1988 Ford Escort Station Wagon, 7764 miles!

1988 Ford Escort Station Wagon, 7764 miles! - $4900 (North Royalton)

Date: 2011-09-05, 5:16PM EDT
Reply to: sale-3teu9-2583537459@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
1988 Ford Escort Station Wagon, black, 7764 original miles. Age puts it at near "antique" status with the Ohio BMV. Excellent condition overall, no mechanical issues, maintained by a professional mechanic, great gas mileage. Interior like new, never driven in winter, stored in garage. 1.9 liter automatic. Has AM/FM radio, but no A/C or power windows. Asking $4,900. email or leave message at 440-773-7667 with any questions, more pictures available if needed.

• Location: North Royalton
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

 

I was a very young teen when these cars came out and like the K-Car wagons I thought OMG, WTF, at the time. The K-Cars as I aged grew on me, these little fords didn't really untill I saw this one...This lil' wagon looks nice, dam nice all origonal. I really like it! I still think it's gona be a hard sell at that price even if the millage can be proved.

Question??>>>> Whats up with the seat belts? The car IMO is way to small to have in the door seat belts.....I don't remember any Ford from the 80's with in-door seat belts.

 

Those belts were a 'quick and dirty' way to get past the new federal 'passive restraint' regulation. My folks' '90 T-bird had them too....

 

I love the look of those old fords (not that i am a ford fan). Reminds me of the little mercury lynx my friend had when i was a teenager. he got it for his 16th birthday from his grandfather with a brand new metallic green paint job on it. Many a nights we went to pick up girls in that thing and a few nights we accualy got girls in that thing

I think the seller has watched too many of those "barn finds" tv shows cause that price is way up in the air, when it all boils down it is still just an escort wagon (if turbo or diesel it would easily be a fair price)

 

Intersting, and REALLY when it come to the T-Bird? My Dad's 87 still had 'normal' seat belts....learn some thing new every day

 

It was either those seat belts or an air bag. I don't know when the regulation went into effect. Must have been '88 or '89. Thunderbird had them until '94 when they finally installed air bags.

 

These were a stop-gap measure. When the new restraint standards were introduced, they apparently had a fairly early effective date - not much lead time for manufacturers to spool up new steering columns, instrument panels and air bag systems for all cars. This generation of Escort was nearing the end of it's product cycle, so it's pretty obvious that Ford just decided to go quick-and-dirty with it. I believe with the T-Bird, which was all-new for 1990, the interior design was already locked in when the new standards came down. They probably would have redone it if they had had the time. I think it took till the '93 model year for the Bird to get bags.
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EDIT:
I should read what I'm quoting......OK - '94 then LOL

 

The funny thing about this set up was that it was so easy to override. Back then, I didn't wear my seat belt, (I do, religiously nowadays), so all I'd do is stick it behind my back and I was good to go.
Can you imagine my being so foolhardy in regards to a device that could save my life and I remember being so proud that I figured out such an easy fix to that bothersome strap. Thank goodness I finally matured enough to see the light!

 

Yeah, I still think it was more $$$ related than anything. Thinking about it some more the Crown Vic got an air bag for the first time in '90 and never had those mouse trap seat belts prior. So they had an airbag steering wheel that they used on everything from Mustangs to F-150's available to them. Figure they were working on the T-Bird/Cougar interior in '87. If they had a standard seat belt setup and then were hit out of the blue with this new regulation I think it would have been a bit more work to engineer that entire mechanism than to throw an airbag on a steering wheel. Figure airbags were new back then so were probably relatively expensive compared to a seat belt and a motor.

 

OOOHHHH did I ever HATE those seatbelts!!!! I rented a car that had those and they about killed me!
Anyway...nice Escort that the guy will never sell at that price.

 

I hated them too. I specifically avoided buying any used vehicle that had them.

My dad wasn't a big seat belt wearer. He had a pretty good wreck in which he was slightly injured and totalled his '82 Cutlass. The '90 T-Bird replaced the Cutlass. He put up with the automatic motorized shoulder harness, but only buckled the separate lap belt when family nagged him. Fortunately, he wasn't in any more accidents.