Some sellers attempt to mask the hooning they’ve done in the cars they have for sale. That’s definitely not the case with today’s Nice Price or No Dice custom Escort, as the ad shows the GT wagon is shown doing its thing on the track. Let’s see how that tracks in relation to its asking price.
When most people consider the classics — i.e. the heyday of the Greek and Roman cultures — the image is usually incorrect. Based on movies and the dusty ruins that are left to see today, the typical vision is of environs comprised of nearly monotone marble and people wandering the streets wearing nothing but white linen togas. Geez, not even Sweden is that dull! In reality, both cultures had colorful garb and, based on archeological evidence, festooned their buildings and statuary in bold rich colors. It was, in fact, something we might today consider gaudy.
In more modern times, we have applied the term classic to an era of cars when baroque was bank and elegance was calculated along the Fibonacci spiral of a flowing fender line. So cloying and desirable were the wares of this age that attempts were made to replicate them in later eras in what we now term to be Neo-classics. We looked at one of those last Friday, a 1981 Phillips Berlina which was built on a donor C3 Corvette frame and offering styling that apes the 1936 Mercedes 540K. The car seemed immaculate and fully functional, but many of you couldn’t wrap your arms around the whole neo-classic vibe, and that didn’t bode well for the car’s not insubstantial $32,995 price. In the end, that came up short… or long maybe, falling in a 74 percent No Dice loss.
No one — and I mean not a single soul — would ever mistake an American Ford Escort as a classic. Now, to be fair, there are plenty of European Escorts that are viably and rightfully classified as such. A rally heritage made hallowed names out of Escort editions like the RS2000, Twin Cam, and Mexico.
This 1994 Escort is from the company’s American arm, but it seemingly comes with its own racing heritage which the seller boldly demonstrates in its ad. We’ll have to see if you all feel that the hooning adds to the Escort’s value or detracts from it.
We’ll need to start by pointing out that this is an Escort model that Ford never built. The company offered the wagon in base and upscale trim, but never as the twin-cam-powered and offset badge-grilled GT. Some enterprising soul has cannibalized a three-door GT for those parts plus a lot more to create this monster mash of a hot hauler wagon.
That demonstrates just how Lego-like cars of this ilk are, right down to the point where a center console taken out of a Mazda Protege has been bolted into the cabin. Thanks to the Escort and Protege’s kissing cousins relationship, it just plain works.
All the Escort GT hardware is along for the ride. That includes the 1.8 liter DOHC four Ford sourced from Mazda along with all its intake and exhaust components. The 127 horsepower four is mated to a five-speed manual and the car has been imbued with a number of suspension updates to improve handling and toss-ability.
That has seemingly all been put to good use since the ad includes pictures of the car seemingly on the track, with numbers on the doors and everything. That’s the sort of proof of concept you rarely see in an ad and kudos to the seller for being brash enough to both race the wagon and to show it being thrown about in such a manner.
It’s not all checkered flags and laurel wreaths with this utilitarian GT, however. The seller describes the car as a “good running and driving project” and notes a number of issues the car suffers. These include a non-working power steering system (although the Armstrong steering seems to work just fine), as well what’s described as a “minor exhaust leak,” and an issue with the reverse lights that will cause the car to flunk any safety inspection outside of the track. There’s also a bit of a chunk taken out of the rear bumper, but that just makes the car lighter and hence perhaps shouldn’t be considered a demerit.
On the plus side, the car comes with a clean title, a claimed 72,000 miles on the clock, and a few extras. Those are said to include a set of GT rockers and a pair of seats out of an MX3 that will come along with the car. A bunch of other parts are also available at an additional asking.
We’re not starting a swap meet booth so we’ll stick with the car and whatever comes with it at the seller’s set $3,500 asking. Before we do that, however, we’ll need to get your vote and your comments on whether or not that seems like a deal.
What do you think, is this Escort GT wagon worth that kind of cash? Or, is this too deep down the rabbit hole to ask so much?
You decide!
Westchester, New York, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Whatsupdohc for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at rob@jalopnik.com and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.
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