This Ford Orion 1.6 Ghia hasn't seen the light of day for over 20 years. It's been sitting in a garage since the 2000s. The person who opened the garage door never owned it because they couldn't afford it. But they won't let this opportunity slip by again.
Neil Rapsey is the one who opens the doors of a garage that seems ready to collapse and take with it the car he has been repairing for the last 20 years.
His daughter now owns the Ghia. Her great-grandfather died about 20 years ago. The car has been sitting in the garage ever since. A relative of his bought it new. Then he wanted it, so he paid to have it brought home. It was the mid-90s, and the car was already 12 years old.
The Orion Ghia is definitely a low-mileage car. It has only been out for Sunday drives or to the local garage. That's how it has accumulated 57,391 miles (92,362 kilometers) on the odometer in nearly 40 years.
Neil's daughter is now 29 years old. When she was a baby, Neil received an offer to buy a car. He needed a four-door for his young family. But he didn't have the money to buy it.
Photo: The Late Brake Show | YouTube
It would have been the right means of transport for the Ford enthusiast he has always been. He now owns an Escort and has owned a couple of Fiestas over the years. But that is not why we are here today.
Johnny Smith from The Late Brake Show is afraid that if he sneezes, the garage will collapse; it looks so fragile. Neil unscrews the doors of the vulnerable structure.
Once removed, they reveal the Orion Ghia trapped under a pile of junk the family has stored on and around it. Bags of clothing, children's toys, and anything the family hasn't needed over the years have built a castle of clutter and junk on the car.
The Ford Orion was the right car at the right time
The Orion was launched when Ford was looking for ways to launch a small family sedan to compete with the Volkswagen Jetta and Vauxhall Cavalier in the European market.
Ford launched the Orion on September 13, 1983. By November, it was among the top 10 best-selling cars in Europe. It seemed like the right model at the right time. Ford is said to have sold over 3.5 million Orions, but only around 100 Ghias are known to have survived. And this is one of them.
Photo: The Late Brake Show | YouTube
The Ghia was special in its own way. It had a sunroof, sports front seats, headrests, electric windows, central locking, a rev counter, and a display that informed the driver when the car needed maintenance. This gave it a pretension of luxury when in reality it was not, considering the class of small sedans from which it originated.
All Orion Ghias of the era were powered by the 1.6-liter CVH engine with both carburetor and fuel injection options. It produced 103 horsepower (105 metric horsepower) and 102 pound-feet (138 Newton meters) of torque in a front-wheel drive configuration. The 1.6 was mated to a five-speed manual transmission.
Once Neil and Johnny start removing the items from the roof of the car, the paint is finally visible. The Orion appears to be painted Nimbus Gray, which isn't too bad, even after all these years of being garaged away from sunlight and the road. But the roof was leaking all over it, causing rust stains. However, rodents seemed to have stayed away from the locked Ford.
The car sits on four flat tires. But once inflated, they still hold air like the good old days. Johnny and Neil easily push the sedan out of the garage. It's finally out in broad daylight for the first time in 20 years!
Will that 1.6-liter engine still run after 20 years?
Johnny opens the hood and the engine compartment appears to be intact except for the corroded surfaces, but all the wires and hoses are still in place. There is a plastic bag over the fuse box. Whoever locked it in the garage wanted that fuse box protected.
Photo: The Late Brake Show | YouTube
After checking the fluids to make sure they are at the right levels and inserting a new battery that Neil was keeping as a spare, Johnny plans to try to start the Orion Ghia. However, even with the new/old battery inserted, the car is still dead.
Once they finally have the dashboard lights, they proceed with the plan. The final touch is some fresh fuel. They have a spark and the fuel pump works fine, but the engine still won't run. However, they manage to fire it up and, for the first time in over 20 years, the 1.6 runs on its own.
It's missing a few ignitions because most of the fuel is as old as the Ford's insulation, but there's no smoke coming out of the exhaust.
Ford Orion Ghia Gets Washed For First Time In Two Decades
With the engine running, the next step is to clean the car. Jonny sweeps the dirt off the roof, hood, and trunk—and there’s a lot of it—before washing the vehicle with the pressure washer. It’s his first wash in over two decades.
When he comes in to clean the seats, Johnny bumps into the Dancing Hamster. A child must have missed the toy at some point because a parent/grandparent forgot it in the Ford.
Photo: The Late Brake Show | YouTube
The aluminum strips on the door panels still have the protective plastic that covered them the day this car rolled through the factory gates.
Johnny is surprised to find pants and boxers in the trunk, but you can't judge a car owner by the stuff in the trunk, right? He's found both men's and women's pants in his car before.
Neil is hoping to buy it himself. This is his second chance to own this 1985 Ford Orion Ghia, and 30 years later, he doesn't want to miss out this time.