Everybody take note that the auto industry used a different system to determine fuel economy in the 1970s and 1980s.That is why the numbers were higher back then,fuel numbers are a little closer to reality today.
My first car was an 87 escort wagon and it did very well when I first got it. It kept right around 40-45 mpg too. That's one thing about it I do miss. Not many things else, though. It did take a beating though.
The car in the video is identical to my first diesel Ford Escort. I've owned two. I delivered pizza in my 84 in 89. It NEVER got worse that 36MPG with me driving like a madman. It once got 57MPG on a gentle highway trip. The 84 I owned 05-09 would consistently get 46 MPG (vegetable oil or diesel fuel) which is impressive for a 25 year old worn out car with 225K miles and a leaky injection pump. The rust did it in but the new owner fixed it in days. Both cars could get some 2nd gear rubber.
@TheDieselMiata I would love a Diesel Escort or Lynx, I have a fleet of the Escort based Ford EXP and Mercury LN7's and one of those on Diesel would be neat!
@markmarshall39 Gas mileage hasn't realy gotten worse. Engines are BIGGER with MORE horsepower! Remember a old ESCORT had about 75HP where todays 4 cylinder engines make from about 115 to 200HP. My 20120 NISSAN SENTRA makes about 140HP and gets about 37MPG Hiway......so todays cars have MORE power with good MPG.
@455Transam They did have less HP but a escort rated at 32 city and 42 highway for a 1.9L 90hp engine in 1987 is pretty impressive considering todays cars dont get that even with a technological advantage of 23 years?? I just makes you wonder thats all? Take care.
I grew up in Boston and remember the New England Ford branding commercials used to ring on the radio and TV over and over again. It turned out to be the best selling brand of all time in New England. Great memories!
the euro escort was better. They were supposed to share the same design, but the US branch decided to to their own thing after the shell was desgined.
because, my dad picked up the back seat, and a bloody mouse jumped out at me, it was a p.o.s. then i cut my arm on the rusty door (no blood poisening) so now i have a scar.
I am 30, and when I first started driving, damn near EVERYBODY my age drove a late 80's model Escort. It was the "starter" car of my generation. Nestalgic commercial.
oh god the sad thing is is that i have an 84 escort and it looks exactly like the one in the commercial but with a bunch of decals.still runs great though despite it having a loud ass muffler only 53,000 miles on it, grandpa owned it never went anywhere he passed on mine now, cars older than me, i love my old loud ass escort:)
fe estimate is with 1.3liter engine without power steering and a/c. man trans. 56 is high i say 46 maybe. good car strut towers made of kleenex tissue paper though.
It's true that EPA estimation techniques have changed, but cars back then had so much less crap on them. With all the emissions bullshit that is on a car today, the power, mileage, and repairability of cars is terrible. Cars today are disposable.
Naaaa - not really. The issue with the Escort was that it was cheap to buy, and it ended up in the hands of a LOT of people who didn't take care of their car - and a lot of people who just plain beat the snot out of their cars. If you took care of it, and faithfully replaced the timing belt, they would give good service.
Anyone else remember the Diesel Escort? If so, what was the real-world fuel economy? I know the EPS estimate could be looked up, but it would be fake.
I owned a 1986 Chevy Sprint and we clocked it at 60mpg on the highway. I remeber those early Escorts. I don't know about 56mpg, but it deffinatley got over 40mpg.
No guys would be shocked. I was reading an article about fuel economy 15yrs. ago versus cars today. Fuel economy has DECREASED on average! Shocking isn't it, since we all think technology improves things. The fact is that technology has improved, but with all the added gizmos and electronics, in addition to increased size in cars, fuel economy has decreased. I still think it's sick though that the '84 Escort gets 56mpg hwy meanwhile my '97 only gets 34. That seems so...wrong.
My parents bought one new in 1981. I know it didn't get 56 mpg. My father bought a Toyota Tercel in '89 and he said that was the most fuel efficient car he has ever owned (35 mpg highway). I drove that one. And the Tercel had a smaller engine too.
Its intresting that you say that. My father owned a Mercury Lynx which is the same car as the Escort. I think it was an 83 or something early 80's I know. It made 50mpg out on Kansas highways. But his was manual not automatic which saves you more on gas.
