Many moons ago, I drove a mid '70's rental Ford Escort (1300cc four cylinder, 4 speed manual) in the UK. Of all the rental cars I've rented in Europe over the years , I would say this was my favourite. First car ever that I drove with radials...Michelin X...if I recall and I really liked the rear wheel drive.
It was just a basic Ford Escort, but I found it had some zip, handled tight corners really well. When I drove it hard in the twisties it reminded me of my '62 Volvo PV 544s with it's twin carb B19 engine. Both the PV544 and the Escort were 'rally proved' to a degree as these basic cars were, when modified somewhat, were successful in car rallies back then.
The Escort that I rented with a 1.3 liter didn't have the snap of my 1.8 liter , twin SU carb Volvo...but they were both nicely balanced cars for their time...handling, braking, some acceleration.
It was nice to drive a basic, rear wheel sedan...manual transmission, manual everything...no electronic gimcrackery such as 'auto shut off' at traffic lights...something that is currently driving me nuts in our new vehicle.