1984 Ford EXP.

November 23, 2010

11 comments
Reppin 2 sets of chrome hub caps, a handicap tag, custom grill (originally only had the bottom 2 gills), and the bubble hatch from its sister the Mercury LN7. One of a kind.


11 comments:

Ben Piff said...

I can't believe I've never heard of these front wheel drive hypermilein' wonders. Actually, I can believe it. But still an advertised 46mpg highway is still awesome, even if it is built on a Ford Escort platform. Even in its day it's styling was described as "a sound beating with the ugly stick ... unbelievably awkward, oddly proportioned lines and a curious headlight treatment".

The modified grill, swapped hatch, and lack of emblems made this quite hard to figure out. But it makes it a heck of a lot more fun to look at than the original notchback.

Justin said...

'Tis an interesting(and frickin' rare) item.

Mike D said...

The EXP gained the bubble-hatch for the 1984 model year, so this is either a 1984 or 1985 model.

Ben Piff said...

Mike D, you're a real gentleman. I'm glad you stopped by and dropped that info that Wikipedia is lacking.

tony said...

the gonzo grill contours are obvious, but i had to come back after talking to ben and re-appreciate the "bubble-hatch." so nice.

Anonymous said...

Had a friend that had one of these back in the late 80's, he painted it green with black spots. It looked just like a frog.

Anonymous said...

They ran better when they switched to EFI, I think in 85 or 86? They became the Escort EXP in 87. That's when they had the better looking nose... kinda like the Escort GT's.

Anonymous said...

Why is he sporting a truck mirror on the passenger side? Weirdo.

LN7 NUT said...

Hi, do you know where this car was photographed? I am an admin on the Ford EXP/Mercury LN7 club and we like to try to keep track of the cars still on the road. http://www.fordexp.com

Like Mike D said earlier this is an 84/85 Ford EXP, the hatch, tail lights and nose are all stock, in the case of this one someone put what looks like electrical tape on the nose of this one above the grill for some reason...

Another poster mentions about the car later being called the Escort EXP that was in 1986 when they gained the Escort GT style front clip.

I love these cars, I personally have 3 LN7's and 3 EXP's!

Tony Piff said...

@NUT: thanks for all the info! pretty much all the cars posted here were shot in the vicinity of portland, oregon. hope that helps!

Terry P said...

I had one of these in 1984. Burgandy with gold pin striping, and burgandy interior. I loved that car, two seater & all. Bought it brand spankin' new off the lot at Bob Davidson Ford in Towson, Maryland. Love at first sight! Alas, it was totalled a year and a half later when on a frosty fall morning, some teeny bopper that was late for work, cut me off and I t-boned him. I survived, but my EXP was toast. And it never occurred to me to take any pictures--only after the accident. I still miss that car. We had some good times.