1979 Ford Escort GL mk2 review from UK and Ireland

The carb. and choke played up at the same time causing the car to stall quite a bit, I managed to fix the problem myself but in doing so had to play with the mixture and the slow idle settings, but it's fine now.

There were a couple of badly rusted parts which had been bodged back together by the previous owner, so these had to have new metal welded on.

The rear shocks were also shot so I replaced with some Spax adjustables.

Great car, although mine's only got a 1.1 it revs well and accelerates quite well, although it doesn't get much more than 70mph.

It's got 7x14 inch alloys on with 205/60r/13 tires so it's got lots of grip although they have been spaced causing the rear arches to touch the tyres on tight corners so this is being looked at!

The K&N filter and rally exhaust give it a little more power and a lot more sound! The only other modification is the bucket seats which offer a lot more comfort. Oh yer and then there's the big yellow sprayed on flames at the front and wide arches so it always turns heads.

It is light inside and there's lots of space in the boot (especially since I've taken out the rear seats!) so it's very practical and does at least 45mpg.

As for parts look in the right places and it's often even cheaper and easier to run and maintain than a bog standard Fiesta or Nova. Plus the best part is it's RWD (so much more fun!) and this makes it very easy to boost performance by fitting a different engine/drive train/gear box... and all the parts come out of about any RWD Ford you can lay your hands on for running gear. The engine possibilities are literally endless, some people put up to 350bhp in the form of a tuned V8 for power (the new Mondeo engine will even fit)!

Really, there's no point getting a new car when old ones like the mk2 Escort are much, much more fun, cheaper and of course BETTER!