All right, we now return you to your regularly-scheduled shitboxes. Today, we’re going to be looking at a couple of commonplace old Fords with weird mechanical specifications. They’re both low-mileage and in good condition, but is that enough to turn your heads? Let’s see.
On Friday, we checked out a pair of expensive replicas of even more expensive classics. It sounds like a lot of you liked the idea of a Factory Five Cobra, but not that Factory Five Cobra. The Brazilian Porsche 356 replica won sort of by default, by about a 60:40 margin.
Most of you thought they were both way too expensive, and I agree. But sometimes it’s fun to look at things you can’t afford, and daydream. Going by the “rich uncle buying a gift” scenario (even though I don’t have any uncles left), I’d go for the Super 90 as well. The Cobra is just too garish for me.
Some of the most interesting – not desirable, mind you, but interesting – old cars are the evolutionary dead ends. Automakers have tried lots of ideas over the years, and not all of them pan out. Diesel engines were all the rage in the late 1970s and early ’80s; nearly every automaker gave them a try. And while all-wheel-drive is commonplace today, several companies gave it a try and then gave up in the ’80s and ’90s. Today, we’re going to look at two such dead ends from Ford: one diesel, and one all-wheel-drive.
1984 Ford Escort GL – $4,000
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter OHC diesel inline-4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Preston, ID
Odometer reading: 22,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
At the start of the ’80s, American automakers were getting their asses handed to them by imports, especially in the small car market. And it wasn’t just the Japanese; VW was selling Rabbits as fast as it could make them. Both Chrysler and Ford used the Rabbit’s basic template to create their small cars: front-wheel-drive, with transverse four-cylinder engines and handy hatchback bodies. Our Ford Escort was marketed as a “world car,” but it didn’t share much with its European counterpart. It did share one thing with the Rabbit, however: an available diesel engine.
The standard gas engine in the Escort was Ford’s own CVH four-cylinder, but for the diesels it turned to its japanese partner Mazda. This car is powered by a 2.0-liter naturally-aspirated diesel that makes 52 horsepower. It has a five-speed manual transmission to make the most of that power. The seller claims that the 22,000 miles shown on the odometer are original, which means this is practically a new car. It comes with a whole bunch of new-old-stock parts too, a couple grand worth, the seller says. That’s good, because I imagine parts for a diesel Escort are getting a little thin on the ground.
The early Escort was a cheap car, built during a time when “Quality Is Job One” was a catchy slogan, but not quite yet a reality. As such, the interior isn’t anything to write home about. It’s in good condition, considering, but I can feel the squishy foam-covered vinyl of the armrests cracking through this photo. Don’t get me wrong; it’s the nicest 1984 Escort interior I’ve seen in decades, but it’s still a 1984 Escort interior.
It’s decent outside, too, except those hideous LED headlights. Sure, they’re probably better at helping you spot deer in the ditches than the stock headlights, but they just look wrong on there. Does anybody make LED retrofit lights for old sealed-beam headlights that don’t look like ass?
1987 Ford Tempo AWD – $2,750
Engine/drivetrain: 2.3-liter OHV inline-4, three-speed automatic, 4WD
Location: Tacoma, WA
Odometer reading: 49,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The idea of powering all four of a car’s wheels goes back a long way, but early on, it was reserved for trucks and other off-road vehicles. Automakers experimented with all-wheel-drive for passenger cars here and there, but it was the one-two punch of Subaru and Audi that showed what it could do. Both Ford and GM gave AWD a try, but in strange places: GM chose the Pontiac 6000 as its AWD platform of choice, and Ford, well… Ford chose the Tempo.
