Car number 20,  Ford Escort 1976

The Ford Falcon, good car as it was, did not drink petrol slowly!. And like many people, we downsized, we traded to a British Ford Escort with a 'motor mower' sized engine of 1.3 litres. The Escort was small, slow and easily forgettable. The photo of the red car is not our actual car, ours being blue and a two door model. I hunted everywhere but could find any remaining photos.

Towards the end of the 1970's the Middle East oil embargo hit...this caused a significant leap in world oil prices. Not only did the petrol price rise but there was talk of oil being in very short supply; many Brisbane service stations had 'No fuel' signs out.

Some local 'experts' were even suggesting that rationing would occur, with preferences given to essential vehicles only. Naturally, this scared a lot of people, us included. As it turned out, there was some petrol rationing but not a lot...the cost did eventually drop back, but never to the level it was previously...realistically, buying  the little Ford was a mistake, two doors do present some issues.