My '97 wagon averaged 35mpg on a recent trip to FL. That was with 2 passengers and 2 suitcases in the trunk. I'd assume it would get 1 or 2mpg better with just me and no luggage. I think it was the Civic VX of the early 90's got over 50mpg highway. The new Civic hybrid can't claim that! Up until a few years ago, the EPA highway MPG for a Grand Marquis was 17/25. I just looked at a new one and it's 15/23 now. It's true, fuel economy has DECREASED!
In the early 80s and late 70s they tried to make cars more efficient without changing it much, so they basically gutted the cars and left them with bare necessities, so on a good day a V8 could get 30 on the highway, a '94 grand marquis can get around 26 hwy, and in the 80s the bare necessity cars got more milage.
@mastazuki91 it was very likely impossible to get those mileage figures. that said, those cars were so light, they often got better mileage than todays economy cars.
@mastazuki91 56 mpg does seem high my 87 turbo sprint with a 1.0 ltr got about 38 in city and 50 on the hgwy and ran 16.0 flat not bad for a 3 cylinder this Escort has Prius numbers small print does say it all though ford got those numbers as their best now CAFE regs are tighter...... and why do we still pay for gas with 9/10 of a cent????
@455Transam I agree, 38 was the magic number with the Escorts, Lynx's and EXP's and LN7's, it was possible to get higher but you really really had to fight for it, the highest i ever heard was 61 by a member of my club, but he used every hypermile technique in the book... and was probably going downhill... lol
But...in the 80s, the way they rated it was different, they measured it at lower highway speeds. Cars were also lighter back then because there were fewer safety features. And it probably had almost no power.
But...in the 80s, the way they rated it was different, they measured it at lower highway speeds. Cars were also lighter back then because there were fewer safety features. And it probably had almost no power.
@mastazuki91 Because the auto makers and the oil conglomerates are working together to make sure we either pay top dollar for gasoline, or top dollar for cars...or nowadays, both...
@mastazuki91 - It was a "Pony" edition, which means it has vinyl-backed seats and a lot more plastic and no a/c as well as thinner tires and a front under-car air dam. They regularly got over 40mpg.
@mastazuki91 compacts with 3-4 cylinder engines making 40-80hp can get amazing milage, just don't try to accelerate going up any kind of hill or mound.
Comment removed
jason123456789210 4 months ago
@jason123456789210 was yours an 84?
jakesaintsrow123 1 month ago
@jakesaintsrow123 was made near st thomas but not at st thomas it was a 90
jason123456789210 1 month ago
This car appeared in the Sims series.
:D
Ragref 4 months ago
37mpg, 37 horsepower
tremer88 4 months ago
I had an 83 Escort. Great milage but NO power whatsoever. 0 to 60 in 17 seconds XD
TLow72 7 months ago
They had horrible hp numbers and were very slow. 80hp or something close.
CarpathianCarl 7 months ago
The Euro Escort is sooooooooooooo much better than the American one. Lol.
GM572 8 months ago
Wow, hard to believe these cars were actually new at one time!
johntuohy 11 months ago
Everybody take note that the auto industry used a different system to determine fuel economy in the 1970s and 1980s.That is why the numbers were higher back then,fuel numbers are a little closer to reality today.
JohnnyTyrone77 11 months ago
well i can say my 1990 LX gets about 30mpg city and roughly 42 highway
stangowner8687 1 year ago
56 miles a gallon hiway? thats obsurd, thats better than a prius. i love these old car commericals
FuckinCrazyness 1 year ago
My first car was an 87 escort wagon and it did very well when I first got it. It kept right around 40-45 mpg too. That's one thing about it I do miss. Not many things else, though. It did take a beating though.
jmarcum72 1 year ago
The car in the video is identical to my first diesel Ford Escort. I've owned two. I delivered pizza in my 84 in 89. It NEVER got worse that 36MPG with me driving like a madman. It once got 57MPG on a gentle highway trip. The 84 I owned 05-09 would consistently get 46 MPG (vegetable oil or diesel fuel) which is impressive for a 25 year old worn out car with 225K miles and a leaky injection pump. The rust did it in but the new owner fixed it in days. Both cars could get some 2nd gear rubber.
TheDieselMiata 1 year ago
@TheDieselMiata I would love a Diesel Escort or Lynx, I have a fleet of the Escort based Ford EXP and Mercury LN7's and one of those on Diesel would be neat!