“All-wheel-drive” isn’t quite accurate for these cars, as I understand it; unlike Audi’s Quattro system, in which all four wheels are powered all the time, and two of the differentials can be locked to aid traction in slippery conditions, this Tempo is typically FWD only. On slippery roads, you can push a switch on the dash, and the rear wheels kick in. Apart from the rear driveline, it’s a bog-standard Tempo, with the 2.3 liter HSC engine and a three-speed automatic. The ad lists the mileage as 494,000, but I’m certain someone read the odometer wrong, and that it’s actually 49,400. (They also list it as a 2006 model.) It seems to run and drive just fine, though.
The Tempo AWD is its own model, but it’s basically equipped the same as an LX: power windows, air conditioning, cruise control, all that good stuff. It looks pretty good inside, too. The seller doesn’t give any indication about how much stuff still works, but based on the inaccuracies we know about, I wouldn’t trust them anyway. Try everything out, and see which buttons actually do something.
It’s nice outside, probably one of the nicest ’87 Tempos left. You know, it’s not a terrible-looking car for the time, actually. If Ford had offered the AWD version with a five-speed stick instead of the terrible automatic, it might have been a viable poor-man’s Audi 4000. Instead, it’s a curiosity. But for the price, it might make a good winter beater for someone.
The Escort lived on for many years, and the Tempo made it as far as 1994 before being replaced by the Contour. But there were no more diesel Escorts after 1987, and all Tempos were FWD after 1991. That makes these two essentially orphans. Interesting, as I said at the beginning, but not particularly desirable. But if you had to choose – and you do; that’s how the game is played – which one would it be?
The Escort is…I dunno. I see stick, and rather would over Auto and AWD. Besides, I’m pretty sure driving that Tempo in snow around here would cause it to slowly disappear into red dust like…most of them.
The escort gets it only because neither are that enticing but the escort could make for a fun restomod. Though I’d not pay much more than half what they are asking. It’s not exactly a collectable car.
Drop a more modern engine from a later model Escort or Focus. Put better suspension under it and for not a lot of money have something that looks old, and is reasonably quick with great economy
My first car was a 1984 Escort Wagon, so maybe I’m just being a bit nostalgiac….
Diesel prices are really testing my stick shift loyalty… But that is just about the last automatic I would choose.
Normally the stick shift would decide this showdown but I’d rather not fund the Russian oligarchy this morning.
(checks price of diesel…). Nope.
Yeah if it was like 2 bucks cheaper a gallon I could see it but even getting 40-55mpg in a diesel is not worth it at this point. Guy I work with has a mid 2000s TDI wagon and he gets like 45mpg but hell any gas car getting 25-30mpg would be better at this point.
My 15mpg diesel truck is parked in my driveway, with a tank full of $5/gal fuel. And I thought that was crazy.
These are a couple of hateful choices. Did you go outside and kick a puppy when you were finished writing this?
Write-in vote for Griffin’s yellow vette.
I’ve spent enough time in that generation of Escort to never vote for it. I didn’t know there was a diesel option, but I don’t expect that to improve the situation. Reluctant Tempo vote.
No way I’d drive an American diesel passenger car of that era. They’re why any of us who ended up in Europe a while later were astounded at the diesel cars being put on the road. We never imagined that any diesel could run without 100 dB of clattery noise, belching black smoke, and a 0-60 time of less than 30 seconds. (Not that the Europeans were all that great in the 80’s, it’s just that the experience was SO bad then.) Plus, those seats would take some work. Going with what would definitely be a temporary Tempo.
$4k for a diesel Escort, what? I’ll take the Tempo for being gas-powered and having a nicer interior. And cheaper!
I really forgot how terrible the Tempo/Topaz dashboards were prior to the ’88 refresh. Gross.
Having owned versions of both of these cars, I pick the Tempo mostly on price. Also, there are some weirdo brothers locally that drive diesel Escorts and I don’t want to have that association.
That Escort interior does not look like a 22k mile interior even with the Ford 80s-ness. If you told me the odometer rolled over once, I’d believe you. Maybe this sat outside and someone decided to see just how dirty they could make it in as short a time as possible? Maybe someone used it to get people back and forth from the hog farm? I don’t think I’ve seen dirtier passenger seat cushions and footwells in a car with that mileage that wasn’t a barn find. I guess keeping something outside for 40 years might do that?
