1993 Ford Escort Mk5 1.6 Zetec Ghia
(Featured on 9th December 2013)
Make: Ford
Model: Escort Mk5
Year: 1993
Registration: K956 XPL
Mileage: 25,000
Sellers original description:
I acquired this Escort earlier this year, I have a soft spot for older Ford's and whilst I already had a car I could not resist purchasing after seeing how good this particular example was in the flesh, this car was purchased by Mr Neville Westby in September of 1993 at a total cost of £9,500 (I have the original receipt). I am fairly confident this particular example being a Ghia (Top Of The Range) was a demonstrator car for Ford until the supplying dealer (David Ian Limited) sold this car to Mr Westby with 1,500 miles on the clock.
Mr Westby held onto the car for 19 years until he sadly passed away, I was told this Escort was his pride and joy which is clearly evident in its condition. The car was then left to his son before being sold to another gentleman as part payment for some work, the new owner had no use for the Escort as he already had his work van so it was sold to the new lucky owner which was me.
This car was clearly garaged and cherished all its life by Mr Westby, I actually took a quick look on Google Maps Street View for his address (found on the original purchase invoice) and as luck would have it you can actually see the Escort sitting in his garage! (The Google photo was taken on October 2012)
This particular example represents the result after Ford received some criticism when they first launched the Mk5 Escort back in 1990, in 1992 both the front and rear ends of the cars design was revised and Ford's first Fuel Injected 1.6 ZETEC engines were fitted, a great improvement in appearance, performance and economy compared to their early CVH engined examples.
The mileage on this car is genuine and currently stands at 25,000 which is backed up by lots of service stamps and old MOT's, this is without a doubt one of the lowest mileage Mk5 Escort's left in the United Kingdom, mechanically this car has only just started its life and could easily serve as reliable transport for many years.
The condition both cosmetically and mechanically is very impressive for an older Ford and its easy to forget you are driving a 20 year old car.
The drive itself is not bad for an older Ford either, the ride is smooth and thanks to the Fuel Injected 1.6 ZETEC engine you can easily keep up with modern traffic whilst surpassing much newer cars with their smaller engines.
The bodywork is in very good condition and the paintwork on the car is completely unfaded including the roof, the paintwork itself just gleams in the sun and puts much newer red cars paintwork to shame. Also all four alloy wheels remain unmarked which is very rare for a car of this age, I cannot fault them. The spare alloy has also never been used and still wears its original Pirelli tyre from new.
Things get better in the interior, the carpets and seats are like new and the dashboard is unmarked and has not been a victim of long term sun exposure, the interior itself is very comfortable thanks to the Ghia seats and everything feels nice and solid whilst driving. This car also benefits from power steering.
Everything works on the car, electric mirrors, front electric windows, sun roof, passenger and driver footwell lights, inside door lights, radio, alarm system, central locking, there is not a single fault at all.
The car comes with a full years MOT (with no advisories) and tax until the end of October, recent work includes a full service at 25,016 miles (5w-30 Fully Synthetic Oil, Oil Filter, Spark Plugs, Air Filter and Fuel Filter) also a new auxiliary belt has just been fitted along with new front and rear wiper blades.
In there service book there are 10 stamps with the following mileage increments:
1,500
2,400
4,990
6,749
10,973
12,698
15,190
16,543
17,628
19,333
25,016
I also have lots of old MOT's right back from 1993 which is nice to look back on the cars history and to see just how little this car was driven each year.
To summarise this is an excellent example of a Mk5 Escort Ghia, whilst this car has a few years to go before being a classic I do not think it would look out of place at a car show today and in my opinion would look great alongside some older Ford Escort's to represent a time line.
This is a fun car to own and drive and will easily hold its value or possibly increase in the future if kept in this condition, whilst you could purchase a much newer car I think you would struggle to find something which can provide as much value as this Mk5 Escort. The build quality is good even for todays standards and as a daily driver this will provide many years of cheap reliable motoring without the depreciation experienced on new cars.
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