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Is It Time For Fleet Insurance? Editor Houlahan Takes in a '98 Escort, adding to the fleet of Fords. Read the blog for the details on the how, what, why, and when. As regular readers will know, it's not just my immediate family that drives Fords, but my extended family as well. Sure, there's a stray here and there that drive a GM or an import, but for the majority it has, and always will be, Ford products (well as long as they're produced I guess). A perfect example is this 1998 Ford Escort SE Sport. The well optioned four-door was purchased brand new by my grandmother as her own daily driver to compliment the Lincoln LS and the Ford conversion van already in their driveway. Over the years it racked up scant few miles being driven to the doctor, grocery store, etc. A few years back she stopped driving and my uncle began using it as his daily driver to keep his then brand new '04 GT convertible in pristine shape for the weekends. Well, time does not stand still for anyone, and last month my grandmother lost her brave battle with cancer at the wonderful age of 88. My uncle, at the same time, has decided to retire from his job of 24 years and enjoy the drop top Mustang in his garage more often, leaving the poor little Escort to languish. My aunt and uncle knew I'd take good care of the little Mocha Frost beauty and told me to come get it.  With just a weekend of elbow grease, a clay bar, and some wax, the Escort is already looking better, and with only 88K miles on the clock it runs like the day it was purchased. With all service records in the glove box I knew what was done and what wasn't (I put a timing belt and rear brakes on it) and everything worked on the car as well (power windows, locks, cruise, A/C, etc.). My son and I will be using it as a daily driver, me during the summer months, and he while he has to go to school, at least until his Mustang project is finished. This puts the Houlahan fleet at six Fords and quite the car insurance bill (time for that boy of mine to get J-O-B!) A few upgrades are planned, including some sporty wheels and new tires (one rim was damaged beyond use and the tires are shot), tinting the windows, and a nice audio system (my son doesn't even own a cassette, man I feel old). Check out these "before" pics and I'll post up some "after" photos in a week or two once the upgrades are done...
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