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‘I have lived at my present address since 1985 and didn’t know my close neighbour Keith had a car until about seven years later’.  In 1992 a garage door ‘was opened for the first time that I could recall since moving there and revealed a white S reg. Mk. 2 Ford Escort’. Today, John Lonergan is the custodian of that same four-door Popular Plus – a car that looks as though it has only recently arrived from the local dealership.

It is often forgotten that 42 years ago you were less likely to have seen an RS2000, Mexico, Sport or Ghia than the likes of FPT 665 S. The fact that heads were unlikely to have turned on seeing a Popular Plus is a testament to the success of the Escort Mk. II. When Ford replaced the “Coke Bottle” shaped Mk. I with “Project Brenda” in January 1975, they extolled the virtues of the ‘slimmer, leaner look’, with advertisements hinting at an 007 lifestyle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rktivs3zjl8

In late 1975, Dagenham revived the Popular badge, which had been last seen on the 100E in 1962, for their new entry-level Escort - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctQqkv_yanU. For a mere £1,299 you gained a Ford with ‘stylish looks, comfort and roominess’ while the list of equipment included ‘two circular semi-sealed beam headlights’ and ‘Black painted windscreen wipers’.  Plus, a floor covered in the finest of rubber matting.

What Car thought ‘for the people who want a car which will return good mpg yet hold four people and their luggage, the Popular is a must’, even if they did complain it was ‘rather spartanly finished’. The logical solution was to order the decadence of the Popular Plus, which came with reversing lights, a dipping rear-view mirror, fabric upholstery and even a front parcel shelf.

The FWD Mk. III succeeded the Mk. II in September 1980, while FPT remained in the garage until July 2010. John asked for the first refusal on the Escort and stated he ‘didn’t wish to sell the car on but wanted to recommission it and take it to classic car shows’. The polite response from Keith was that ‘it was not for sale, but if ever he wished to sell, he would let me know’. 

However, by early 2008 work on the house of John’s neighbour meant that ‘the garage door was going up and down like a yo-yo with workmen going in and out, revealing the car again covered in dust and boxes.  I guess a lot of people saw the car and around that time and Keith was inundated with strangers knocking on his door asking to buy the Ford but again he would not sell.  I think all the attention troubled him somewhat as he is a very private person.’

And so, one evening in mid-2008 John was approached by Keith, who asked him if he still wanted the Escort. ‘I said I would be delighted to own it and with a little haggle the deal was done. I asked why he had not sold it to someone else, and he said he would like the car to be looked after by someone he knew and would take care of it and not just sell it on’.

Unfortunately, ‘not long after that, I suffered some health problems, and the car had to wait until July 2010 to come out of its hibernation’. It was at this point John’s challenges with the Popular Plus really commended. ‘First I had to enlist some help from friends and relatives’ while the initial task was ‘to tie back the overgrown bushes on the drive, then I lifted the garage door, and there it was covered in dust, boxes and an old carpet’. Furthermore, ‘all the tyres were totally flat, the inside was covered in white dust, and the handbrake was on’.

But John has the determination and fortitude of all true Escort enthusiasts and so he ‘let the handbrake off while my son James dragged over the portable compressor. He inflated all the tyres then he and my wife Cath gave the car a shove, there was a little clunk, and the handbrake came off. I couldn’t believe it 18 years it was on, and it came off so easily!’ Once the rubbish sitting on top of the Ford was removed ‘it was pushed out of the garage and over the road onto my drive’.

John recalls that ‘the car looked in great condition’ despite the dust inside and out, and ‘the speedo read an amazing 3,131 miles - it had covered just 30 miles since that 1992 MOT, and it looked great’. In preparation for running the engine, the Longerans ‘changed the oil and filter, air filter, plugs, points and condenser and fitted new plug leads as the old ones were green looking’, plus a new battery.

The fuel tank needed to be drained of ‘18-year-old fuel’ and then came the moment of John starting the engine. ‘Everything looked fine, but it would not fire up. A little investigation led to the coil, so straight down to my local auto centre for a new one’. The result was a power plant that ‘fired up without hesitation and soon settled down to a smooth tick over’. The Escort also benefitted from ‘Ziebart treatment from new; the only job under the car was to change both rack boots which had split when the wheels turned for the first time’.

The next task was to check the brakes. John was amazed to find ‘all checked out ok - nothing leaking, nothing sticking, all going on and off with each application’.  In fact, he had never ‘known a vehicle stand so long without something sticking, seizing or leaking, so I carried on and checked out the rest of the vehicle’.  As he discovered ‘everything was working as it should’ the Escort was booked for a MOT.

The ten-mile journey undertaken by John and his wife Cath was the Escort’s ‘first trip in 18 years. The car performed well once the brakes had settled in, though I have to say not having a brake servo felt a bit weird for a while. The only thing to show up on the trip was those 32-year-old tyres’. The MOT examiner was so incredulous at the 3,141-mileage reading and the Ford’s condition ‘he even had his workmate and some friends have a look’.

The Popular Plus gained its MOT certificate ‘with flying colours, and after a steady trip home, all the wheels were removed.   I had them blasted and repainted at Stella Blasting and Painting of Chester-Le-Street and had new tyres fitted at Tyre Plus Durham’. The Escort now ‘drives as it should’. One drawback of the Ziebart treatment is ‘they sprayed the stuff everywhere, under the bonnet was totally black, but I am slowly removing it a bit at a time to reveal the pristine original paint underneath’. It should also be noted that Escort’s interior ‘is totally original’ and, as far as John is aware, ‘it has never had a passenger in the rear’.

Mr. Lonergan has also rectified an issue with the nearside front wing, owing to a minor scrape incurred by Keith – ‘this was attended to by Dick Francis and his team at Carrosserie of Barnard Castle. Its former owner recently visited the Escort, and he was very pleased with its progress’. John also remarks that ‘you would not be surprised at how many people said they would have modified it’, but he has no such plans. ‘On seeing it outside on my drive, I immediately realised this car was a rare and almost perfect survivor and had to be kept that way’.

Escort Mk. IIs are indeed frequently the subject of modifications, and some believe there are more RS1800s on the road than actually left the factory. This is why FPT is such a valuable machine, for it truly is social history on wheels. It was registered at a time when television consisted of three channels, when many households lacked a telephone and when the idea of a small car with air-conditioning as standard was a fantasy on a par with Blake’s 7.  In John’s words ‘it doesn’t get any better than this - a one owner ultra-low mileage vehicle been locked away for years and taking very little to recommission’.

WITH THANKS TO – JOHN LONERGAN

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Here at Lancaster, we love classic cars as much as you do and we understand what it takes to protect them for future generations.

We have links with some of the top classic car clubs around the country and some of our policies even offer discounts of up to 25% for club members.

Other benefits of classic car insurance through Lancaster can include:

• Historic rally cover
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