Andy Zain offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print. Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum. ----------- PUBLICATION GUIDELINES - You have permission to publish this article for free providing the "About the Author" box is included in its entirety. - Do not post/reprint this article in any site or publication that contains hate, violence, porn, warez, or supports illegal activity. - Do not use this article in violation of the US CAN-SPAM Act. If sent by email, this article must be delivered to opt-in subscribers only. - If you publish this article in a format that supports linking, please ensure that all URLs and email addresses are active links. - Please send a copy of the publication, or an email indicating the URL to [email protected] - Article Marketer (www.ArticleMarketer.com) has distributed this article on behalf of the author. Article Marketer does not own this article, please respect the author's copyright and publication guidelines. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use this article. ----------- Article Title: Two-Plus Decades Of The Ford Escort Author: Andy Zain Category: Word Count: 425 Keywords: ford,escort Author's Email Address: [email protected] Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com ------------------ ARTICLE START ------------------
The long life of the Ford Escort -- the model sold in the United States and Canada, for the most part -- took on several different shapes, though every one aimed to capture a large segment of the compact car market. Up until 1981, Ford had mostly failed at doing so though its new attempt with what it dubbed a "world car" would seek to attract buyers in North America. The Escort had a very successful run of things, lasting through the end of the 2003 model year, when it was finally succeeded by its replacement, the Focus. Initially, the Escort was almost completely based off of a European model of the same name, though it was redesigned before introduction to the domestic market for the 1981 model year. Historically, the Escort was the first front-wheel-drive model offered by the Dearborn manufacturer, replacing the poorly-conceived and executed rear-wheel-drive Pinto, which suffered from several controversies at the time. By its second year, the Escort had become the best-selling vehicle in the United States and remained so for much of the eighties. There were three different generations of Ford Escort sold in the North American market, with each one being an improvement over the other. Different body styles and options packages combined with a wide variety of four-cylinder engines and various transmissions over the years. There was even a small 52 horsepower diesel at one end and a turbocharged dynamo that could spool up to produce 120 horsepower at the other. By the third generation, which ran from 1997 until 2002, the people at Ford had managed to deliver a seriously well-liked vehicle that managed to deliver good performance from its four-cylinder engine (four cylinder engines were the only power plants available) while also managing to deliver a nicely styled automobile for the masses. Throughout its life span, the Escort appeared in a number of different body styles and/or combinations, including a three door hatchback, a five door hatchback/sedan, a station wagon and also a range of sporty looking coupes, which made their appearance in 1998. Ford kept up with the times in periodically freshening up the interiors to keep the vehicle interesting. Over the course of its lifespan, the Ford Escort filled an important niche for the Blue Oval. It was able to give the manufacturer a platform through which a number of different small car technologies that we now take for granted could be introduced and tested while also ensuring a nice-selling vehicle in the compact car segment. Barring anything else, just this fact alone made the Escort a great success. Andy Zain is the admin of http://www.fordforum.org , a place where fans and owners can get the right information for tuning, customization and general discussions on anything about Ford Escort. ------------------ ARTICLE END ------------------ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
