my new ride, and a story so far!

[lynz]

well i finally got the keys to my first cat last night and i love it! here he is

if you look carefully, you will see my old probe ("the hoff") in the background - hes leaving next week. here he is in happier times

before i got the probe, my daily driver was a wee VW polo which, although not a ford, was a great car and never let me down. i still have it in my lock up as its not worth much in cash, but i went all round the uk in it and im just a sentimental old fool!

heres my cabs - the blue one, although having had a mk4 conversion (not by me) is an 1983 mk3 and ive owned it almos 3 years. the silver cab was my first car and ive owned it nearly 8 years, although its not been on the road since 2002 and is my resto project.

there is now ALOT more bling under the bonnet, euro-spec front driving lights, in-dash dvd player/screen and visor screens. ive taken out the mint 90-spec recaros and bubble wrapped them as this year im fitting bucket seats for a change. im also currently fitting genuine RS front and rear lower bumper spoilers, new genuine rs bonnet, 2 mutant subs, 1400w pyle amp and getting some new rims too. if cash allows, id like to fit twin webers, but i think thats going to have to wait till next year it will be going into the bodyshop for a blow over as theres a few scratches needing seen to - i just hope i get all this done b4 the show season starts!

1985 escort cab - in lots of pieces just now...this is about the only pic i have of it relatively complete! lol!

1983 xr3i - i rescued this from someones garden, fixed it up and got it motd...then never drove it due to insurance costs owned for 5 years, i wish id never sold it as it was completely original but unfortunately after sitting in dry storage for years the rust still got at it and i figured it was time to let someone else have a turn.

i also had a mk2 orion and a vectra over the past 8 years, but they didnt last long enough to have any photos of!

hope you like some of the above!

 

[jamie_duff]

I like the Mk3 Series 1 Escorts 8)

 

[RichK]

Nice collection of Fords.
I had a mk4 think it was, 1986 XR3i cabrio, great liitle car.
Only thing i thought was strange was that it was 16 years old when i bought it and i was the 14th owner :? assume folk buy them for the summer then get bored and sell them.
Wife had the roof down a few times then said it messed her hair up :roll:
One thing she made me do was take the grasphics of from the sides that read TOPLESS after she had one too many remarks from passerbys
Enjoy the Cougar.

Rich

 

[jamie_duff]

I'm no expert on Escorts - but I thought that the white and red ones shown here were the Mk3 S1, then the rounded headlight facelift which would have been around 1986/87? was the Mk3 S2, and it wasn't until the next bodyshape in 1990?? (H-reg?) that the Mk4 appeared? :?:

 

[RichK]

Sure mine was a Mk4, think Mk4's were 1986-90 and Mk5 from 1990 onwards.
Just know mine was first registered in 1986 but was on a C plate so think someone put it on as a private plate at some time.
It should have been D or E plate

 

[ginja]

I'm no expert on Escorts - but I thought that the white and red ones shown here were the Mk3 S1, then the rounded headlight facelift which would have been around 1986/87? was the Mk3 S2, and it wasn't until the next bodyshape in 1990?? (H-reg?) that the Mk4 appeared? :?:

I am an expert
MK3 [S1] was from 1980 to 86 Mk4 [S2] from 86 to 90/91 then the Mk5 91 to 93/94 then Mk5(B) "Oval Grill" 94 to 96/97 then Mk6 "Smiley grill" 97 to about 2003 or when ever production stopped

Mk3 :arrow: W to C reg
Mk4 :arrow: C to H reg
MK5 :arrow: H to L reg
Mk5 (B) :arrow: L reg to P reg
Mk6 :arrow: P to 03 reg (i think) :?

 

[jamie_duff]

I see - thanks Matt 8)

Rich, I stand corrected

 

[lynz]

I'm no expert on Escorts - but I thought that the white and red ones shown here were the Mk3 S1, then the rounded headlight facelift which would have been around 1986/87? was the Mk3 S2, and it wasn't until the next bodyshape in 1990?? (H-reg?) that the Mk4 appeared? :?:

I am an expert
MK3 [S1] was from 1980 to 86 Mk4 [S2] from 86 to 90/91 then the Mk5 91 to 93/94 then Mk5(B) "Oval Grill" 94 to 96/97 then Mk6 "Smiley grill" 97 to about 2003 or when ever production stopped

Mk3 :arrow: W to C reg
Mk4 :arrow: C to H reg
MK5 :arrow: H to L reg
Mk5 (B) :arrow: L reg to P reg
Mk6 :arrow: P to 03 reg (i think) :?

just to add to ginjas synopsis, S1 is referring to the Series 1 RS Turbo (mk3 shell), and S2 is to the Series 2 RS Turbo (mk4 shell). Outwith these, you had many varients such as XR3, XR3i and RS1600i (sporty), L, GL, Ghia etc (normal)........ they were the days when ford made great cars that rust fast

glad to hear you removed the graphics RichK - those "topless" ones just bring too many cheeky comments! as you say, most people buy them for the summer and sell them on when it starts to get chilly. they arent really winter cars, although i have used my silver one through one winter which wasnt much fun as it had a mohair hood which froze up and which took ages to defrost and kept the car feeling like an icebox!! the messy hair thing can be reduced with a wind deflector, but its more fun to shock people stepping out looking a troll thats been well shaken up!!

 

[M44TY O]

Nice selection of motors you got there!

