Most influential cars

A-Brief-History-of-the-Ford-Escort-Mk-1-24.jpg


Ford Escort MK1
 
Tuearts right boot said:
Some purists say The Austin Maxi.
First family saloon with a tranverse engine, first 5 door family saloon hatchback, first car to have hidden wipers, first to have a 5 speed gear box.
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Very influential, and would have been remembered as such had it been built properly.
For example; the five speed box was a great idea but the change mechanism was shite and they kept failing.
 
East Level 2 said:
Very influential, and would have been remembered as such had it been built properly.
For example; the five speed box was a great idea but the change mechanism was shite and they kept failing.
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As with most British cars of that era. My dad had Rovers until the 2.3 DSI, shite build quality so he sold it and bought a BMW 518 and has never bought a British car since.
 
tweety said:
Had a 1275GT clubman in the 80s, loved that car, wish I still had it, they're worth serious money now.
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I did loads of mod's on mine.

It had an 1100cc short stroke engine, which I bored out to 1160 to fit a 1300cc head, stage 2 cam, double valve springs, split manifold, twin 1 1/4" SU's, oil cooler, and a full RR tune with carb needles profiled to the cam... then I did the brakes which were originally drums all round. Perhaps should have done those first in hindsight, but with mini-fins on the rear and 8" Cooper disks on the front (no servo) is was much better.

Absolutely RAPID up to 65mph, but topped out at around 85mph due to the final gear ratio. It was great fun absolutely destroying XR2/XR3i's off the line at traffic lights.
 
mexico1970 said:
Really it's from an era where you could spot the make and model of a car from 60 yards, they are all a wee bit generic now sadly.
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How very very true, even quality marques blend in with the riff raff. Jags, Porches, Mercs etc all look the bloody same nowadays, no character or personnality.
 
Trevor Morley's Tache said:
I did loads of mod's on mine.

It had an 1100cc short stroke engine, which I bored out to 1160 to fit a 1300cc head, stage 2 cam, double valve springs, split manifold, twin 1 1/4" SU's, oil cooler, and a full RR tune with carb needles profiled to the cam... then I did the brakes which were originally drums all round. Perhaps should have done those first in hindsight, but with mini-fins on the rear and 8" Cooper disks on the front (no servo) is was much better.

Absolutely RAPID up to 65mph, but topped out at around 85mph due to the final gear ratio. It was great fun absolutely destroying XR2/XR3i's off the line at traffic lights.
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Had similar in a Morris Minor ( 1380 cc ) but with Twin 45 Dellotos, which I changed back to twin 1 1/2" SUs, likewise topped out at just over 80 mph
 
Tuearts right boot said:
Had similar in a Morris Minor ( 1380 cc ) but with Twin 45 Dellotos, which I changed back to twin 1 1/2" SUs, likewise topped out at just over 80 mph
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I eventually swapped out the SU's for a single Webber 45 DCOE which I shoehorned into an airbox in the dashboard. Absolutely nuts looking back, but the jump in performance was well worth it. 0-60 in just shy of 6 seconds, which was nuts for a normally aspirated engine, but then it weighed next to nothing.
 
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