Ford Orion

My tale is of a mk3 Orion - the ones that came out in 1990 and died around 1994 when they were rebranded an "Escort Saloon". I bought it from a main ford dealer in 1993, and it was a fully loaded car. It had done 10,000 miles from new (one owner) and was less than a year old. It's spec was alloy wheels, elec windows, tilt/slide sunroof, elec mirrors, CD & casette player, central locking, heated front & rear screens. I spent quite a bit of money in upgrading this car - I had a nice Ford painted spoiler fitted to the rear, changed the wheels for those which normally adorn the Ghia Si model, fitted front fog lamps with the genuine Ford kit, ...  Read the complete review

I've owned two Orions so far, a 1987 1.6 GL and my current car a 1990 1.6i Ghia. Both cars are pretty solid with only wear and tear items such as brakes, exhaust and tyres giving me any expense. Each of them has done about 80,000 miles which is a crucial time in an Orion (or Escorts) life. At this age a properly maintained engine can go for another 40,000 miles plus but a less maintained example (such as my old GL) will have begun to sludge up. The sludging can be cured by blowing the oil galleries out with an air hose, but you can bet the damage has already been done before you notice it. If sludging has occurred then the camshaft and rockers will get ...  Read the complete review

I am 21 years old and have just purchased my 4th Orion. When i was 17 i bought a 1987 Orion 1.4 ghia. It was a 1.4 with weber carburettor and it came with a host of luxuries for my first car, such as electric windows and mirrors, rear headrests and an amplifier. After owning this car for one trouble free year, i part exchanged it in and bought a 1990 Orion 1.6i ghia. This engine was 1.6 and was equipped with electronic fuel injection, this again came with a host of luxuries as listed above. Then after another year i stepped into the world of modified orions when i bought an Orion 1.6 Turbo (engine from an RS) with full bodykit, 16" Tsw Venoms etc. This ...  Read the complete review

I bought my 1.4 LX MKII Orion just over 2 years ago and love it as much now as I did when I first laid eyes on it.......sounds like a love story??? The exterior of the car is in fantastic condition with the mercury grey metallic paint just adding to the look of it. The interior, considering it's now become a teenager is also fantastic with absolutely nothing wrong at all. After buying the car I started to have a few things which went wrong with it, namely the engine jerking then cutting out and finally starting again as if there was nothing wrong. This was solved however after replacing the carburettor 2 TIMES!! The only other problem I've ...  Read the complete review

My family car is a D-reg 1987 Ford Orion Ghia. The Orion is just an Escort saloon, and in 1995 they discontinued the Orion and just called it the Escort Saloon. Ours is the old-shape (Mk. 1) version, which ran until 1990, and in Jan. 1991 it was replaced by the new shape (Mk. 2) at the same time as the new shape (Mk. 4) Escort. We bought it 2 years ago, and it's been the best car we've ever had. We usually buy cars between 7-12 years old, and this was 11 years old when we bought it. The Ghia is the highest-spec model you can buy, and is still used today on brand new Fords such as the Focus and Mondeo. So even though out car is 13 years old, it has front ...  Read the complete review