Having said that, if I could own my car again, £20,000 would not be near enough to even make me think of selling.
I would think that even adjusting for inflation, £465 is nowhere near £20,000 today so it is frightening that £20,000 is probably nowhere near enough for a deposit on most houses today.
At the time, the reason the insurance company purchased 2 door Escorts is that they were cheaper than 4 doors!
I have exactly such a vehicle tucked away waiting for restoration, 1980 “W” Reg, Sunburst Red, 4 Speed, Sunroof, Central Locking, Electric windows, only thing missing from a full spec are the Tinted Windows.
Been sat for quite a few years now waiting, life just got in the way of me starting the restoration, over the years bought quite a few parts as and when they became available in readiness, work life should becoming to an end soon and hopefully I can begin the work.
Had quite a few Ford’s in the 70s & 80s, Mk1 Escort 1300GT, 1300E, 1300 Sport, Mexico, RS2000 (wish I still had any of these), MK3 2000E Cortina, MK4 2.0 Ghia Cortina then along came a company cars, various Vauxhall’s, Ford’s, Alfa then into Audi’s and that is were I stayed until Lockdown, company car went back, bought myself an A3.
Now semi retired and getting all the jobs done that have been waiting, along with doing loads of work at my daughters house and refurbishing another house for selling, once that’s out of the way I think I will be starting the XR3 unless the “Boss” finds something else to do
I was trying to see if I could compare sizes of a Puma against a Cortina, but came close with an escort comparison on carsize . com. I was surprised how much bigger the Puma was
Cars have to be so much larger now to accommodate safety protection in the body shell; crumple zones, 99,000 airbags, side impact bars, and masses of wiring for all the electronics etc.
Kerb weight just ramps up!