Ford’s subcompact Escort reshuffled models for 1982 to make room for new hatchback sedans and a somewhat oddly styled coupe called EXP introduced as a mid-year model. The latter was Dearborn’s first two seater since the 1957 T-Bird. Like other 1982 Fords, all wore newly revived blue oval emblems. Ford’s EXP got a higher performance 90-hp engine option. The basic 1.6-liter four was still the same, but was tweaked to yield 20 more horsepower. At first, this engine would come only with an automatic transmission, but soon was available with a close-ratio, four-speed manual gearbox.
Escort sales remained strong, 385,132 total, plus 98,256 copies of the $7,387 EXP.
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