It was after midnight, and I had the shuttle bus driver drop me off where I thought my car was in the airport parking lot, but I was wrong. So I went on a long walk trying to find my car, my keyfob in hand, pressing the Lock button, hoping to hear my car’s horn honk. Then I came upon this little Ford Escort ZX2. Since these were new, I always thought it would be fun to own one. Little did I know that I had stumbled upon a genuinely rare ZX2.
That little mark under the ZX2 badge reads “S/R.” Ford worked with the tuner companies to bolt on a lot of go-fast-and-handle-well bits to this car: progressive-rate Eibach springs, Tokico struts, Energy Suspension anti-roll bar bushings, Goodyear Eagle F1 P205/55ZR15 tires, a B&M Pro-Edge shifter, a Borla muffler, a Roush intake system, and a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch and pressure plate. It was a tuned car you could order right from the factory. Motor Trend brought their test ZX2 S/R t to 60 mph in just 7.6 seconds. Not bad for 1999!
Ford made only 100 ZX2 S/Rs in 1999, but bumped that number to 2,000 in 2000. Statistics dictate that the S/R I found is probably a 2000 model. Ford made these in yellow, red, and black, but when you Google this car, you find only yellow S/Rs.
ZX2s were everyday cars for everyday people. But with the S/R, Ford had a little fun. This was the end of the line for the venerable Escort, as the Focus had already appeared on the scene, and Ford’s SVT (Special Vehicle Team) was busy juicing the newest car to wear Ford’s subcompact crown.
Saw one yesterday near office. Was nice weather so owner was exercising it, taking to work.
I sold one of these when I worked for Carmax many many years ago. It was on the lot cheap and no one cared for it except some nerdy middle aged guy who kept trying to explain that it was a steal for autocrossing. The wheels are hideous and the build quality was always a joke with those last escorts. Most of the regular models vibrated like crazy by 30k miles.
I wonder if the “S/R” emblem is from the peel and stick aisle at Pep Boys!
The era when Ford had the round pencil stroke that ended in 2008 with the edgy Taurus
Hmm. So much negativity here so far. I’m actually kind of drawn to this. I remember not particularly liking the styling when they were new, and having small kids at the time rendered something like this of no use to me, but now I kind of like it. For those of us who came of driving age in the early-to-mid 80’s, the 2 door, 4 cylinder, manual transmission impractical coupe or hatchback was the default vehicle. And now there aren’t many left, so this looks a lot better to me now than it did 20 years ago. I never liked that front end. I wasn’t fond of the Honda Del Sol for the same reason, although I suppose it was perhaps influenced by the early Lexus coupes like the one re-run the other day. But other than that it’s a fairly well styled car. The profile photo is its “Good Side” IMO
Great find! I always get a charge out of stumbling on really low-production models.
I had forgotten that this variation of the ZX2 ever existed. If I even knew about them in the first place, given that they came in the middle of the years of three kids where something like this was as relevant to my life as a horse and buggy. I always kind of liked the looks of the ZX2, which kind of caught the end of the wave of classically proportioned 2 door cars.
When I think of the ZX2, all I can think is the nonstop radio commercials in the late 90s. Using a version of the song “When You’re Smiling”.
This is a case where the actual product differed substantially from what was shown at the 1999 SEMA show and lent to the press for their initial assessments. The Roush air intake, Centerforce clutch and pressure plate never made it to the production S/R’s, the suspension upgrades were scaled way back, the optional limited slip differential fitted to the press car never happened, the badges that matched the standard car in font became those nasty vinyl stickers, the unique interior pieces became loud and gauche, wheels were sourced from the current Mercury Tracer instead of the machine-faced 1996 Escort GT pieces first shown, etc. It went from promising to why would anyone actually want this in a flash.
I think the intent of the concept ZX2 S/R was an alternative to the Dodge Neon ACR and R/T, but I suspect someone at Ford decided to water it down for production to more of a Ford version of the lame Chevrolet Cavalier Z24. It ended up being just another PT Barnum type trick where the Ford faithful would ‘think’ they were getting the SEMA showcar with all the hot bits (with a high price tag, to boot) when it was nothing of the sort, except for the pricey cost. No one was fooled and it was quickly dropped.
It’s a real shame because, in general, I thought the ZX2 was mostly a worthy competitor to the Neon and Cavalier coupes. The ZX2 came out at almost exactly the same time the 2nd generation, sedan-only Neon was arriving in showrooms.
Two things I didn’t particularly like were the swoopy instrument panel (I think it might have had the goofy Ford-only Taurus radio faceplate, too, that couldn’t be swapped out for an aftermarket unit).
The other thing that bugged me about the ZX2 was that, unlike the Dodge or Chevy, there was no center armrest, not even as an option. IIRC, for some strange reason, a center armrest wasn’t available throughout the Ford Escort lineup during that particular model cycle. I could never figure that one out. It was like Ford was telling customers, “Hey, if you want a cheap car, we’ll show you cheap. We won’t even offer a center armrest!”.
This vehicle is completely unknown to me as it was not offered in our country. At first glance, it looks to me like a (cheap) copy of the SC 300.
Another vehicle that reminds me of rural Pennsylvania circa 2005.
I thought it was a Hyundai coupe with Ford badge engineering.
It is a little Taurus jelly bean, it should be also the body for the four door sedan.
I remember when Ford launched the v1.3 Focus in 2007 (for ’08) and went to a coupe, my first thought was why they repeated the mistake of a decade before since in my mind the ZX2 sold so poorly compared to the previous 3-door hatchback Escort, let alone the Focus ZX3 which it overlapped with for a surprisingly long time.
Maybe the Escort ZX2 would’ve sold better earlier in the ’90s if it had its’ own nameplate.
Oh man, a blast from the past. I haven’t thought of my ’98 ZX2 in a while, and I’m sure it’s gone to its final reward, whatever that is. Still, I drove it probably 40,000 miles and it already had 10 years of Michigan roads under its belt when I bought it from my sister. I don’t think of it with fondness or regret, so I guess it was just OK. 🙂
For a second, i thought you posted a picture of mine, but mine has a front plate and my bumper is not messed up.
I picked one up really cheap and use it as a commuter vehicle. So few even remember the ZX2, let alone the SR edition.