The Edscort license plate

Edscort

The Edscort is a 1998 Ford ZX2, a four-cylinder, two-door coupe that I have driven since around 2003. When I first purchased The Edscort, the odometer showed 200k miles. The original engine was swapped for a junkyard special in 2008 and the transmission has been changed the similarly twice. The odometer reads over 365k miles as of 2026. Nearly everything has broken at least once. Everything steel is rusting away. Everything plastic is crumbling. It’s a death trap. And I will never give it up.


In late 2025 the shifter assembly fell through the floor. The rubber boot had rotten through. A replacement assembly could not be located. I drilled a bolt through the floor to hold up the assembly and filled the space around the shifter with hot glue.

The Edscort in June 2025

The Edscort in June 2025.

Edscort wiper switches.

The original wiper handle broke and was replaced with switches a long time ago. In February 2025 some of those switches failed and were replaced. I used a plastic jar for mounting them.

Since early 2025 I am using an old phone (Moto G Power 2021) as a dash camera. This battery in this phone can last a week or more between charges in standby.

License plates as sun visors

Sun visors were replaced with old license plates in May 2023.

Edscort with doors removed.

Throughout the summer of 2020 I drove with both doors removed.

Magnet and aftermarket horn on steering wheel.

The steering wheel airbag didn’t trigger in the 2018 wreck, so I replaced it with a wood plate where I installed a new horn and a hard drive magnet. The magnet, and two others on the dash, can hold my phone while driving. Photos from mid 2019.

Phone mounted on steering wheel.

After the wreck repairs, the hood latch didn’t work as before. Now the hood is held down by these cabinet latches. Photo from November 2018.

Edscort wreck in 2018

A wreck in May 2018 crushed the front end. Repairs were extensive and included the hood, the bumper, a quarter panel, the radiator, and a good bit of frame. It was during these repairs I cut the top and repainted with black tractor paint.