Like a baby duckling imprinting on its mother, the car you wanted when you were 11 is a car you’re going to want the rest of your life and there’s nothing you can do to change that. I wanted every car when I was 11, which is how I ended up doing this for a living, but a Cayman Green 1992 Ford Escort GT was near the top of my list. There’s one for sale over at Cars & Bids and it’s giving me a lot of feels.
The cultural critic Rob Harvilla made a good point recently on the “Sunny Day Real Estate” episode of his podcast “60 Songs That Explain The ’90s” that you shouldn’t feel shame for the music you liked in high school and, specifically, that there’s nothing wrong with coming to a band late. If you listened to Lou Bega instead of Pavement when you were 13 then that’s just what it is and hopefully your tastes have expanded as you’ve aged. My automotive tastes have gotten better, and wider, as I’ve driven and seen more cars. That doesn’t make this Cayman Green 1992 Ford Escort GT any less desirable to me.
Some background: I didn’t have a lot of money growing up. My parents did a great job and it wasn’t always obvious to me, but there were definitely lean times and I’m almost embarrassed now to think of all the things I told them I needed given that it’s clear to me now it required them sacrificing what they wanted in order for me to have a Sega Genesis or whatever. I say I’m almost embarrassed because, having a kid now, I realize that’s part of the deal. What they wanted more than anything was for me to be happy and not notice so much that all my friends had way more stuff and way more money and went on way more trips.
In 1994, my parents were about my age now, which is to say they were in their late 30s. Neither of them had purchased a new car. Ever. The family cars were, roughly, a used VW Beetle, a used Subaru BRAT, a used Isuzu Impulse, and a used Izusu i-Mark. That’s a pretty rad mix of cars now that I review it in a list, though none of these cars were in concours condition.
After years of hard work my parents managed to scrape their way into the middle class and it was time for a shiny new car. Would it be a BMW? A Mercedes? No, of course not. Both out of economic necessity and habit, my parents first-ever new car was a 1994 Ford Escort. Not even an LX. Just a black base Ford Escort. It had unpainted bumpers, a manual transmission, no radio, and not even a passenger-side mirror (not a legal requirement). The only luxury item was the A/C, which is a basic human right in East Texas.
[Editor’s Note: I too have a weird affection for these early ’90s Escorts, because it was a base model one (albeit with a slushbox) that I raced in the 24 hours of Lemons way back when.
I grew to respect the car, in its own humble way, after that. – JT]
I loved this car because it seemed new and fantastic and even had those automatic seatbelts that made it feel like a spaceship with a tiny robot that cared about my safety.
I have one picture of me with the car, resplendent in an oversized denim vest and whatever knockoff Air Jordans they sold at Mervins. This picture is vertical, which used to not matter, so I’ve added another photo I found around the same era of me apparently unable to touch the hood of a Ford Contour because it’s too hot. The sexiness radiating off the rebadged Mondeo is just too much for young me to handle.
I’ve got the same shoes, but this time I’m in a purple hoodie shirt and my haircut can best be described as ‘chill monk.’ If you didn’t live through the ’90s the only reference points that might help are: 9/11 hadn’t happened yet and we’d just won the Cold War but didn’t know what to do with that information other than electing a guy President in no small part because he could play saxophone.
The three-door Escort was safe, reliable transportation. Based on the Mazda B platform, it shared a chassis with similar era Mazda 323 and Protege. The black one my parents bought carried over a revised version of the ho-hum 1.9-liter mill from the first gen (US) Escort. What I really wanted them to get was the GT.
In top trim, the Cayman Green 1992 Ford Escort GT is approximately perfect. First, just look at it. Those twisty alloy five spoke wheels are already extremely ’90s, but the matching paint is just the Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper cherry on top. As Jason pointed out when I brought this car up, it’s also one of the few cars that pulls off asymmetry really well with that little slotted grille insert.