QuanticChaos1000 1 year ago
Comment removed
jakesaintsrow123 1 year ago
totaly agree, gas mileage has goten worse!
markmarshall39 1 year ago
@markmarshall39 Gas mileage hasn't realy gotten worse. Engines are BIGGER with MORE horsepower! Remember a old ESCORT had about 75HP where todays 4 cylinder engines make from about 115 to 200HP. My 20120 NISSAN SENTRA makes about 140HP and gets about 37MPG Hiway......so todays cars have MORE power with good MPG.
455Transam 1 year ago
theres a problem with this advert
"the best selling car in the world"
at that time thats true BUT the UK ford escort was a car worth having and was justifiably the best selling car in the world.
ITW84 1 year ago
I used to own one, why is it cars in the 80s got better mileage than today's cars? makes you wonder doesnt it? hmmmmmmmmmmm???
patriot0048 1 year ago
@patriot0048 Smaller engines much less horspower. Better today with GOOD Mpg and more power.
455Transam 1 year ago
@455Transam They did have less HP but a escort rated at 32 city and 42 highway for a 1.9L 90hp engine in 1987 is pretty impressive considering todays cars dont get that even with a technological advantage of 23 years?? I just makes you wonder thats all? Take care.
patriot0048 1 year ago
Looks like a cute car to me.
MattTheSaiyan 1 year ago
Comment removed
jakesaintsrow123 9 months ago
Bill Dauterive's car!
talldude123 1 year ago
.259
pisixtht 1 year ago
I grew up in Boston and remember the New England Ford branding commercials used to ring on the radio and TV over and over again. It turned out to be the best selling brand of all time in New England. Great memories!
markjwil 1 year ago
i have a 1977 buick and i love it
iwannabeit 1 year ago
Lol, check out the european MK3 Escort from early 80's ('83 to 85). Way better looking than this one sold on USA.
sandstormrs 1 year ago
56 mpg? Really?
firstmusic00 2 years ago
the euro escort was better. They were supposed to share the same design, but the US branch decided to to their own thing after the shell was desgined.
richardmaudsley77 2 years ago
Did these have the Mazda 323 engines in them like ones in Australia did
910364 2 years ago
the escort in the early 90's yes but not the one before and I dont know aboutt he one after. I have a ford escort gt 91
braceo624 2 years ago
Pure junk
schlongtip 2 years ago
They stopped calling it the Escort because the word entered popular culture as another name for a prostitute.
Silvertrine 2 years ago
We had a two of them, a 3 door and a wagon. both had cracked heads by 80k
ducatinova 2 years ago
That is true! It was a popular pizza delivery car! No wonder we never had hot pizza at home! LOL
sgtpatiolantern 2 years ago 6
LMAO be thankful the pizza even made it to your house if that was being driven
averagejustin 2 years ago
wow 56 highway must be a diesel
DamnStraightM35A2 2 years ago
Not really, my gasoline 87 gets 58, it just doesn't have power steering or air conditioning or any feature other than a roof and wheels.
LiquidSquallz 2 years ago
Holy cow 56 mpg on the highway...bring this car back!!
I believe that best selling car in the world thing...even the Pope drove one lol
thewillofthe313 3 years ago 2
yea we had a 86 escort. we put 500,000 miles on that car.....yes 500,000 miles. and it still ran great, but the cancer took her from us..lol
Bkrites 3 years ago
wow thats allot of miles man they were great cars and still are
jakesaintsrow123 3 years ago
That was my brothers first car, back in 2002, and that car scarred me.
1996BuickRiviera 3 years ago
how come?
averagejustin 2 years ago
because, my dad picked up the back seat, and a bloody mouse jumped out at me, it was a p.o.s. then i cut my arm on the rusty door (no blood poisening) so now i have a scar.
1996BuickRiviera 2 years ago
that sux how long did it last? i'm guessing not long
averagejustin 2 years ago
i love badass scars.
PlayDohz06 2 years ago
Well I had an 82 mercury lynx, (the exact same thing as an escort) and could swear mine was getting 42 mpg highway, but I could be wrong...
Feterlj 3 years ago
Ah, my favorite car. :) I especially like it in medium blue metallic with a medium wedgewood blue interior.
bobcatvillager 3 years ago
That was the color of my Lynx, although later on I painted it a darker blue with black on the bottom and hood and gold trim...
Feterlj 3 years ago
I am 30, and when I first started driving, damn near EVERYBODY my age drove a late 80's model Escort. It was the "starter" car of my generation. Nestalgic commercial.
