It’s a classic Mk1 Ford Escort perfectly preserved.
Yes, we know, the term “barn find” is perhaps one of the most abused in the automotive industry at the moment, even worse than “dynamic.” That’s why it’s refreshing to see YouTuber CarPervert show off footage of him discovering a Ford kept in a garage and not call it a true barn find, because it really isn’t. That’s tough because people go nuts over barn finds, even when the cars are in sheds, storage units, open fields, or anywhere else.
If you’re from this side of the pond, you might not completely understand what’s so special about a Mk1 Ford Escort 1300XL. The car in question looks quite boxy, but to be honest so does a BMW 2002 and plenty of other highly revered models from back in the day. Here in the US of A we never got any really hot Escorts, so to us it was a little economy car which wasn’t all that exciting. But for British car culture it’s a big deal, obviously.
What’s not hard to understand is the level of preservation for this car. The owner didn’t have a proper cover for it, but they still made the effort of draping whatever they did have on hand over the body, keeping it looking incredibly nice. And with under 1,000 miles on the odometer, you can appreciate this Ford Escort has plenty of life left in it, despite being considerably old at this point.
One of the most amazing details of this story is the fact Johnny Smith, the CarPervert hadn’t shared his discovery with his followers for over eight years. It just goes to show there’s some value in not flashing all of your cards, even when you might think it will make you look cool. The result is we’re all wondering what else he’s keeping hidden away, which just adds to the mysterious, cool quality of the guy.
