Ford estate appreciation

Always lusted after one of these, I imagine collectors have snapped them all up and probably hard to find a good one now.

I think if you are going to lust after knackered old estate cars it should be ones that create images of driving through the fjords with a lithe blond called Anneka, rather than sitting in a car park in Braintree with a spotty girl called Cheryl and a cold bag of chips.

This would have been good

https://images.app.goo.gl/MAp5Hs6RHHchrVdr7

My old man used to have a 1.6 Cortina estate in a beige colour. It was definitely a family workhorse that IIRC was pretty reliable.

It would have looked like this.

My first company car was a sierra estate in 1989. A black 1.8GL. I thought it was the dogs and I loved it. Grey velour seats that were like arm chairs, rear wheel drive and modern (for the time) styling. It was black and my mates used to call it the hearse!

Was hoping for some sexy souped up RS wagon conversions to look at but got retro junk in NHS hearing aid colours instead.

So disappoint

I had a 1.8 Sierra Chassuer estate as a company car. It was pretty decent, reliable, comfortable. Got the front bumper ripped on in France my a Citroen Mehari as I pulled too far out of a road side parking slot.

That one in the OP, not the best example I suspect.

My mates dad had a Sierra Chasseur we nicknamed it the Chicken.

probably hard to find a good one now

If the best pic you can muster for your object of lust is of a beige-ish model with a missing wheel trim and a stoved in back window I suspect you’re right.

Bit spendy, but near perfect bike car…

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201910153328545?onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&body-type=Estate&postcode=sn169ux&model=SIERRA&advertising-location=at_cars&sort=relevance&make=FORD&radius=1500&page=1

I’ve seen some great rs escort van conversions but never an estate.we had a family Cortinna I drove sometimes and it was a great estate car.

RS estate

If the best pic you can muster for your object of lust is of a beige-ish model with a missing wheel trim and a stoved in back window I suspect you’re right.

Figured it was best to keep it authentic. Let’s face it, how often did you see one with all four wheel trims in place?

[oldmanstuff] around 1979 working as a student for British Steel we had a Cortina Estate so we could take our portable computer out into the plant…it was about the size of a washing machine….

around 1981 had this (Ford Anglia) not sure what engine was but wasn’t the original…lucky to survive

A gold cortina saloon passed me in the street the other day, it didn’t look as bad as I remembered. In fact i’d go as far as saying it had some ‘interesting lines’.

But what really struck me was how small they are next to the average modern car.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223965044041

🤢

I had a Mondeo ST TDCI estate for 9 years. Great car, never missed a beat or let me down.

We had a Silver Sierra Estate 2.0 GL when they came out, then a Chicken chasseur after that. Good cars.

Now a Sierre estate is not fundamentally a bad car, but could you have picked an uglier example?

I’ll have one in full Sapphire Cosworth spec please.

I did old Ford’s when they were cheap crap and lots of fun. They were big educational toys that were passed around for small sums of money. As much as I’d love an Escort for sunny Sundays it’s an outrageous sum of money now.

My first job was engineer in a plant bakery with 2 bakeries 9 miles apart, the usual transport was a MK3 Escort van but we also had a 2.0L MK5 GLX Cortina Estate much modified including a LSD by the bakery owner who was a bloody good rally driver in the 70’s & 80’s. He then carried on his winning ways in the Historic championships
David Stokes
Death of David Stokes
As a 21 year old it was like a rocket ship as at the time I had a 1.6 Avenger estate!

Much like this

First car I got to drive was a racy two door Escort estate – loved it!

Something like this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Ford_Escort_MkIV_Estate_arriving_Schaffen-Diest_2018.jpg

I have always wanted a mk3 escort estate for some reason. The 3 door estate was essentially a van with back windows but always liked them. Probably not helped by mk1 and mk2 escort prices climbing!

I do love a good estate to be fair!

My first car was a 1984 Sierra 2.0 Ghia estate auto in White. Didn’t have alloys, and wasn’t fuel injected. Really nice car compared to the dirge of Vauxhalls I had after.

Some c**t smashed into the front of it while it was parked in the street and wrote it off.

Ahhh fond memories. I parked my red Escort 3dr mark 4 estate in the back of a Sierra estate writing off both of them in the process.

I was 17 or 18 and trying to see how fast I could go over a humpback bridge (as you do). I hadn’t counted on someone stopping the other side of the bridge to let someone turn into a left turn.