Is it basically a FWD Miata? I’d buy that. It has the same 1.8-liter, DOHC four-cylinder shared with the Miata. Output from the little motor is up to an impressive 127 horsepower and 114 lb-ft of torque. The one for sale on Cars & Bids has the four-speed automatic, which is one of the reasons why I’d personally take a pass. With a manual it would be undeniably choice.
Still, it’s a great-looking car and owned by the same family since 1993. The 82,000 miles on the odometer are nothing for this car. Plus, you get a tachometer! I learned to drive stick a few years later in that same black ’92 Escort (My parents also bought a 1996 car a few years later but that was stolen) and it didn’t have a tach. You just got a little arrow to tell you when it was most appropriate to shift for fuel economy, though I almost entirely ignored that and just shifted when it sounded/felt right.
In some weird future I might buy one of these, though these days my tastes have evolved just enough that I’d maybe want the crazy fuchsia one. Anyone want to place on what the nostalgia factor drives this price to? As of this writing it’s at $4,300.
All photos Cars & Bids.
Cayman Green was the color of our 93 Ranger pickup. We also had a Calypso Green 95 Escort 4 door giving us the Green Ford driveway for several years. The Escort was an LX so it was saddled with a 1.9 CVH paint shaker but gave good service for 15 years.
Green? My dad was right. I don’t know $#it about cars.
Escort Gts of this era were awesome. A while back, my brother and I built a Ford Festiva for autocross, a car which also sat on a Mazda platform. To save money on an engine swap, we bought a clapped out EGT for $400 Canadian running and driving, and shoehorned the engine into the Festiva. I beat Miatas and even M3s with that thing.
Your first new car story very much reminds me of our first family car, my dad’s ’87 Corolla. It was burgundy, 4 door and completely bare bones, gray bumpers and all, with a 5 speed. My dad had the dealer install a Sony tape deck, and later had aftermarket cruise control fitted so we could drive it from the Toronto area to Florida. Including my grandmother, there were 6 of us on that trip.
In ’88 a drunk driver wrecked the car as it sat in the driveway.
This article made me feel better for lusting over Fords EXP in the 80’s. Can’t recall the last time I saw one, I’m sure most of them have been relegated to the jaws of the crusher and recycled.
Say it loud/proud! I’m an EXP fan too.
I know the first gen wasn’t so well built, but how can you not love that Ford was so into sport coupes then that it took a regular, possibly practical-ish coupe and removed the rear seats to make it cooler!
I also enjoyed how the EXP was then folded into the Escort line, which would later birth the Escort ZX2 which was then spun off as the stand-alone Ford ZX2. The circle was complete.
If the sales manager at the Ford dealer I visited hadn’t been such an asshole, I would have owned one of these new back in the day.
Same colour too.
I had never seen a base Escort of that vintage in black, only white or silver, so kudos to your parents for that.
About 10 years ago I was in need of a cheap, high-MPG commuter car to take me to a new job, and I had the opportunity to get a ’95 Escort GT in good condition. I ended up with a ’97 Escort wagon (newer, wagon + manual) that did the job, but really regret not getting that GT. They were fun little cars.
My first car was a white 1984 Ford Escort 4 spd manual station wagon. I drove it through high school and literally to it’s death. I traded it in for a 1991 Mistubishi Galant (also manual) my freshman year of college. I also had an unusual love or Escorts. I loved the GT’s. They looked faster than they were and was the only “dream car” that was even close to affordable.
Same. Grew up kinda poor but didn’t really notice because my folks did a great job. I was probably around the same age as you when my mom finally bought her first ever new car: A red Ford Escort wagon, the previous generation to the one in the article (’87 or ’88 I’d guess). It was her first new car and the first new car I ever rode in, so it was awesome! I learned to drive in that car, it probably would have been my first car but the engine seized before that could happen. Oh well. I don’t lust for my mom’s Ford Escort, but I do for the one featured in this article, it’s the cool one my family never had!
It’s a shame they never made a 4 door or wagon version of the Escort GT of that gen… or at least made that engine available in other body styles even if they didn’t actually call it a ‘GT’.
You could get it in a sedan – though only with the automatic, I believe – as the Escort LX-E or Mercury Tracer LTS. Indeed, a shame there weren’t five-doors of either shape.
