English Fords in the USA?

  • Thread starter Thread starter katpeeler
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@katpeeler

As said above, replacement parts are easy to come by and they're not too expensive. It'll be the shipping parts over to Florida that will bump prices up. If you get an Escort with a 1.6 or 2.0 Pinto engine you'll have plenty of replacement parts available. That engine was used in Capris and Cortinas too so plenty of spares were made and I know of a couple of companies who make brand new parts which are to the original specs. To give you an idea of prices, I use this company.
www.tickover.co.uk

I wouldn't rule out sourcing parts in the US that are designed for the Ford Pinto car, IIRC it used pretty much the exact same engine. @Slash would know better than I do on the Pinto vehicle.

As for the rust issue, Fords -and many other vehicles of that age- were made with little rust protection so they're only as liable to rust as other vehicles of the same age. Except Italian cars, they were worse.
 
Just a small observation here, Mk 2 Escorts have started to go for silly money in the UK, seemingly regardless of condition, I guess because people want to convert them to rally or RS1600 spec, but Capris (particularly mk3s or the slightly underwhelming mk2s if you are feeling brave) still give a lot of bang for your buck. Not sure of the market in the rest of Europe but perhaps look at countries which can export if you prefer LHD.
 
All this is a little overwhelming...I will have to step back and see if this is worth going thru with. I have been keeping my eye open in the states for them to go up for sale but they are few and far between. But the ones I have seen was around $20g in the US...So this might not be a bad price once you add in cost of shipping to the US. Im actualy on a lead where my fathers car was sold to...And MAYBE it didnt get scrapped....
 
katpeeler
All this is a little overwhelming...I will have to step back and see if this is worth going thru with. I have been keeping my eye open in the states for them to go up for sale but they are few and far between. But the ones I have seen was around $20g in the US...So this might not be a bad price once you add in cost of shipping to the US. Im actualy on a lead where my fathers car was sold to...And MAYBE it didnt get scrapped....
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If your search for your dads car isn't successful and you really want to look into buying one from Europe, I'll get together a list of websites with these cars for sale so you can get an idea of prices. As people have said, prices in the UK are getting silly now for Escorts. Prices in continental Europe I'm not so sure of.
 
On a sort of related note, I did see a US-spec 1st gen Focus here in the UK (you know, the one with the fat bumpers and indicators in the grille). Why on earth would you even bother? Surely it would be more expensive to ship over than buying one locally?! Plus, there are thousands and thousands of Foci registered in the UK, and therefore thousands and thousands on the used car market, and therefore there are loads of dirt-cheap ones that are still in good nick.
 
chzsln485
On a sort of related note, I did see a US-spec 1st gen Focus here in the UK (you know, the one with the fat bumpers and indicators in the grille). Why on earth would you even bother? Surely it would be more expensive to ship over than buying one locally?! Plus, there are thousands and thousands of Foci registered in the UK, and therefore thousands and thousands on the used car market, and therefore there are loads of dirt-cheap ones that are still in good nick.
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It's a bizarre situation, but there's the possibility someone had their car brought from overseas for work. Or they were in the US military, where some ranks get their vehicle shipped over, and it wound up on the secondary market.
 
Pupik
It's a bizarre situation, but there's the possibility someone had their car brought from overseas for work. Or they were in the US military, where some ranks get their vehicle shipped over, and it wound up on the secondary market.
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It also depends on the PCS orders. South Korea for example they limit POV(privately owned vehicle) but in Europe they do not.

http://www.transcom.mil/dtr/part-iv/dtr_part_iv_app_k_3.pdf
 
@SVT Cobra GT I wont be able to run down my lead until a couple weeks from now....Buy the way my dads car was a Cortina MK2...I remember it being a LHD 2DR..Cant remember what the engine looked like. Also the escorts I was looking at are also the MK2...I will keep you posted on my findings after the holidays.

@Badasp5.0 I have thought about this option...I have talked to some Military buddies of mine and the government will ship a car if your stationed over seas....I know this might not be "above the board" but if things pan out for me I might can get a military brat to help me out....
 
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chzsln485
On a sort of related note, I did see a US-spec 1st gen Focus here in the UK (you know, the one with the fat bumpers and indicators in the grille). Why on earth would you even bother? Surely it would be more expensive to ship over than buying one locally?! Plus, there are thousands and thousands of Foci registered in the UK, and therefore thousands and thousands on the used car market, and therefore there are loads of dirt-cheap ones that are still in good nick.
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You'll see this a lot around Mildenhall and Lakenheath. Some USAF personnel bring their cars over with them.
 
Famine
Some USAF personnel bring their cars over with them.
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Going off this, there might be a small chance that some USAF personnel take European Fords back with them. It's unlikely, but might be worth OP looking into.
 
Famine
You'll see this a lot around Mildenhall and Lakenheath. Some USAF personnel bring their cars over with them.
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Yes there are a lot of US cars in the area. Even quite far away from the bases.

@Liquid A used car dealer near me often has a couple of US-only pick-ups for sale. I think some of the personnel replace their car over here if they stay long enough, perhaps taking a UK-spec car back home.
 
Leggy1
Yes there are a lot of US cars in the area. Even quite far away from the bases.
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I used to live in Norwich and Ely :D

The fun part about living in Ely is that to get North to the rest of the country you have to drive down the Fenland roads. These are often arrow straight but undulate a lot and run alongside drainage ditches (with amusing names like "Forty Foot Drain"). The undulations are fairly regular and there's a handful of US forces personnel private vehicles pulled out of the ditches each year because the primary ride can't cope with the rhythmic bouncing and they get pitched off the road.

