Escort

The family median means nothing across six generations. Ford Escort prices from 1,479 recorded auction sales, what the ordinary saloons, the Mk1 and Mk2 RS cars, the 1980s hot hatches and the RS Cosworth each make, what a genuine identity is worth against a replica, and why the figure swings from year to year.

The Ford Escort RS Cosworth was a rally homologation special wearing an Escort suit over Sierra Cosworth four-wheel-drive bones, its whale-tail wing the defining fast-Ford image of the 1990s. A guide to big-turbo and small-turbo cars, the rally record, the replica problem, buying checks and values.

The Ford Escort Mexico was named to celebrate Ford's victory in the 1970 London-to-Mexico World Cup Rally, an affordable, tough, rear-wheel-drive homologation special built to take the Escort's rally success to the showroom. A guide to the Mk1 and Mk2 Mexico, what to look for, and why originality matters more here than on any ordinary Escort.

The Ford Escort RS2000 was the rally-bred hero of the rear-wheel-drive Escort, a light two-door with a torquey 2.0-litre engine and, in Mk2 form, the famous droop-snoot nose. A guide to the Mk1 and Mk2 RS2000, what made it a motorsport legend, what to look for when buying, and how to spot a car that is not what it claims.

The Ford Escort XR3i was the fuel-injected hot hatch that outsold every rival and defined performance motoring for a generation of British drivers. A guide to the XR3 and XR3i, the Mk3 and Mk4 cars and the cabriolet, how it compares to the Golf GTI, what to look for, and what they are worth now.

The classic Ford Escort ran across six generations from 1968 to 2000, from the rear-drive rally cars to the front-drive hot hatches and the mighty RS Cosworth. A guide to the Mk1 to Mk6, how the generations differ, the everyman saloons and the celebrated fast Escorts, the booted Orion, and what to look for when buying.

Ford of Dagenham built the cars that put Britain on wheels, from the Cortina that led the sales charts for a decade to the rally-bred Escorts and the executive Granada. A guide to the classic British Fords worth knowing, what they are like to own now, and where each one sits in the story.

The squared-off Escort Mk2 of 1975 was a humble rear-drive family car that doubled as one of the most successful rally cars of all time. The RS1800, RS2000 and Mexico turned the badge into a legend while millions of ordinary Escorts did the school run. The development story, the rally cars, and the survivors.

The front-drive Escort Mk5 of 1990 launched to some of the harshest reviews Ford had ever received, and the company spent the next two years putting it right. At the top of the range, the rally-homologation Escort RS Cosworth turned the unloved Escort into an icon. The development story and the survivors.