They actually did make a 4 door. I was the Mercury Tracer LTS. We had a Escort GT that we ran in Lemons for 12 races. It was absolutely bullet proof. Had to change the wheel bearings every other race and it ate oil a quart every 2 hours, but it just ran and ran. How can you not love something with an asymmetric grill?
“This picture is vertical, which used to not matter…”
Waitaminute, *does* it matter?? I’m fine with photos in whatever format (portrait or landscape) that fits their subject matter (videos are another story), and a picture of a cool ’90s kid leaning against a car is well suited to portrait orientation. Unless it’s a site limitation? Has every photo posted to this site since its inception on March 32nd been in landscape orientation? I suppose if you have to pick one it makes sense to go landscape for a car website since most cars are longer than they are tall. Still, it’s strange to me that such a limitation would be imposed.
It takes up a lot of space in the article and, for some reason, my photo is cropped so it’s not even 9×16 and I guess I have just a little bit of shame and am not going to subject you to a giant photo of 13-year-old me.
“It takes up a lot of space in the article”
No, not really. You all post dozens of pictures in most articles and don’t seem to worry about it.
“my photo is cropped so it’s not even 9×16″
Eh, that’s not going to cover it.
” I have just a little bit of shame and am not going to subject you to a giant photo of 13-year-old me.”
That’s more like it and completely understandable. You should have just led with that.
I’m thinking that’s why The Autopian hasn’t enabled readers the ability to post pictures. 20 blown up pictures of Matt’s 13 year old mug might get annoying in a thread.
I get what you mean. The way the site formats images and text, it sounds like it’d resize the image to span the width regardless of the height rather than keep it smaller and wrap the text around it. I can recommend some word processing programs with image wrapping for the Apple IIe if you guys are looking to upgrade your software 😉
I never understood the Escort GT.. Just a few $1000 away from the Mustang, I’m curious who the market was?
In retrospect, it would’ve made much more sense if it had been offered as a 5-door hatchback at least, if not a wagon as well.
Probably buyers who wanted a smaller, more day to day practical package and (I’m guessing) lower insurance costs. If you’re that person, it was probably easier to talk yourself into an Escort GT than a Mustang or a Probe.
But really, I suspect it was the same thing Ford has going on now with the Edge and Escape and now the Bronco Sport…blanketing the hot target market with everything possible.
Oh for the days when that market was sport coupe. Sigh, and I know Gossin’s with me here.
I owned a 1993 Escort GT in the same color. In ’93 the wheels and rear spoiler were changed compared to the earlier GT’s, but it’s the same car as this one.
I enjoyed it, and even 10-15 years later would run across my old car in a town about 40-50 miles away, seems the person worked at a mall there and would stop and check it out. I was glad it was still around.
I had a 1991 version (black with a 5 spd). Fun car and easy to drive.
I felt the same way about Saturn’s.
Show me a pristine 1st gen twin-cam and you’ll see a person seriously contemplating a bad decision.
I remember my friend’s ’92 SC2 would chirp the front tires going from 1st to 2nd, on dry pavement, with an automatic. It was loud as hell but that car was no slouch.
*SL2. 4 door. Typo.
A friend of mine had a black one. I took it and his girlfriend to my senior prom. Fun car, nearly as peppy and revvy as a 2nd gen Integra. Great motor in these things.
I am very comfortable with my degree of attraction to this 1992 Ford Escort GT.
Can confirm you are not weird for this. When I was in high school, my father almost got one for my sister, but she went for a CRX instead (can’t fault her for that!), but years later, when I married my wife in 2000, she had a ’92 Escort Pony with unpainted bumpers and a 5-speed and I had a Miata. And yes, it was totally a front-wheel drive Miata. And it was nearly unkillable. She hit a bump in the road and drained all the oil out, and it still didn’t die. We got $500 for it on a trade in and I TOTALLY REGRET TRADING IT IN. Definitely something I could have kept as a runabout and possibly a first car for my kids.
