1977 Ford Escort L review from Australia and New Zealand

The engine leaked a lot of oil, and eventually it ran dry and seized, so I put another engine in.

The new engine wasn't much good, it was a standard Escort 1.3 engine, but was stuffed - lacked power and guzzled gas.

Eventually the rust got too much (it spent most of its life by the sea), and there wasn't any point keeping it running.

This wasn't too bad a car, but I had too be carefull too put the choke in very quickly after starting (and pull it back out when slowing at an intersection before it warmed up) or it would flood and stall and take ages to get started again.

A basic cheap care with no demister or intermittent wipers.

But Escorts are quite comfortable for a taller driver, being boxy and square.

Escort gear-boxes are great - you just aim the stick in the direction of the gear you want, far better than most other cars from this era, and on a par with modern cars. But the gearing means you have to change into second about a second after takeoff.

For a car that had clearly not been garaged or particularly well cared for, it was as good as you could expect. But the very basic equipment levels and decades old engine design leave me wanting a more modern car.

A good, basic car in its day, but its day is long gone.