History
My first car, purchased in 1995 at age 16 for $2800 was a 1978 Ford Escort 2.0 Ghia in lustrous golden brown with a cream vinyl roof. It was by no means my dream car. At the time, I had my eyes on various examples of the… wait for it…….. Ford KB Laser S Pack twin carb (!!) – the two door version with the chequerboard seat trim and alloy wheels. I had no more than $5000 to spend and at that time the Lasers were selling in the range of $6000-8000 – big money for a teenager earning $6 per hour at a garden shop! I remember being mortified when I offered $5000 for a gleaming red Laser S (with cheap pop up sunroof – which I thought was the ants pants!) that was selling at a local dealer with $6990 on the windscreen and being turned away. It only added insult to injury when a lad up the street from me bought it and I spent the next year seeing it regularly drive past…..
Anyway, Dad talked me into the Escort, much as it wasn’t quite what I had in mind. It seemed so old and daggy compared to the Lasers (!!) It didn’t have airconditioning and was only a four speed with a single carb motor for heavens sake! Things didn’t get off to a good start when it turned out to have bad rust in the firewall that caused your feet to get wet even when using the windshield washers – the water drained straight into the cabin! Dad organised to have the motor pulled out and have this welded up. We also fitted air-conditioning, using an under-dash unit that sat in place of the glovebox. This placement rendered the front passengers knees blue with cold whilst other passengers complained they were a bit warm…. A favourite memory was filling the car with people and camping gear and heading to a mates farm late one Friday night for a weekend. I’d fitted Hella driving lights and they transformed vision on dark country roads. In time the Escort grew on me… it was a ripper little car and probably better than any Laser – plenty of grunt from the 2 litre motor, strong and simple rear wheel drive chassis, slick gearbox, sharp steering, big boot and comfortable on a longer distance trip. I sold the Escort in 1999 and even made a slight profit (selling for $3500); sadly the new owner wrote it off soon after.
I can’t remember the last time I saw a KB Laser S – they seem to have all disappeared from the road, whereas the Escorts continue to have a cult following. It is interesting to see similar cars now advertised at $10,000 or above…. Seems they are becoming very collectible. More generally, it is also interesting to see what $5000 will buy today!! I now drive an 1999 E39 5 series, a car worth $5000 at most but equipped with multiple safety and comfort features ….. certainly you get more for your money in real terms. Then again, I guess buying late nineties vehicle as a first car in 2016 is not dissimilar to buying a late 70’s vehicle as a first car in the 1990’s…….!
Modifications
Airconditioning, sports exhaust
