By the mid 1960 s, Ford's small and medium size the family models were the Anglia and Cortina, with both cars doing extremely well in terms of sales. However, from 1965 Ford had been considering an Anglia replacement, to keep up-to-date in the public's imagination, and to change the model range in line with the rapidly changing market. At this time there was a wide choice of new small and medium sized cars, with an equally diverse range of mechanical layouts.

BMC had the front wheel drive Mini, with its luxury Wolseley Hornet and Riley Elf derivatives, and the sporty Cooper variant. All with legendary fuel economy and limpet-like road holding. The Rootes approach with it's rear engine and rear wheel drive Imp and its advanced and initially temperamental all alloy overhead camshaft engine, was lively, frugal and modern. sales.

Vauxhall's boxy 1963 HA model Viva was nearing the end of its short production life, to be replaced for 1966 by the mechanically conventional and elegantly designed HB Viva. This new model was longer, wider and more comfortable than its predecessor. Losing little and performance and fuel consumption, from its 1159 cc overhead valve engine.

These facts were significant, as Ford's thinking for the new model was also running along similar lines-that is, to increase the passenger space available, and to modernize the styling. The Anglia had always been hailed as a pretty car, but the sharp reverse rake of this model and the Consul Classic 315 did rob the vehicles of rear seat and parcel shelf room. This feature was to disappear in favor of the conventionally angled rear screen for the new car.

Once again Ford based the new car's design framework on tried and tested components and principles, rather than branching out into relatively costly and occasionally unreliable areas such as front wheel drive. As history shows, this was probably wise, with the first front wheel drive Ford "the Fiesta" not appearing until 1977.

Therefore the new Anglia (the name was originally intended to be continued with the new car, but changed to Escort at a late stage in development) was destined to be a front engined rear wheel drive vehicle.

Production of the Ford Escort begin at Halewood near Liverpool in November 1967 with the official announcement of the new range following in January 1968.

Prior to public release, extensive testing approaching a quarter of a million miles in a wide range of climatic and road conditions had taken place. Test venues included South Africa, Belgium and Finland as well as the United Kingdom.

The initial model range included the Basic, Deluxe and Super in 1100 and 1300 versions, 1300 GT and the Escort Twin Cam.

1968 was not the first time that the name Escort appeared on a British Ford product. Back in the 1950's this name was also given to one of the two 100E Estate car derivatives of the Prefect and Anglia.

There was no direct ancestry between this Escort and the new Escort, the sidevalve drivetrain of the 1955 Escort dated back to the 1932 model Y.

The heart of the car was the Kent cross flow overhead valve engine from the MKII Cortina, originally developed from the 997 cc Anglia non cross flow power unit. For the Escort the engine sizes chosen were 1,098 cc and 1,298 cc. These five bearing crank shaft engines were strictly conventional in design and produced 45 bhp and 52 bhp respectively for the standard high compression 1100 and 1300 cc units. The GT version of the 1300 engine produced 64 bhp, the extra power being obtained from similar modifications to those used in the Cortina 1600 GT.

A brand new fully synchromesh four speed single rail gearbox with integral bellhousing and the sweetest of shifts was designed for the Escort. Small and light, the unit was capable of handling 90 bhp and was to be used in all Escorts (except the RS models) until the FWD MKIII became a reality in 1980. This was the first metric gearbox to be used on a British produced Ford.

Front suspension was by MacPherson struts, with the rear axle located by conventional leaf springs. Steering was with rack and pinion, a first for a mass produced Ford. This resulted in more positive steering and an excellent turning circle of 29 ft. Stopping was achieved by drum brakes all round, but with servo assisted front disc brakes on the 1300 GT.

The new Escort received an enthusiastic response from laughing press and the public following its launch. Ford's slogan was "The new Ford Escort. The small car that isn't", which summed things up perfectly. The Twin Cam was launched at the same time as the other siblings and was introduced primarily as a rally car.

In March and April 1968 the Estate and van versions were announced. In May 1968 the Borg Warner 35 automatic transmission became an option on all models except the 1100 cc Estate and Van (later discontinued on the 1100 sedans too).

In January 1970 the first RS (Rallye Sport) Escort was announced, the RS 1600. This Twin Overhead Cam, sixteen valve Cosworth tweaked 1600 eventually replaced earlier Lotus derived TC.

October 1971 saw the 1,000,000th Escort produced, after just three years and nine months. That set a new production record for Ford, and made the Escort the fastest selling Ford ever produced in Europe.

March 1973 saw the introduction of the 1300E, and June 1973 the RS2000.

1974 was to provide a number of production highlights for the Escort, with 2,000,000 worldwide having been built by June, and of the domestic U.K. production exceeding that of the Anglia. In preparation for the new MKII models the floorpan of the last of the line MKIs was altered to increase rear leg-room by 2 inches.

The MKII Escort was announced in January 1975. The basic mechanical concepts remained the same as in the original car, but the upper body work was redesigned and a host of detail changes were made to update the range.

Although the new model was virtually the same size, more angular styling was applied with fewer curves and flatter panels-giving more interior room, better visibility, and a neat and uncluttered look. The new body work had a slightly worse drag coefficient, but 23% more glass area, increased leg-room, luggage space more than made up for this loss.

Inside the car, there were better seats, better soundproofing, and an award winning instrument layout. The Cortina eyeball greatly improved ventilation and demisting over that from the MKI.

Mechanical layout was identical, except the automatic gearbox was now a Bordeaux unit. The suspension was modified to improve ride comfort, and give better stability in side winds. At the front, the shock absorbers were uprated and a larger diameter swaybar specified. The rear springs became wider and at the number of leaves decreased from 4 to 3.

The car gained much praise for the quality of its ride comfort. Ford also took the opportunity of offering the 1599 cc Kent engine with 84 bhp in addition to the 1.1 and 1.3 litre engines from the MKI.

There were many variations available in the new range. 1100 and 1300 cc in Base, L and GL versions; 1300 and 1600 Sport variants, and the 1300 and 1600 Ghias. As before, each model could be had with either two or four doors, and there were three estate models available. Alongside these standard models, there was an RS1800, and a few months later the MKII RS2000.

The Escort was very well received by the public, in fact in May 1975 it was declared the best selling car in Europe.

However, it was becoming more expensive when compared with the opposition and in July 1975 Ford released the stripped down `Popular' to replace the base model.

In July 1976 and MKII version of the Mexico was released. Also in 1976 the Escort became the United Kingdom's best-selling car overtaking for a short time the fleet buyers delight - the Cortina.

September 1978 saw the last major revamping of the MKII, a one and a quarter inch increase in track width, plushier interiors . The L was the major beneficiary with a new soft feel steering wheel, and square headlights, sports wheels, side mouldings and intermittent wipers. The GL and Sport benefited from a radio fitted as standard. The Ghia got factory mag wheels and a remote door mirror as standard.

1979 saw viscous coupling cooling fans fitted to all models, and the introduction of a number of special editions such as the Linnet, Harrier and the Goldcrest.

The last MKII Escorts had rolled of the production line by October 1980, replaced by the front wheel drive MKIII. The final production total was of 1,607,000 MKIIs worldwide.