Borgata44 3 years ago
Haha! Same here. Still, it was either an Escort, Tempo, Cavalier, or Celica.
greatbison 3 years ago
Pizza delivery car of the 80s and 90s!
Lumotaku 2 years ago 13
And now its the sunfire lol. Wierd how its always 1 car.
PlayDohz06 2 years ago
56 MPG Highway? That is a damn lie.
jriley1992 3 years ago
You're just a one-note moron, aintcha?
agenttorpor 3 years ago 2
Downhill...They just didnt say that.
PlayDohz06 2 years ago
oh god the sad thing is is that i have an 84 escort and it looks exactly like the one in the commercial but with a bunch of decals.still runs great though despite it having a loud ass muffler only 53,000 miles on it, grandpa owned it never went anywhere he passed on mine now, cars older than me, i love my old loud ass escort:)
edactori 3 years ago
i was going to buy an 85 escort for $600, very low K, 1.6L manual.
talldude123 3 years ago
fe estimate is with 1.3liter engine without power steering and a/c. man trans. 56 is high i say 46 maybe. good car strut towers made of kleenex tissue paper though.
tokyofreaky 3 years ago
Not really high, I can hit 56 on average in my 87 escort, 386 miles with 6.9 gallons.
LiquidSquallz 3 years ago
It's true that EPA estimation techniques have changed, but cars back then had so much less crap on them. With all the emissions bullshit that is on a car today, the power, mileage, and repairability of cars is terrible. Cars today are disposable.
cardwellave 3 years ago
Is that a fisherman at :12 seconds ?
gjlma 3 years ago 2
The Escort used the fisherman as a secondary fuel supply and thus, 56 mpg was made possible. :-)
timm1960 2 years ago
@gjlma
lol looks like it :p
katryn3 1 year ago
Less "scheduled" maintenance lol!
robtos1 3 years ago
I got laid for the first time in a 1984 Ford Escort. The seats were comfortable. I felt like such a hot shot porn star in my bogus marroon machine.
newfport 3 years ago
Oh God the Escort was a POS
boorite 3 years ago
Naaaa - not really. The issue with the Escort was that it was cheap to buy, and it ended up in the hands of a LOT of people who didn't take care of their car - and a lot of people who just plain beat the snot out of their cars. If you took care of it, and faithfully replaced the timing belt, they would give good service.
Anyone else remember the Diesel Escort? If so, what was the real-world fuel economy? I know the EPS estimate could be looked up, but it would be fake.
thekidrocks72 3 years ago
@thekidrocks72 36mpg driving like a madman delivering pizza,
46 MPG all around (diesel of vegetable oil)
57 MPG on a gently highway drive
TheDieselMiata 1 year ago
Yes, a mini POS! :)
cmaninmn 3 years ago
I owned a 1986 Chevy Sprint and we clocked it at 60mpg on the highway. I remeber those early Escorts. I don't know about 56mpg, but it deffinatley got over 40mpg.
limboslam 3 years ago
No guys would be shocked. I was reading an article about fuel economy 15yrs. ago versus cars today. Fuel economy has DECREASED on average! Shocking isn't it, since we all think technology improves things. The fact is that technology has improved, but with all the added gizmos and electronics, in addition to increased size in cars, fuel economy has decreased. I still think it's sick though that the '84 Escort gets 56mpg hwy meanwhile my '97 only gets 34. That seems so...wrong.
palebeachbum 4 years ago
My parents bought one new in 1981. I know it didn't get 56 mpg. My father bought a Toyota Tercel in '89 and he said that was the most fuel efficient car he has ever owned (35 mpg highway). I drove that one. And the Tercel had a smaller engine too.
Luzern76 4 years ago
Its intresting that you say that. My father owned a Mercury Lynx which is the same car as the Escort. I think it was an 83 or something early 80's I know. It made 50mpg out on Kansas highways. But his was manual not automatic which saves you more on gas.
Mark7lincoln 4 years ago
Comment removed
jakesaintsrow123 1 year ago
It did not get 56 mpg. Maybe 32 at best. The EPA ratings were really jacked back then.
betchslap444 3 years ago
My '97 wagon averaged 35mpg on a recent trip to FL. That was with 2 passengers and 2 suitcases in the trunk. I'd assume it would get 1 or 2mpg better with just me and no luggage. I think it was the Civic VX of the early 90's got over 50mpg highway. The new Civic hybrid can't claim that! Up until a few years ago, the EPA highway MPG for a Grand Marquis was 17/25. I just looked at a new one and it's 15/23 now. It's true, fuel economy has DECREASED!
palebeachbum 3 years ago
The EPA estimates have been revamped for 2008. But 56 mpg??? That's impossible on an escort.
gm1990ss 3 years ago
Does that really get 56 hwy. If it does than y have the cars today only have 30 or 40.
