They look great and yes, a great back story.

I've never had an Escort (well, not a car one!!) but bought an early mini cooper a couple of years ago at an auction. Driving it home was borderline scary. I didn't realise how flimsy they were and I felt like I was going to be squished by bog standard modern hatchbacks. Oh yeah, and I thought the brakes didn't work but apparently they were working fine and I just wasn't pushing hard enough or praying hard enough. Don't have it any more. I sold it to a braver bloke lol.