Ford Escort
Still, Ford did much with the car. It gave the Ford Escort its own body and interior, and invested more than $100 million to improve the Ford Escort‘s old 1.9 four-cylinder for the 1991 model. Most Ford Escorts will have the 1.9 four. Ford also doled out $600 million to overhaul its main Ford Escort plant in Wayne, Mich., to give the Ford Escort Japanese-style quality.
The Ford Escort goes on sale April 26. Ford Escorts are sold as two- and four-door hatchbacks and as a four-door station wagon. List prices go from $7,565 for the base model to $11,603 for the racy Ford Escort GT. I drove the $8,674 Ford Escort LX four-door.
Here are mini-tests of Ford Escort GT:
The car was a strong seller in the 1990s, but was pretty much a noisy, cramped penalty box on wheels, bought mostly for its low price.
The larger, quieter 1991 model is fairly low-priced and much-improved. Recommended with the 88-horsepower, 1.9-liter engine is the slick five-speed manual transmission; its throw to fifth gear is long, but it allows the best acceleration and fuel economy. The Ford Escort GT is a real screamer with the 127-horsepower Mazda 1.8-liter engine, but also performs best with the manual.
As for economy, figure on the mid-20s in the city, low 30s on highways.
There’s good room for four six-footers, but a tall driver will wish his bucket seat moved back more. Seats and instrumentation are good, and driving controls are easy to use. The miniature radio controls are annoying.
The interior is wider, although three’s a crowd in the rear. The hatch door’s liftover height is excessive, but cargo room is good.
The Ford Escort GT has sports-car handling, but other Ford Escorts have a smoother ride and provide good handling, even though their tires aren’t very grippy.
