by trade, and the cars he trained on were ones like the Escort, so he loves diving under the bonnet as well as driving his new toy. Fortunately, despite being very original and in excellent condition, there have been a few little jobs to keep him busy. For example, Ian and his son have undersealed the complete underneath of the car to protect it from the UK weather, they have had the wheels restored, and redone all the brakes, the wheel bearings, the water pump and the complete fuel system. There is now a slight weep from the rear core plug, so Ian is relishing the opportunity of taking out the gearbox to address this before it develops into a problem.
It has to be said that there's been a fair bit of polishing too, preparing it for car shows or simply going for family picnics. 'The reaction from people who see it has been great,' says Ian. 'My son and I were at a show today, and people were queuing up to see it. It has got scratches and a few little dents, but I haven't covered them up and I think that is what people like about the car because it shows a life, not just brandnew paint and an immaculate restoration. Somebody did point out the dings today, and I said:
"Wouldn't you have a few dings after 41 years?" But you get underneath and have a look – you won't find a single trace of welding on it anywhere. Even the engine is still painted the original Ford colour.'
There is also some added interest for Escort anoraks to see the changes that were made to cars sold in South Africa. Ian points out that it has a much bigger fuel tank that goes all the way across behind the back seat, a tank that's about double the size of one found on a UK car. It also has some additional strengthening plates under the front wings – these were added to more powerful models like the RS in the UK, but Ian believes they were fitted to all Escorts in South Africa to help cope with the poor condition of the roads there in rural areas.
'The vinyl seats were factoryfitted,' adds Ian,' because cloth would have burnt away in the sun. The car had stick- on reflectors at both ends too, as required in South Africa. I took them off the back, but the body is a slightly different shape to take reflectors on the front so I'm leaving those on. Besides, at the end of the day it is a South African car and I don't want to take that heritage away from it.'
It is quite clear from talking to Ian and Linda that this car is a perfect fit for them. But after all this talk of Fords, curiosity makes me ask whether they have ever had any other marque.
'Actually, we both have Vauxhalls as our everyday cars at the moment!' says Ian sheepishly. 'I've no idea why really, and I do regret getting them, but we will get something like a Focus next.'
And of all those Fords to have passed through their hands, which is their favourite?
'The red Escort is closest to our hearts,' says Ian, 'but the Sierra also meant a lot to me because it had originally been my grandad's car and I was given it when he passed away. I was always very close to my grandparents. That sort of thing gives you a connection to a car that you don't often get, and I wish I still had it.'
As for Linda, she says: 'I loved that red Escort too, but perhaps my favourite is the one we have at the moment. Although I class it as his second woman,
I know Ian always dreamed of having a son he could pass his knowledge on to, and I love to stand in the kitchen looking out of the window and seeing them both with their heads under the bonnet sharing the hobby.'
So there you go – this Escort may have been inspired by one from 30 years ago, but it is very much a case of looking forward to the next chapter in the Yates' lives. And best of all, this chapter also involves the next generation, as their son is even more passionate about Fords than his dad. So that's now the fourth generation of the family to share this particular passion – there must be something in the water down there!
I love to stand in the kitchen looking out of the window and seeing them both with their heads under the bonnet sharing the hobby