Used Car Buying Guide: Cheap Hot Hatches

The Escort XR3i will forever be an Essex boy-racer's banger; the RS models are something else altogether. The first of the front-wheel-drive Escorts to carry the RS (Rally Sport) badge, the 1984 Escort RS 1600 Turbo was a more serious driver's choice than the XR3i, with its sports suspension and limited-slip differential. It was a worthy successor to the rally-winning Mk 1 and Mk 2 Escort RS 1600, 1800 and 2000 models, and also marked the last of the Escort's glory days as a class-leading model. Mind you, even at the time it was not really a match for the Volkswagen Golf GTI (see separate page) but it was a much better-handling and more powerful car than the disappointing Vauxhall Astra GTE.

Sold to special order only from launch, the RS Turbo 1600 looked the business as well. Like the XR3i, it was hardly subtle, with a fully colour-coded exterior, spoilers, alloy wheels, foglamps and Recaro seats, and many were further tricked up to impress on a Saturday-night cruise. Official options came in the shape of the Custom pack, which comprised central locking, a sunroof and front electric windows (this was the mid-'80s, remember).

Ford revised the Escort slightly mid-1986, when the whole range got modified bumpers, lights, interior, steering and suspension. The basic recipe remained the same, although the RS Turbo gained an extra 2 bhp and had its suspension uprated. The Custom pack continued to be offered. By now, it could accelerate from 0-60 mph in 8.2 seconds, although CAR Magazine dismissed it as 'colourless'. The models that replaced it from 1990 were even more so; although the later RS 2000 and RS Cosworth undoubtedly had more brute power, they never again had quite the same flair. And they're hardly cheap, either.

Links:
Ford Escort 1968-2000: Obituary
Guide to checking out a used car
Mug's guide to tuning: More bhp for your bucks

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