This Mk1 Ford Escort Looks Finished. But Look At The Date…

There are restoration projects, there are brave restoration projects, and then there is HTM 457F.

We found this battered Ford Escort sitting among an extraordinary collection of old cars in Cambridgeshire, and it’s fair to say its best days appear to be some considerable distance behind it.

The front end is badly damaged. Corrosion has taken a spectacular toll on the body. One substantial piece of the car is now residing across the front seats.

You could quite reasonably look at the photographs and wonder whether there’s enough Escort left to save.

Then you discover when it was registered.

15 March 1968.

And suddenly this very sorry-looking little Ford becomes rather more interesting.

A Mk1 Escort From The Very Beginning

The Ford Escort was brand new in 1968, making its public debut at the Brussels Motor Show in January before rapidly becoming one of the defining family cars of its generation.

HTM 457F was first registered on 15 March 1968, putting it right at the beginning of the Escort story.

Better still, the surviving identification plate appears to confirm that this isn’t simply a car registered early from existing stock.

The chassis number begins BB42HA. Ford’s early identification system points to a British-built, Halewood two-door De Luxe, with the final two letters dating its manufacture to March 1968.

An HPI check backs up the identity, recording the car as a Ford Escort De Luxe, with a 1098cc petrol engine and chassis number beginning BB42HA.

In other words, everything appears to line up.

This is a March-built, March-registered 1968 Ford Escort 1100 De Luxe two-door.

What Did ‘De Luxe’ Actually Mean In 1968?

The name sounds rather grand today, but the Escort De Luxe was still a wonderfully simple little car.

The De Luxe sat towards the more affordable end of the early Escort range. Spending a little more brought such extravagances as a heater and windscreen washers.

Yes, really.

The De Luxe cost around £635 when new, and retained the round headlamps and practical rubber flooring that can still be seen in HTM 457F.

Move further up the range to the Escort Super and things became noticeably plusher, with carpets, rectangular headlamps, a cigar lighter, water temperature gauge and upgraded seating and trim.

It puts the word De Luxe into rather charming perspective.

Under the bonnet of this one is the familiar 1098cc Kent Crossflow, driving the rear wheels through a four-speed manual gearbox.

There was nothing exotic about an Escort like this in 1968. Quite the opposite.

That’s arguably part of what makes it so appealing today.

Long before Mexico, RS2000 and other sporting versions helped turn the Mk1 Escort into an icon, ordinary 1100s like this were what put the Escort name onto British roads.

It Has Certainly Had A Hard Life

There is no disguising the condition.

The photographs speak rather more eloquently on that subject than we ever could.

Corrosion is extensive, particularly around the front of the car, while parts of the body have suffered very substantial damage. Anyone contemplating bringing this one back would need to inspect it extremely carefully and arrive with considerably more than a tub of filler.

Yet look beyond the body and there are fascinating little survivors everywhere.

Its 1098cc engine remains beneath the bonnet, although we have no information at this stage about its condition.

Inside, the wonderfully simple early Escort dashboard remains, as do the black seats and door trim. Considering what has happened to the surrounding car, parts of that interior have survived remarkably well.

There are even keys hanging from the ignition.

At the back, the FORD lettering, Escort badge, chrome bumper and wonderfully period-looking raised-character HTM 457F number plate are still there.

The odometer displays 47,817 miles, although we have no evidence to verify the mileage and certainly wouldn’t attempt to do so from a five-digit odometer alone.

It’s an extraordinary mixture of decay and preservation.

Just Two Recorded Keepers

Our HPI check produced another surprise.

It records only one former keeper, with the current keeper shown as acquiring the Escort on 29 August 1996.

That means this 58-year-old Ford appears to have had just two recorded keepers, with the latter association stretching back almost 30 years.

The HPI check also returned clear across its registers and shows no scrap marker.

There is clearly much more we’d like to know about HTM 457F’s history, and we’re hoping further information may emerge as the car is catalogued for sale.

So, Would You Save It?

That’s the question, isn’t it?

If this were a much later, completely ordinary Escort in the same condition, the answer might come rather quickly.

But this isn’t.

It’s a two-door 1100 De Luxe built and registered in March 1968, when the Escort itself had only just arrived.

We aren’t going to pretend that makes the corrosion disappear, nor are we going to claim this is one of the earliest surviving Escorts without evidence to support it.

What we can say is that it’s a genuine launch-period example of a car that went on to become enormously important to Ford and to generations of British motorists.

Does that make it worth saving?

Or has nature already won this particular battle?

We suspect there will be opinions on both sides.

And This Is Only The Beginning…

There’s another reason we’re showing you HTM 457F now.

UK Barn Finds was contacted by Cheffins ahead of its forthcoming vintage sale and invited to Sutton, Cambridgeshire, for an early look at something rather special.

This Escort isn’t an isolated project.

It forms part of a remarkable deceased-estate collection containing almost 70 cars, many of which have been hidden from public view and all of which are due to be offered without reserve.

The auction catalogue wasn’t even live when we visited.

We spent time exploring the collection, photographed many of the cars and filmed a number of them too.

Some are rough.

Some are very unusual.

Some have heartbreaking stories of their own.

And there are several that we suspect will generate almost as much discussion as this Escort.

The vehicles are due to go under the hammer at Cheffins in Sutton on 17 October 2026, as part of its two-day vintage sale on 16 and 17 October.

We’ll be revealing plenty more from the collection between now and auction day.

But when we had to choose the first car to show you, there really could only be one.

HTM 457F.

It may be one of the roughest Mk1 Escorts we’ve encountered.

Whether it’s too far gone is another matter entirely.

Found Something We Should Know About?

Barn finds don’t have to be valuable, immaculate or even particularly rare to have a story worth telling.

If you’ve discovered an interesting classic car tucked away in a barn, garage, shed or somewhere it hasn’t seen daylight for years, we’d love to hear about it.

Whether it’s a forgotten family car, an unusual survivor or something with a fascinating history, send UK Barn Finds the details and some photographs.

Your discovery could be our next story. Please get in touch.