Synopsis part three: Ford Escort 1300

1300 cc’s of raw power.  I bought this car nearly new from a garage near Leeds.  I drove everywhere in it, and it was generally quite reliable.  I do recall once that the car would not turn off.  I was on a trip to Scotland and when I pulled in for a lunch break at a roadside cafe, got out Escort1300of the car and locked it (with the key!).  I had quite a longish break for lunch but when I returned and opened the car I heard that it was still running even though I had the keys in my hand.  I am not sure to this day why that happened, and it never happened again.  That was because a couple of weeks later I had my first major crash and wrote it off in a dry stone wall near Otley…..