Ford steers a new course for an old favourite from the suburbs, writes Andrew English
BRITAIN'S suburbs will be in mourning this weekend after the news that one of the most popular car names, the Ford Escort, may be dropped at the end of next year.
Ford is planning to axe the 30-year-old Escort when a replacement model is launched next year. The new car will be sold around the world , even replacing the completely different American Escort, and as a result, Ford is considering a new name, just as the Mondeo replaced the Sierra, and as the Escort itself replaced the Anglia.
More than 18 million Escorts have been made since the original launch in 1968 and 4.5 million have been sold in Britain, where it has become synonymous with cheap and cheerful family motoring.
Escorts have been a phenomenal sales success in Britain, topping the best-sellers' list 13 times in 30 years and rarely out of the top three best-sellers even in its worst years.
In that time the Escort has been through four different body shells and numerous revisions. Most people have owned or driven one at some time, even Diana, Princess of Wales, who owned an Escort 1.6-litre Ghia. Other Escort owners include the Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, and Jimmy Greaves, the footballer and television presenter, who was a member of Ford's successful 1970 London-to-Mexico rally team.
The Escort press launch set a tone that has since been adopted by many other car makers. "The small car that isn't", trumpeted the press pack. But it was motor sport that gave the Escort its glamour and, some say, its sales success. The Escort won Ford three World Rally Championships in 1968, 1969 and 1979.
Continued motorsport wins spawned a host of go-faster Escorts including the Mexico, the RS2000, the XR3i and the Cosworth. But the "joy-riding" craze of the late Eighties generated a backlash against what were seen as boy-racer Fords and increasing insurance premiums priced them out of the market.
Ford has remained taciturn about the future for the Escort name. "We may drop it or we may not," said one spokesman. "We cannot confirm or deny what the replacement will be called."
Not everyone agrees, though. Prof Garel Rhys of Cardiff University, an industry expert, said: "Escort is a European name already. It's unthinkable that VW or Toyota would kick names such as Golf or Corolla into touch."