Not that this is exclusive to US cars - I had a Subaru Forester get completely airborne and nearly dive off the road to the left on landing directly in front of me once. He went slower after that.
 
My Suggestion would be to ship a Chassis over from UK then put your own engine in once it's in US.

Atleast this way you won't pay the High money some of them old escorts might fetch.
 
@Famine I'm near King's Lynn, it separates the Fens and the hills (yes hills :eek:) of the coastal and North West area.

The Fenland roads sure can be very interesting in places, unsettling even the most tied-down of cars. There's one bit I remember that catches so many people out, forcing the less observant driver into oncoming traffic. Every time I've been on that road there has been some flowers by the roadside.

On the back roads where I live, width is the problem for the full-size US trucks that some personnel bring over. I was behind a Dually one not long ago, making some very slow progress. Just too wide. Although most Breckland (Mildenhall and Lakenheath area) roads are smooth and wide enough for the big US cars and trucks.
 
Leggy1
@Famine I'm near King's Lynn, it separates the Fens and the hills (yes hills :eek:) of the coastal and North West area.
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We always used to avoid KL when driving to Norwich - dipped down from Wisbechistan towards Downham Market and back up at Swaffham, on a lovely bit of road that was far more interesting than the Hardwick Roundabout (which, in 1995, was nothing like it is now!). My wife went to university in KL though.

One good thing about soggy Fenland roads is that speed cameras can't be sited very many places because they sink and fall over. Combine with arrow-straight roads...

That said, they've put chuffin' SPECS on the Forty Foot Road now...
 
Famine
We always used to avoid KL when driving to Norwich - dipped down from Wisbechistan towards Downham Market and back up at Swaffham, on a lovely bit of road that was far more interesting than the Hardwick Roundabout (which, in 1995, was nothing like it is now!).
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alan-partridge.jpg
 
Liquid
Fun fact: The Contour had the SVT Duratec V6 5 years before the European Mondeo did.
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Is the engine of my car that old? :eek:
No wonder I have so many technical problems with my Ford.
 
Liquid
Going off this, there might be a small chance that some USAF personnel take European Fords back with them. It's unlikely, but might be worth OP looking into.
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European spec cars that gets brought back to the US by military personnel must still conform to US safety and emission regulations, meaning they must go through the same importation process as anyone else who wishes to import a non-USDM vehicle and be converted to meet specs if under 25 years old. What some car companies do for US military personnel is sell them US spec cars in Europe, so that the cars can be easily brought back to the US after duty.

I think service member's personal vehicles are just not subject to customs excise and various other taxes.
 
Famine
We always used to avoid KL when driving to Norwich
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It's better now thanks to the flyover bridge at Hardwick, for A47 traffic. The rest of the roundabout is often at a standstill though, despite many 'improvements' in recent years.

I've seen quite a few Fenland cameras that are standing at an angle, no longer in use. Best thing for them really. There aren't many speed cameras in Norfolk, perhaps because of all the tractors slowing everyone down.

@Crash That's interesting, but not much of a surprise because of the import rules and regulations.

It would certainly be easier for military personnel to be sold a US spec car that can be imported back after duty, as long as the owner can put up with left hand drive in the UK.
 
katpeeler
@SVT Cobra GT I wont be able to run down my lead until a couple weeks from now....Buy the way my dads car was a Cortina MK2...I remember it being a LHD 2DR..Cant remember what the engine looked like. Also the escorts I was looking at are also the MK2...I will keep you posted on my findings after the holidays.
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MK2 Cortinas are still in plenty of choice in the UK but the vast majority are expensive show winners. There are some project cars out there for less money but it's a case of finding them.
I believe the available engines were not the same than the engines available in the MK2 Escorts and all will run on leaded fuel.
A popular choice for that shape of Cortina is a 1600E. Most people had them as first cars back in the day.
You shouldn't struggle to find one available and again the parts should still be plentiful. They shared a lot of parts with the MK1 Capri, which was sold in the US and it very similar spec to the European models.
 
katpeeler
@SVT Cobra GT I wont be able to run down my lead until a couple weeks from now....Buy the way my dads car was a Cortina MK2...I remember it being a LHD 2DR..Cant remember what the engine looked like. Also the escorts I was looking at are also the MK2...I will keep you posted on my findings after the holidays.
Click to expand...

Mk2 Cortina's are fairly rare around here now. They're fairly obsolete in the historic motorsport scene, compared to Mk1's and Mk1 & 2 Escorts which have some real value, so most Mk2's will have been scraped or rusted away.

If you can find one, a popular period modification was replacing the Kent 4cyl engine with a V6 Cologne or Essex. (Look up Cortina Savage) The Cologne was widely used in plenty of US cars, so should be easy to get hold of, and won't be quite so underpowered compared to modern stuff on the roads.

Mk2's will be harder to find outside of the UK too. Ford GB produced it's own range of cars up until the early 70's, where as Ford of Germany supplied most of mainland Europe's cars.
 
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Crash
European spec cars that gets brought back to the US by military personnel must still conform to US safety and emission regulations, meaning they must go through the same importation process as anyone else who wishes to import a non-USDM vehicle and be converted to meet specs if under 25 years old. What some car companies do for US military personnel is sell them US spec cars in Europe, so that the cars can be easily brought back to the US after duty.

I think service member's personal vehicles are just not subject to customs excise and various other taxes.
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Yep I have a few Marine Friends that attempted to bring Skylines GTS and GTRs home from Okinawa, the red tape killed that idea.
 
@SVT Cobra GT Found this old photo of my dads Ford....Its only a small side shot but can you experts narrow down year/make from it?
 

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