WTF???
mastazuki91 4 years ago 4
I thought the same exact thing when i saw this first.
gjlma 4 years ago
I think 56mpg is a good example of false advertisement.
wildbill9919 4 years ago
I think they changed the way they calculated fuel economy since then, they used to routinely have ads for even V8's that said like 30mpg.
matthew11222 4 years ago
In the early 80s and late 70s they tried to make cars more efficient without changing it much, so they basically gutted the cars and left them with bare necessities, so on a good day a V8 could get 30 on the highway, a '94 grand marquis can get around 26 hwy, and in the 80s the bare necessity cars got more milage.
LiquidSquallz 4 years ago
@gjlma I had a 1987 ford escort, it got 63 on a really good day, but usually I only got 54.
LiquidSquallz 1 year ago
@LiquidSquallz I think you figured wrong....no way it got that many MPG.
I had two of them and MAYBE 40MPG on the Hiway at best.
455Transam 1 year ago
@mastazuki91 You might get 56 mpg if you drive the car downhill on the freeway whit a tailwind
siemenstraffic 1 year ago
@mastazuki91 it was very likely impossible to get those mileage figures. that said, those cars were so light, they often got better mileage than todays economy cars.
somewhatlongdong 1 year ago
@mastazuki91 56 mpg does seem high my 87 turbo sprint with a 1.0 ltr got about 38 in city and 50 on the hgwy and ran 16.0 flat not bad for a 3 cylinder this Escort has Prius numbers small print does say it all though ford got those numbers as their best now CAFE regs are tighter...... and why do we still pay for gas with 9/10 of a cent????
chromalusion 1 year ago
@mastazuki91 NO....the 37city and 56 Hiway was Bullshit....not even close.
I had one of these cars back then and I remember getting about 38MPG HIGHWAY pretty consistantly.....not bad MPG but nowhere near 50MPG!
I also had an 84 Ford EXP two seater and the mileage was similar.
455Transam 1 year ago
@455Transam I agree, 38 was the magic number with the Escorts, Lynx's and EXP's and LN7's, it was possible to get higher but you really really had to fight for it, the highest i ever heard was 61 by a member of my club, but he used every hypermile technique in the book... and was probably going downhill... lol
QuanticChaos1000 1 year ago
@mastazuki91 look at the disclaimer below, it actually states that the actual hwy mileage is lower.
mrtn822000 1 year ago
@mastazuki91 look at the disclaimer below, it actually states that the actual hwy mileage is lower.
mrtn822000 1 year ago
@mastazuki91 Gas mileage just hasn't improved at all. But we have neat cupholders all over the place now....
cochranexyz 11 months ago
@mastazuki91 I thought the same thing!
But...in the 80s, the way they rated it was different, they measured it at lower highway speeds. Cars were also lighter back then because there were fewer safety features. And it probably had almost no power.
Still, it's odd.
eisen8388 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@mastazuki91 I thought the same thing!
But...in the 80s, the way they rated it was different, they measured it at lower highway speeds. Cars were also lighter back then because there were fewer safety features. And it probably had almost no power.
Still, it's odd.
eisen8388 11 months ago
@mastazuki91 Because the auto makers and the oil conglomerates are working together to make sure we either pay top dollar for gasoline, or top dollar for cars...or nowadays, both...
FixFalcon 10 months ago 2
@mastazuki91 - It was a "Pony" edition, which means it has vinyl-backed seats and a lot more plastic and no a/c as well as thinner tires and a front under-car air dam. They regularly got over 40mpg.
standback7 9 months ago
@standback7 My ford does not get the same economy :(
gjlma 9 months ago
@gjlma is it a 2.0 liter diesel engine? Thsoe were the engines that got 55+ mpg. the regular gas engines did around 35mpg
SteelCity1981 5 months ago
@mastazuki91 compacts with 3-4 cylinder engines making 40-80hp can get amazing milage, just don't try to accelerate going up any kind of hill or mound.
iBookCT77 8 months ago