Mk D1 For Escort

The Escort may have been conventional where the 1100 was daring but it offered comforting familiarity... and the reflected glory of the RS and Mexico models.

- Simon Woolley

Pity the poor 1100 — when the first-generation of Escort was announced to the public in January 1968, it must have scurried back into the BMC dealership and hidden under a Landcrab.

At first glance, technically the 1100 Escort was nothing to get excited about compared with the Austin or Morris-badged 1100. A traditional rear-wheel-drive layout, with front MacPherson struts (and drum brakes on early models) and rear leaf springs and live axle — the same then as the Anglia 105E it replaced. But the apparently simple design did see a number of engineering advancements for Ford of England — the first of their production cars to get rack-and-pinion steering, a clever front compression strut treatment on very early cars, and a better understanding of monocoque design meant it was actually lighter than the Anglia, despite being bigger.

So why should the more advanced 1100 have been worried? It was still Britain’s best-selling car after all. Simple: price and dependability. The Escort was cheaper and its comparatively simple mechanics meant it was more reliable and cheaper to run. And it was great fun to drive, with predictable handling and a superb gearbox, even on the cooking 1100.