Ford Escort (North American)

See also: Ford Escort (European)

The Ford Escort was a compact car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Although it was originally a European model, the Escort badge has been applied to several different designs in North America over the years.

The Escort was one of Ford's most successful models in the 1980s. In fact, the car was the single best-selling car in the United States during most of that decade.

1981

Introduced in 1981, the first American Escort was intended to share common components with the European Mk III (as with its sister, the Mercury Lynx), and was launched as a 2-door hatchback and as a 4-door station wagon, with the 4-door hatchback following a year later. It had considerably more chrome than the model sold elsewhere, and although the basic silhouette was the same, it was almost completely different from the European version, apart from the Ford CVH engine. There was a 1.6L engine, 4 or 5-speed manual or 3-speed automatic transmissions. A 1.3L engine was designed and prototyped but did not see production due to lack of power.

Engines:

• 1.6L CVH, 68hp (51kW)

1985

There was a minor facelift (less chrome, flush headlights, 1.9L engine) for 1985. The Lynx was retired for 1987, replaced with the Mazda 323-derived Mercury Tracer, which formed the basis for the next-generation Escort. The Escort saw another minor redesign in 1988 1/2, which smoothed out the front and rear fascias.

Engines:

• 1.9L CVH, 86hp (64kW)
• 1.9L CVH, EFI, 108hp (81kW)
• 2.0L Diesel, 52hp (39kW)

1991

In 1991, the Escort and the Mercury Tracer were replaced by models based on the Mazda B platform also used by the Mazda 323. Ford, which owned a 25 percent stake in Mazda, already sold a version of the 323 in Asia and Australasia, called the Ford Laser, which replaced the old rear wheel drive Escort there.

After designing a "world car" Escort a decade earlier which used localized engines, Ford took the opposite tack with the "CT120" Escort for the 1990s. This time, the car would be very similar worldwide, differing only in appearance.