Icey Mike,
Not all the cars on that list are still in my possession. I managed to wreck/total out the '87 Ranger going to work one day...but not before putting 300,000 miles on the chasis. It was a sad day as it was my baby. Custom paint, exhaust, 1992 4.0L engine, tranny & dash, power lumbar STX seats, etc. Sold the Explorer when its paint started doing what the original paint on my '87 Ranger did. Sold the '89 Escort to my brother. So I ONLY have 3 cars right now! '91 Escort GT, '94 Ranger XLT S-Cab, '99 Contour SE.
While the '89 Escort was/is really ugly it has 183,000 miles and my brother is still driving it. I have no plans on ditching the 91 Escort GT until I find a 1996 Escort GT to replace it with. I have 154,000 miles on this car and it still runs great. I can almost guarantee you that my 1999 Contour SE won't hold up as well as this car has. It is actually very fun to drive. It has the Mazda 1.8L DOHC engine, power sunroof, 4-wheel disk brakes. I have another engine sitting in the garage for it when it finally gives out. It serves as my commuter car... allowing my tour to sit at home while I'm at work. It gets 30mpg and it will hold its own with a non-SVT 5-speed Contour. I'm keeping my eyes out for a low mileage 1996 Escort GT...want one with ABS, power windows & locks (options the earlier years didn't have). It will be really fun getting one of these for about $6,000 (loaded!) and putting about another $6,000 into it. I think it will be able to run with a stock SVT (Contour or Focus). $6,000 can buy a lot of Escort mods...suspension, exhaust, intake, supercharger, brakes, clutch, wheels, tires. I will keep it fairly "normal" looking so it will make for a nice sleeper!
I will post pics if/when I ever do it.
Mike
