Rarity / Ford / Escort

Ford Escort: how many are still registered?

48,578still registered

Ford Escort cars still registered with DVLA (licensed or SORN), across 192 recorded variants.

Most recorded on UK roads at once: 1,698,777 (1994 Q4) - 2.8% of that peak survives.

32,677 of the survivors (67.2%) are declared off-road (SORN) rather than taxed.

2.8% survives 1994 Q4 peak: 1,698,777

Declared off-road (SORN)32,677 · 67.2%

Derivatives

DVLA also registers other body types under the Ford Escort nameplate. Each is counted on its own page, so every figure on this one is cars only.

Ford Escort vans9,758still reg.Ford Escort lorries1still reg.Ford Escort buses and coaches2still reg.

By year

All 48,578 surviving Ford Escort cars, by the year each was built - not how many were on the road at the time. DVLA records a build year for only 43,954 of them; the rest are registered without one and cannot be placed on the year-built bars. Across every year, 17,041 of these cars have gone since 2014, leaving 72.0% of the 2014 figure. That is the earliest real count of the same cars: DVLA publishes no production figures, so nothing here is a count of how many were built.

Year built1979 → 2001
4,0002,0000
19792001
Point at a year for the numbers

On the road over time

Total Ford Escort cars registered (licensed or SORN) at the end of each year.

1,698,777
1994log scale2026: 46,567
Point at the line for a year

Engine size and fuel

What is on the road now: the surviving Ford Escort cars split by engine capacity and by fuel, as recorded 2025. Engine sizes are DVLA's own bands and cover only the cars it holds a capacity for.

Engine size

1001cc to 1100cc929 cars · 1.9%
1101cc to 1200cc933 cars · 1.9%
1201cc to 1300cc5,717 cars · 11.7%
1301cc to 1400cc3,655 cars · 7.5%
1501cc to 1600cc20,635 cars · 42.4%
1601cc to 1700cc2,378 cars · 4.8%
1701cc to 1800cc5,367 cars · 11.0%
1901cc to 2000cc6,606 cars · 13.5%
2001cc to 2100cc1,782 cars · 3.6%
Other sizes (40)573 cars · 1.1%

Fuel

Petrol46,679 · 96.0%
Diesel1,890 · 3.8%
Gas9 · under 0.1%

By generation

Approximate generation windows - the changeover year counts toward the newer car.

GenerationStill registered
Mk1 (1968–1974)2,120
Mk2 (1975–1980)9,868
Mk3 (1981–1985)4,467
Mk4 (1986–1989)8,033
1990–200019,286

Own or buying a Ford Escort? Get its free DVLA tax and MOT history - and the paid report's own rarity figures for the exact variant - in seconds.

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Source: DVLA vehicle licensing statistics (DfT). Counts as of 2025, licensed and SORN vehicles both included. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Survivor counts are national registration figures, not a guarantee any particular car exists or is roadworthy - check a specific reg free.