IMPORTING THE 1969 FORD ESCORT DE LUXE 1100
If you have a passion for vehicles then I'm sure you have a 'bucket list' of cars and/or trucks you'd like to acquire over the course of your lifetime. This list of mine has been ongoing since I was a child starting with Porsche 911's, Skyline's, Ferrari's etc. Obviously as I got older and more mature my taste changed and practicality came into play, which has led me to my last purchase of the MK4 Austin Leyland Mini 1000 you might have seen on my Facebook or Instagram. I kept the Mini for a short amount of time and I still regret selling it a little bit, but if I didn't sell it then this door of opportunity wouldn't have opened...
After selling the Mini to a local British car enthusiast; I began my search for yet another British car that has been on my list… The MK1 Ford Escort is very attractive to me and it doesn't matter if it's the Rally Sport inspired, bubble arched RS1600 or this 100% stock, 2-owner, De Luxe 1100 like this one. I did some online searching and came across this 69' Escort Deluxe on ebay.uk and noticed the seller's backdrop in the photos; It was Darrell Taylor from the MK1/MK2 groups on Facebook.
Darrell is well known in this community and has a long ongoing track record of positive feedback. Darrell and I conversed for about a day before I pulled the trigger and made my deposit. Trust me, I was very nervous as I never purchased a car from overseas before but I had confidence I could work out any kinks that could come my way. Darrell linked me with Mark C. of Kingstown Shipping to handle the delivery and loading of the car in the UK. Mark was very professional and gave me a few shipping options; the most affordable being to ship to Port Hueneme in the Los Angeles area, and it would take an estimated 30 days to reach US soil. Once the car makes it to US soil you'd need importation paperwork to clear customs; as mentioned...I've never done this so I got in contact with Vantage Point Services in San Francisco who specializes in customs services. I dealt with Shauna at Vantage Point, and man let me tell you...she was AWESOME! I called countless times with questions on the paperwork and she was always there to lend a helping hand.
FEB 15:
The Escort wasn’t able to make the first 2 vessels, which was disheartening, but was able to make the vessel today with an estimated delivery date of March 3!
MAR 12:
SHE HAS ARRIVED! It was picked up and delivered with care by Thayer Transport and it was exactly as described by Darrell.
It’s still a little surreal that this car is in my possession and what makes it even cooler is the backstory I got on it after it arrived. I posted the car in a MK1/MK2 group where I was contacted by the previous owner; he told me the car was on display in a museum in Holland for 25 years after it came off of the assembly line, later bought back by Ford then resold. How cool is that?
12/27/21 - 3/12/22: Date of purchase to delivered in my driveway.