End of an era for Ford

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - The last Ford Escort rolled off the production lines on Friday as Ford bid farewell to a car seen as synonymous with everyday British life.

Ford of Europe Chairman Nick Scheele brought down the curtain on the Escort success story when he drove the 5,202,412th car, a five-door Amparo Blue Finesse, off the production line at Halewood, in northwest England. The model has been made there since its launch in 1968.

The car was a hit in Britain and abroad. In the UK alone it was the best-selling car thirteen times.

It soon became a familiar sight with British police forces choosing to use it and television dramas of the 1970s and 80s portraying it as a gangster's speedy getaway car.

"The Ford Escort is a legend in its own lifetime," Ian McAllister, chairman of Ford of Britain, said in a statement.

"Its styling, practicality and value-for-money have been embraced by British consumers for more than 30 years, and we are tremendously proud of its achievements."

The Escort was also made in Belgium, Germany and Spain but Halewood was always seen as its spiritual home. Almost 20 million models were worldwide.

The original family car spawned sportier successors, most notably the RS Cosworth and the distinctive XR3i, the model that became popular with so-called "boy racers."

But Ford said with the introduction of the new Focus model there was no room in the market for the Escort.

"It's been around for a long time," Ford spokesman Phil Hale told Reuters.

"Effectively the Ford Escort is a car which has come to the end of its cycle of development."

Curiously, the car's design team was absent from Friday's limelight.

Hale said there was no record of who was behind the car but added it was probably the person in charge of design at the company from 1965-66 when the model was dreamed up.

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