 

[ginja]

I was searching for a cab on eBay a couple of months back, another car i allways promised myself :roll:

The Original "Turbo Nutter Bastard" as driven by Loadsamoney

LYNz how many cars you got then? Looks like about 4 i wish i could have kept some of my old motors but it wasn't gona happen.

Was looking at a Street-ka with a hard top & a Luxury Ka in silver (comes with black leather seats & AC) just as a run-about project car.

 

[M44TY O]

a Luxury Ka in silver (comes with black leather seats & AC) just as a run-about project car.

My mrs has one of those in black, not a bad motor but a bit slow. Probably because i'm use to an engine almost twice as big :roll:

 

[ginja]

a Luxury Ka in silver (comes with black leather seats & AC) just as a run-about project car.

My mrs has one of those in black, not a bad motor but a bit slow. Probably because i'm use to an engine almost twice as big :roll:

Liked Ka's since they came out, but the salesman talked me out of buying one, turns out now they are classed as the "New Mini" in the styling circles, it has that presence like when the original Mini came along in the 60's
Will have one .... one day!

 

[lynz]

my stable has 5 cars just now, but when the probe goes next week ill be back to 4 again.

getting a good cab can be hard, but anyone wanting one for the summer really needs to get one now, as as soon the sun starts to shine you can easily pay 4 or 5 times more! like most cars, if you take your time and look around theres still plenty of good ones around and parts availabilty is pretty good - although new door seals are rare and expensive they are easy to work on, and if you want more power theres plenty of options available. the streetka is fun, but not the most practical car as its only got 2 seats and a tiny boot. if your wanting a 2 seater id prob recommend getting an mx5 or similar. the escort ones were good as you still had a 4/5 seater car with a reasonable boot, plus the back seats fold down so it can be practical as well as fun. the other benefit is that they were built in germany, unlike most of the mk3/4 escorts, so benefited from slightly better quality metalwork...they still rot fast though if not looked after :evil: however, if you want a real treat, try finding a crayford or carbodies convertible - theres not many, but if you look hard enough you will find one. these companies used cortinas, capris and fiestas so you can be old skool and topless at the same time!

 

[ginja]

cheers for that, but if you look at my own thread you will see why I want an Escort Cab, i'm the original "boy Racer" and there aint a better car for cruising the streets in than a slammed escort cabrio
http://www.ukcougarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=15668

Luckily nowadays the pond-scum have stopped cutting holes in the roof's and trashing them so yeah there are some good examples out there. Would even go for a white one (The one I was looking at was white with a burgundy hood)

Its just lack of funds as usual and space to store it. i'm not after space I've got the Cougar for that
my boss at work has a BMW cab in his garage so i'm gona see what that looks like, he maybe moving it on soon :idea:

 

[lynz]

spotted your thread as soon as i had replied to this one - im impressed with your past rides thats for sure! im a pure cabby nut and always keen to encourage peeps to get one for some summer fun........sawwweeeeeee if i came over a little over enthusiastic

 

[ginja]

spotted your thread as soon as i had replied to this one - im impressed with your past rides thats for sure! im a pure cabby nut and always keen to encourage peeps to get one for some summer fun........sawwweeeeeee if i came over a little over enthusiastic

No i understood where you were coming from mate. Cabs are great, I just could not afford the insurance to buy a Cab or an Xr3i back in the day (I live in Birmingham) and the RS Turbo...well the insurance company would have just laughed at me. Now though i'm older and have lots of NCB (one reason why i'm driving a V6 Cougar2) so its time to relive my youth and get the car i allways wanted....thing is wanted a Lotus Esprit once too

 

[lynz]

i sooo know where your coming from - the silver cab was my first car and the first half dozen insurance companies i called just laughed as when i was asked how long id held my license for, and replied "about 10 mins"!!!! eventually managed to get a company that would cover me, but premiums were horrendous. however, i decided to work extra so i could afford to have it as my mates were all in novas or their parents cars and were jealous as hell!

i could only get a cougar now, as although ive always liked them i could never afford to buy and insure one til now......the one good thing about getting old i guess!

 

[ginja]

i sooo know where your coming from - the silver cab was my first car and the first half dozen insurance companies i called just laughed as when i was asked how long id held my license for, and replied "about 10 mins"!!!! eventually managed to get a company that would cover me, but premiums were horrendous. however, i decided to work extra so i could afford to have it as my mates were all in novas or their parents cars and were jealous as hell!

i could only get a cougar now, as although ive always liked them i could never afford to buy and insure one til now......the one good thing about getting old i guess!

got a 6month policy for that 1st escort it was almost as much as i'd paid for the car @ ?ú1000 luckily the insurance is a more reasonable ?ú400+ for the cougar, I worked at pubs which aint good for a start. Times change and we grow up, but I could never drive a standard car.....even if it was a supercar i'd want to modify it you ever seen the Konig Specials Twin turbo Ferrari 360? it has 800bhp 8)

 

[lynz]

800bhp?? that would defo be a "clean underwear please" ride then!! ive not seen it, but off to google it now! modding is fun as its nice to stand out from the crowd - i really like the totally bland looking street sleepers though as its fun to watch the corsa boys getting blown away!

 

[ginja]

800bhp?? that would defo be a "clean underwear please" ride then!! ive not seen it, but off to google it now! modding is fun as its nice to stand out from the crowd - i really like the totally bland looking street sleepers though as its fun to watch the corsa boys getting blown away!

http://www.koenig-specials.com/

Its only 700bhp but you can imagine thats enough