1985 Ford Escort XR3 Cabriolet review from Brazil

Battery replaced at 155.000 in June due the fact, that the car, stayed parked on my garage most of the time.

No big deal, dealer fixed in One hour.

Fog lights went at 160.000 in January of this year; dealer replaced in 45 minutes!

Dealer is surprisingly good, and the dealer that all the periodic maintenance, were made, it is the same, and that my father bought the car.

Apart from that, just regular maintenance, once I don’t drive this car, for daily use.

I only use it at weekends and when I’m traveling to my house at the beach, in São Vicente.

I live in São Bernardo do Campo, where there is the Ford and Volkswagen assembly plant.

My big complain, about this car is the roof, that is not electric. This means, that if you were driving, and all of a sudden start to rain, you have to stop the car, get out of the car, loose two locks and put the roof up.

VERY ANNOYING!!!

If you want the electric top, you have to buy the 86 face lifted cars.

The Pre-face lifted cars are manual operation.

My Escort is from the first year of production, of the Cabriolet model here in Brazil.

This car is part of my family. My father bought new brand back in 1985, than he sold it for my uncle in 1990, that sold it for my cousin in 1995 that sold for my brother in 1999 and my brother sold for me in 2002.

More precisely, in an afternoon of day 05 December of 2002, it was a Thursday if I good remind.

I’m 38 Year old and I waited 15 years to buy one.

The car is in its original shape and in pretty good shape for the age.

I got the car with 152.000 Kms on the clock.

There are very few signs of rust and rattles.

Well, let’s talk about a characteristic that is one of the best aspects of the Escort MKIII.

The best, thing about these cars is the handling. There is lots of feedback from the steering and you can chuck it, at the hard corners with total confidence. Neither my previous 2001 Peugeot 306 nor my 2003 Peugeot 307 are so much fun to drive as the Escort.

The MK3 Models are truly entertaining cars to drive, even when your model is a Carbured XR3.

However, for being the sport version and for being a convertible model, the ride is harsh and the car lacks of some refinement.

The 1.6 CHT Carbured Alcohol engine still is the original and the 5-Speed gearbox was replaced only once, back in 2001.The car performs pretty well, especially at the pulling away traffic lights. The carbured XR3 are extremely nippy cars.

The seats shows, normal wear out fro a car, of such age. However they are not much comfortable. Me and my wife we usually complain about back pain after 3 hours of driving. Being quite tall: 1,93m I have find, the driving position rather cramped.

The car still has its original owners manual, and it has full service history.

The car is featured with all original extras (A/C, Electric windows and PAS) except the alarm, that was replaced for a new one, with the keyless system and the radio; The original tape player, was replaced for a CD-Player; Apart from that everything is original and never was changed.

The car looks really nice either with the top up or down. I particularly like the wife, the metallic red color.

For daily use, I drive a 2003 Peugeot 307 Passion Hatchback 5-Door 1.6 16V Manual. Actually, it’s a nice car, but not as nice as the Escort…

By the way, speaking in the Escort again; People laugh of me, when I’m say, that this car is an absolute classic.

I remember, that happened a classic car meeting here in São Paulo and they prohibited, my Escort, to participate of the meeting because it wasn’t considered as a classic car…

Since when, a classic car has to be something really old, rare and hard to keep?

Well, anyway what those “clunker collectors” knows about it.

The Escort Convertible was one of the best cars, Ford ever made here in Brazil and it was the Brazilian dream car from the eighties.

I think that classic cars are those, which were remarkable in those days and they fascinated an entire legion of people, like me, that despite of a world of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Alfa-Romeos and other dream cars; I had only a single dream car:

A Ford Escort XR3 Cabriolet.

Simple as that…

This car was a dream, of my teenage. When my dad bought it in 1985, I was with 19 years old, however my only transportation was a Honda bike; However, when I had to get out with my girlfriend (now my wife), I asked for the keys of the Escort. The car was (and still is) so nice looking, that where you pass everybody looks, it brills! About the time, dad bought the car; he felt that everybody in our neighborhood envied us.

I Love my car and I thank God every day, because I finally got my dream on my garage. Every time I look for my Escort, I smile.

This car has a kind of sentimental value for me.