As a sailed over the bridge think how amazing I was and a driving god the world went into slow motion. I saw the stationary Sierras back end and knew there was no hope.

Was a good car, RIP little Scort

Mondeo was easily the best bike carrying estate I’ve had. I’d have another just for that reason when my Passat dies. About as much enthusiasm as I can muster for cars really.

Mine were both more modern, a mk1.5 Focus 1.8 tddi LX- the most basic focus there ever was I think but it was great for me as a first car, and ridiculously big in the back. Replaced that with a mk3 mondeo 2.2 ghia x, which was ace- a bit shabby but that was perfect for me, and though it wasn’t as effective a user of space as the focus it could still pretty much fit anything you wanted in the back. Wrote that one off 🙁 Both just brilliant at what they did.

My grandad had a green mk5 cortina saloon which had a V6 swapped into it, awesome car, even if it was 99% isopon by the time he was done with it. I’d love a big old rwd estate like that. This one’s a bit of a nail but teh wheels…

https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/91257490_3664045726943537_238347316010942464_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=3b2858&_nc_ohc=cEY96teplzYAX_KOpEd&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=bb31c922dd2ab13f03a4cc7c114a01cc&oe=5EB74E2E

They weren’t very good cars when newish. I had an 89 Sapphire 1.8gl in 92. The interior was crap. The gearbox/clutch was also a bit shit.
I imagine one to be awful now.

It performed ok didn’t rust and was reliable but the 83 Datsun I’d had previously was more modern, had a better gearbox/engine. It was just worn out and rusty with double the mileage (140000ish), which was loads then.

Couple of my pals had Escort estates when we were 17.

They had limited street cred at the time, but I always liked the proportions and they were not uncomfortable or particularly unreliable.

Had three Ford estates (all petrols)

1989 Sierra 1.6 L – F806VWP : aka Rust-bucket [1]. Had the business pack (or something similar, basically centrally locking and a manual sunroof). Bought at 99.5k miles and finally went to the scrappies with 312.5k miles, still have number plate, camshaft and valves in the shed.

1999 Focus 1.8 Zetec – V714FKH : aka Rust-bucket2. Bought off my boss at 47k miles, went to scrappies at 224k miles, though was still running six month’s later – someone tripped a speed camera.

2005 Mondeo 2.0 Titanium – EO55NWU : aka Bertha. Absolutely stunning car, bought at 43k miles, and then sold at 72k miles, only because I got a shiny brand new company car. Otherwise would have been kept until it dropped like the previous two. Still running somewhere.

[1] With hindsight, a silly name, didn’t have a spot of rust on it until ~300k when the fuel tank picked up a hole, could only fill it to 3/4 of tank after that – had a very small oil leak that kept the underside sealed.

ST TDCI wagon here.
Cracking car.

Had a 1.8 petrol Mk1 Focus Estate and a Mk3 Mondeo 130 TDCi. Both ace cars, very reliable and cheap as chips to fix.

I had an o2 plate TDCi 130. Huuuuuge boot but totally ****; turbo, DMF and several injectors. It would sometimes struggle to do the speed limit and then all of sudden belch out black smoke like a Dreadnought laying down smoke and shoot off like a scalded cat. I weighed it in and bought a 3 Series estate.

I don’t miss my 02 Mosndeo TDDi estate for the engine woes, but the spade, comfort and handling were very good.

I do regret selling the Focus mk1 1.8 TDDi estate, it went well, handled great, swallowed bikes, was reliable and good on fuel.

Was insured on Dads 2.8 4×4 ghia estate on the day I passed my test at 17 and 3 months. Got into surprisingly little trouble considering it’s abilities (compared to mine). Once drove back from Heathrow one Sunday morning not sparing any horses, the only other car that passed me was a 635csi. Was a great car, didn’t fully appreciate it at the time.

Downside with it was it got stolen many times.

Had a ’94 L reg Mk1 Mondeo estate as a workhorse many years ago, 1.8td it was a cavernous thing inside had massive bootspace. Had nearly 200k on the clocks was covered in dents and gaffer tape as they all were back then. Great car!

I loved my 2003 Focus estate, had a proper estate back end unlike more modern versions.

As for the OP’s picture, I’m not sure which receptacle I’d poo in.