My parents briefly had mainstream (gas engine, FWD) versions of both these cars when my dad worked for Ford. Both were kind of garbage – I think both had major ECU or fuel pump failures in less than a year – but I remember the Escort being at least better with gas and not being quite as plodding as the Tempo. I’ll take that one if someone’s willing to detail the interior.
Yeah, that interior looked pretty filthy to me, too.
But the author wrote: “Don’t get me wrong; it’s the nicest 1984 Escort interior I’ve seen in decades, but it’s still a 1984 Escort interior.”
Makes me wonder what other 1984 Escorts he’s talking about.
I was also wondering about the “nice” interior, because there’s a couple comments on it too. Are we all looking at the same pic? I feel like I can smell it from FL. Not only is it grubby, there’s a giant hole in the dash topper, and the seller couldn’t even bother to straighten up the floor mats, let alone get out the shop vac for a few minutes.
Now the Tempo interior looks freshly detailed and probably smells all clean and nice, likely better than my own car.
Anyway, Powered by Cut Rate Auto Parts did make me smirk, so Tempo it is.
I hadn’t seen the small Cut Rate Auto Parts sticker before, they used to be the standard sized bumper sticker and much more readable at a glance. All of the batteries they sold had that in a large font. Yes they are a real auto parts chain that somehow has managed to survive in the world of consolidation. https://cutrateautoparts.com/ and they do have a good reputation of having people behind the counter that actually know what they are doing and not just some rando.
52hp clatter trap? No. I’d rather take the Tempo, even if it never goes into 4WD. It’ll be gutless, but workable, unlike the Escort.
I voted for the single cab Ford Ranger.
Good choice. There are a lot of clean Rangers to choose from here in the PNW in the $3K to $4K range.
Tempo. It can prooooobably at least get up to highway speed sometime this decade.
Screw it, I’ll go with the Escort. Though I would try to talk the seller down since the car running on diesel isn’t much of a selling point right now.
Diesel for 3 months is more than the car is worth.
Diesel for 2.6 seconds is more than the car is worth.
I’ll take the Escort, it’s smaller and a hatchback so if nothing else it’ll be a more effective storage shed.
Never Escort, the Tempo wins be default, I’ll hoon it in RallyCross.
Both of these would be absolutely horrible to drive on modern roads. They could potentially be used as some form of punishment for DWI or Road Rage convictions or something. 2 weeks in the county lockup or 6 months of driving the Brown Diesel Escort? I’ll take prison. Seriously, I don’t even want to think about how painful an ancient Escort with basically zero creature comforts or efforts against NHV, with a 52hp diesel clattering away under the hood would be to have to drive any further than the end of the driveway.
I guess I’d go with the Tempo for the novelty of the 4×4.
The Ford Tempo has a Switzerland sticker (CH) on the back, wondering if that was just applied or if it was imported from there (e.g., someone returning from living abroad). And the back bumper is quite something, looks like one can have a picnic on it.
It was a thing to do back in the early 90s to stick country stickers on cars, just because you went there or whatever.
Yep I had a CH on my Ford Contour haha, after we went to Switzerland and saw the Mondeos there.
The Tempo would at least make a tolerable winter beater. Even if it only survived two or three winters you’ll have gotten your money’s worth out of it
I have owned a 80s escort in the 80s. NO NO NO Never again.
I was under the impression that an Escort would be a short term rental
You really pimped out a masterful reply.
The Escort is in Preston, Idaho, home of Napoleon Dynamite. Such a fitting car for such a beige place
Gosh!
Uncle Rico would have bought that car if coach put him in for State. Would have been rich.
I just can’t with 1st gen escorts, and I suspect I will never be able to.
Instead I’ll be rollin’ in my Ford Tempo, with the windows down so my hair can blow . . .