Ford Escort 1.6 convertible

...currently drive a purple R-Reg Ford Escort Calypso Cabriolet. Just to clear this up at the outset, I am not and never have been a hairdresser.

On hot summer days like this, there is nothing better than the joys of open-top motoring. Even commuting to work on the M4 or being stuck in a jam on the North Circular are enjoyable if you have the wind in your hair or can at least feel the rays of sun on your face ane arms.

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...took it in to a Ford main dealer. The car sat there waiting to be looked at all day and they tried to charge me £30 for telling me that the roof wasn't working and the car would need to come back for further investigation. I told them where to stick their bill and tried the DIY approach - a can of Ford gunk into the hydraulic reservoir with the aid of a kitchen funnel, and a couple of manual operations of the roof to clear the jam. It has worked ... more

I currently drive a purple R-Reg Ford Escort Calypso Cabriolet. Just to clear this up at the outset, I am not and never have been a hairdresser.

On hot summer days like this, there is nothing better than the joys of open-top motoring. Even commuting to work on the M4 or being stuck in a jam on the North Circular are enjoyable if you have the wind in your hair or can at least feel the rays of sun on your face ane arms.

I'm 6 foot 6, which limits my options for convertibles. I simply can't fit in some of the smaller 2-seater sports cars and most of the recently designed mainstream models such as the Megane Cabriolet have a thick chunk of metal at the top of the windshield to protect the driver's head in the event of the car rolling, which effects the visibility of the taller driver, leaving him permanently hunched behind the wheel. The Escort Cabriolet avoids the need for this because it fulfills the same safety function with a bar in the middle of the car just above and behind the driver's head.

I won't go on about the standard features of the recently retired Escort, as most people are no doubt familiar with them, but it is a practical car with a reasonably performant engine - 1.6l - in this case.

The roof mechanism eats into the boot space, but there is still plenty of room for luggage and the like. There is also a through-load capacity, but the load has to be a fairly odd shape to fit under the roof gubbins and hence benefit from it. Either the roof mechanism eats into the cabin space also or 2-door Escorts have lowsy rear legroom. Obviously compared to something like an MX-5 as an open-top option, the Escort has acres more luggage space and infinitely better rear legroom!

The electric roof mechanism is great. Once you get used to having to turn the engine off to do it (a safety feature - operating the roof while driving along would be very bad news as it sweeps up into the air), opening a closing the roof is child's play. It can easily be done from the driver's seat while driving alone, as long as the driver has reasonably long arms. Sitting there opening and closing it until you flatten the battery, just because you can, is tempting.

My roof jammed at one stage. I took it in to a Ford main dealer. The car sat there waiting to be looked at all day and they tried to charge me £30 for telling me that the roof wasn't working and the car would need to come back for further investigation. I told them where to stick their bill and tried the DIY approach - a can of Ford gunk into the hydraulic reservoir with the aid of a kitchen funnel, and a couple of manual operations of the roof to clear the jam. It has worked faultlessly since. I don't think I will attempt to use a Ford main dealer again.

You can throw the Escort round corners well. The strut welded across the engine bay fitted as standard in the Cabriolet version gives back any stability lost by the lack of a lid. The fact that you feel like you're going faster with the roof down adds to the sporty driving feel.

There is always a demand for cabrioloets - especially in the Spring and Summer - so resale shouldn't be a problem, and they keep their value better than their their hard-topped siblings.

All in all, I'm happy with the car - especially in the summertime.
 

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