Ford Escort 1100 GL

Well, what is this? A dented and dusty Ford in our classic car magazine? And not even a luxury or sporty model, but a very ordinary Escort 1100 GL. Sometimes it is not just a car model that writes history, but the entire sum of its existence and its individual history. Also in this case. Although the car has been in a private collection for the past 13 years, was shown in a restaurant for nine years before that and parked a full 18 years in a closed underground garage even before, it is the first owner that makes this Escort special, as he is a worldwide celebrity.

Ford launched the first Escort 50 years ago. For the second model generation, which was developed under code name ‘Brenda’ and sent to the dealers from November 1974, the technology was largely taken over along with the basic platform from the predecessor model. Thus, it still had rear-wheel drive and leaf springs at the rear axle, but combined with a new four-speed manual gearbox or an optional three-speed automatic from the French Ford plant in Bordeaux. Next to the three-door or five-door sedan Ford also offered an estate version. The 1.1-liter engine with 32 kW/44 hp was the smallest available drivetrain in continental Europe. Above, several other engines were available, including the Cosworth-tuned RS variants, which were and are very popular in motor racing and rallying. The GL equipment shown in our gallery was the third lowest version, only put above the Escort and the Escort L. At the German Ford plant in Saarlouis alone, more than 495,000 copies of the Escort II were built. But it was also produced in Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and South Africa. Thus, the total number of all built Escort II finally exceeded the mark of 1,607,000 cars.

If this article would be about a three-door Escort RS, many readers would probably quickly call various racing and rally drivers as possible previous owner. Starting with Stig Blomqvist, Björn Waldegård, Timo Mäkinen, Roger Clark, Ari Vatanen or Hannu Mikkola, the list would maybe even extend to Klaus Ludwig and Hans Heyer, who used the Escort in Germany primarily in circuit racing. But the car in our picture gallery is clearly a battered five-door Escort with classic GL equipment including a mechanical clock, just one wing mirror and no radio. Which celebrity would buy such a low-equipped shopping car?

We think we have been tormenting you for long enough, so we will solve this puzzle now. This Ford Escort 1100 GL was first delivered in 1976 to the Polish city of Krakow and bought by Mr Karol Józef Wojtyła. Does this name ring a bell? That’s right, Mr Wojtyła was Cardinal at that time for nine years already, after he had been Auxiliary Bishop and after that Archbishop of Krakow. Two years after his purchase of this car, he was elected as new Pope John Paul II, whereupon the Escort was parked in the catacombs of the Vatican – maybe anybody there knew about the project name of this car under development? It was not until 1996 that it was brought out again. From this long time presumably result the traces, that are still visible on the body panels today, probably from some careless move around and re-parking actions in the underground car park. After being auctioned for the benefit of a Vatican charity, the car moved across the Atlantic and was exhibited by its new owner Jim Rich in a restaurant near Chicago. In 2005, he auctioned the Escort again, with a revenue of 690,000 US$. The vehicle then became the centerpiece of the private car collection of Mr John M. O’Quinn. Now RM Sotheby’s is auctioning off this particular Escort as part of their ‘Auburn Fall’ auction. They only expect between 150,000 and 300,000 US$ as highest bid. It will be interesting to see, where the car will land next.

Images: RM Sotheby’s, Darin Schnabel