The Ford Escort EXP Story

The Ford EXP is a sports compact coupe that was produced and sold by Ford Motor Company in North America from the 1982 to 1988 model years. Sharing the dashboard, wheelbase, suspension, and powertrain with the Ford Escort, the EXP was longer, lower, and more aerodynamic than its five-seat counterpart.

If you find errors, I encourage you to update the Wikipedia article.

#fordexp #fordescortexp

[hydorah]

Ford thought that young people wanted a reliable, sporty, stylish, efficient reliable car, so offered the EXP as an alternative to all that

[philippelupien]

I love the feeling of rediscovering a completely forgotten car from my teenage years. Saw a Chevrolet citation recently

[synthpulse]

I bought an EXP new in 1986. It had the optional HO engine. I gave it away when it had 260, 000 miles on it, 12 years later. Oil changes every 10, 000 miles. 2 brake jobs. 2 ignition control modules. I really loved that car.

[jwc]

I had the 1982 Mercury LN7 version and very much enjoyed driving it!
It may have been underpowered, but it was still fun to drive and gave me good fuel economy.
I later replaced it with a 1989 Ford Probe LX, which was even more fun to drive.

[TheKingArabia]

I was looking for something to watch while having dinner and after 10 minutes of refreshing and searches this vid solved the problem.. thank you

[Chris.Davies]

It is very seldom I'm introduced to a car I do not recognise.
I even lived in the USA in 1982!
But I certainly have no recollection of the EXP prior to this video. So, thank you, Mr. The Big Car!
Edit: and now that I've seen it from every angle... I didn't miss anything at all! :)

[debrawomack]

I had one... It was my first brand new car. It was great. I loved it. I would like to have it back. NOT everyone that wanted a sporty little car wanted to got 0-60 in .5 seconds !! I just wanted something fun to drive and a little cool to look at !

[fabrisse]

My sister and I shared a one year old EXP (first model year) while we were in college. I moved to Europe soon thereafter, so the car became my sister's. She and her friends adored it. She got several speeding tickets in it and apparently drove from Virginia to Florida for spring break every year. _My_ next car was a 2CV.

[ianhoughton]

I live less than 5 miles from that St. Thomas assembly plant. Sadly it is no more.

[sarjim]

It could have been a hot seller with more horsepower. It looked good on the outside but was just too much like like riving Grandma's Escort. The lack of performance didn't translate into better fuel economy, so it was the worst of both worlds. I actually surprised it lasted as long and sold as well as it did.

[ewan_clegg]

I love these short stories, keep doing them please

[tomasjones]

Thx for this. I grew up on Los Angeles in the '70/80s. I rarely saw any EXPs - tho I didn't think much of them; at the time. I was driving an MGB & a Cit DS21 Break

[ericgeorge]

I have no idea where the hell I've been but I have never even heard of the EXP!! Thanks for a very interesting insight.

[radioguy]

love to find a mint one, good luck though, My Dad had a well used 82 as well as a friend of mine, both ate the head gaskets early but not too hard a fix. fun little cars. nice video as always.

[mattkaustickomments]

One of my HS buddies had a bright green LN7 we called ‘Kermit’. Was cool to cruise in for 2 guys. With 3 guys, someone had to sort of lie down sideways on the back deck!

[merihkaraman]

I'm surprised you didn't call this series Big Car, Small Stories. Amazing work as always!

[yueibm]

Wow, I don't even remember seeing these. We had a 1982 Lincoln in the family and I remember some of the other Ford products from that time, but not the EXP. Thank you for another great video!

[-DC-]

Soon as I heard CVH had flash backs to snapped timing belts, rattling tappets, blue smoke, oil caps that blow off, and a reluctance to rev 🤮😱.

[noboll]

Thank you for that great video. I am a Ford man through and through, my father came from Co. Cork. I never knew of the EXP.

[retirementfund]

I was working in a small town in East Texas in September 82. My transmission in my toyota truck went out, a 2nd time in 16 months. I was at the dealership waiting on them to tell me how much when I watched one of three of these come off the truck. Nice sound. 5spd. Took it for a drive - ran it thru the gears a few times. Mad about the transmission and the $$$ it was going to cost, again, I bought the EXP. Next day drove it the 300 miles back home to Dallas, had a thousand on it within a week. Nice car, quiet. Sunroof. Cold AC.
I really want to say it was a 4spd, but it must have been a 5spd in that day and time. I do know mine was a early production and had a wide-ratio transmission. I read about the engine and it was tested at 7000rpm. So I would take it to 7k all the time. Raced a friend in his 68 327 camaro ~ Side by side until I had to goto 3rd ~ about 80. Found that ticket the other day too. 82 in a 45. For a year I drove 48 miles to class, and 48 miles home. Great mileage. Drive all over in the snow, no problem. Good little car. EXP = EX-Pinto, or (in bad taste) Ford EX-Ploder. or Experimental Unit. ? Traded it in with 185, 000 on it.