So much has been written about the great Ford Escort, launched in 1968, that we tend to forget a model bearing the same name produced a few years earlier.
This first Ford to bear the Escort name was a derivative of the Anglia - not the 1959 105E with the raked back rear window, but the earlier mid-50s more conventional model.
The most interesting point about the first Escort is that it may have been a derivative of the Anglia but was no mere saloon conversion.
Here was a stand-alone model which was an early expression of the modern utility estate such as the Citroen Berlingo.
Ford was not alone in producing such a vehicle - the Rootes Group was pitching in too with the Hillman Husky, based on the Minx.
The Escort met a growing demand for carrying capacity from small businesses or hobby fans.
This was strictly three doors, with the rear one split horizontally to avoid being categorised with the Thames 5cwt van.
In those days estates still had upper class pretensions and were actually used on country estates where Range Rovers rule today. Ford had not overlooked this and produced an upmarket version of the Escort called the Squire.
The Squire differed in being more expensive, being based on the better trimmed Prefect and having wooden strips stuck to the sides.
But the Escort was the Ford that made itself at home on the drives of middle-class Britain.
Escort sold 30,976 units compared with 15,952 for the Squire, although the Squire was discontinued in 1959, whereas the Escort soldiered on until 1961.
In 1955 an Escort would have cost you the equivalent of £619.96p in today's currency.
Although no Speedy Gonzales, the side valve-engined Escort would run on lower-grade petrol and would return around 35mpg.
However, it reputedly had one major drawback. Road test reports of the time complained that its bluff rear had a tendency to suck exhaust fumes along and it was always advisable to keep a through flow of air in the car.
I drove one a few times but can never remember this being a problem.
Rust was the major headache, however, and I once put my foot right through the corroded floor of an ageing Escort.
In its time, the Escort made a real statement - that estates were for everyone.
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