Nothing to do with cars, I also got married in 2000 and have to say it’s made life simple in the “how long have you been married?” way.
OMG Yes! We got married January 16, 2000, so not only did I get married in 2000 but I did it in the first month. I always know how long I’ve been married. Easy husband points.
My friend in high school (late 90s) had an Escort, I’m gonna guess a ’95?
At some point one of us figured out that you could remove the key from the ignition while it was driving, and from that point forward the poor guy was always in fear of his keys getting thrown out the window.
Great car.
Those Escorts were great! I owned a ’93 (LX) from 1999-2002, and drove the wheels off it. Mine was a four-door hatch, in a color I can only describe as Metallic Smurf. Reliable as a hammer, and bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. I had only two complaints about it: the automatic was an overdrive, but had no button to turn the overdrive off, so on hills it hunted between 3rd and 4th quite a lot, and those damned automatic seatbelts. I never did get used to them.
I traded it in on a brand-new Mazda Protege, for no other reason than my bes friend had just bought his first brand-new car, and I wanted one too.
WTF that vehicle looks blue to me. Been there done that was older than you a few points to consider.
1. My first car had 2 requirements I could afford it while working for my parents in a nursery for 25 cents an hour and my dad picked it out. Yes I had a 4 door Plymouth Valiant I paid $1,700 for because I saved that much and dad liked it. My 2 brothers got 2 door Darts for less money.
2. I imprinted on the 68 Cougar cause rear blinkers. I now want nothing over 12 feet long and convertible baby. British steel. sports car over muscle car.
3. Yeah Disco growing up but give me zydeco.
So no everyone isn’t tied into the zeitgeist of loving or hating their parents.
Wow this takes me back. As Nottom said already, you NEVER see Escorts in the wild anymore. I know the Euro models were objectively better, but I still have a soft spot for ours, esp the GTs.
I actually knew a girl back in the day who had a base model Escort in the fuchsia. Soooo eye poppingly ’90s. You never had to look at the cars coming up the road and wonder “is that her?”
I turned down a fuchsia one when I bought mine. Didn’t feel comfortable with owning a pink car when I was 26. Now, I’d rock it in a heartbeat.
FWIU the Mazda 323-derived US model from 1991 up was better than the Euro one which was simply a reskin of the ’80s car. The Cosworth doesn’t count.
I saw a very early diesel Ford Escort a few months ago in a Target parking lot. It was baby blue and awesome and God bless the person keeping that crapcan on the road.
I love the wrench eating bolts graphic
Whoever named this color is unclear on what “green” means.
I would call that Teal.
Teal is to the 90’s what pastels (and Neon) are to the 80’s.
Green… like a Cayman, I guess?
I think you can paint a Porsche any color you want 😉
Now caiman are usually a very dark shade of green, when they’re green.
It is actually green, just in the right light (second pic does it a little better).
Such a cool little Ford ’90s thing that I’d never thought I’d miss.
“It is actually green, just in the right light (second pic does it a little better). ”
No, that is not green. That might be blue with a touch of green, but that is not green.
My wife and I still can’t agree about the color of the car I had when we started dating. She insists it was blue, but it was dark green. The color on the window sticker very clearly said Nordic Green Mica, so that settles the argument.
Of course it didn’t settle the argument. She still says the car was blue whenever it comes up in conversation. The got damn paperwork says green, babe! The paperwork is never wrong!
I still love those Escorts, but I *n e v e r* see them anymore. I love that green as well.
I had one of the abysmal previous gen (1988) models… the ones where the head gasket would leak coolant at less than 40k miles and then it would overheat and crack the head between the valves. Good times…
I love these. I remember in high school there was on a used car lot that I wanted REAL bad – it was purple with matching purple piping on the seats. Hot.
1995-’96 Ultra Violet (“Sex Toy Purple”) is the best color for these, IMO, with Cayman Teal and whatever the fuchsia was called close behind.
That tracks, as I think this one was a ’95. I was eyeballing it as the Ultradrive started to go south on my 3.0 Sundance 🙁