by Al Shield

Created on: April 16, 2010

‘You get what you pay for’ was a very apt saying for the humble non turbo Ford Laser as back in the day it was basic bargain motoring at its very best. And if you shelled out very little for one of these rebadged Mazda 323’s, then you were well rewarded with a machine that quite happily went from A to B at a moderate pace (slow compared to what you can buy today unless you were lucky enough to score their very sporty Turbo TX3 model) coupled with remarkable resilience.

To put it bluntly, some Lasers simply refused to die.

By 1989 The Ford Laser had started to get a touch quicker with upgraded Mazda engines (the humble Mazda B6) but compared to earlier releases the rest remained remotely the same. Bland and dull cloth interior over the bare bones  control system (the 89 KE GL series came with no power steering, no tachometer and just a tape deck for entertainment) in a boxy small shell that turned zero heads and could only beat other Lasers at the lights if you were lucky. There was the option of hatch or small sedan, 5 speed manual or a very sluggish Auto. The suspension felt like sponge cakes and didn’t like fast corners. Add that to a list of exciting colors such as Moroccan Beige and you had a vehicle that serviced two types of people: the elderly and those who were just new to the motoring world.

Luckily it served those groups very well as it was ridiculously cheap to run (it didn’t drink petrol, it ran on the fumes), fairly easy to fix and because there were so many around, parts were easy to come by. It was also just the sum of it’s parts with nothing complicated whatsoever to turn off and on, such as traction control or cruise. You got it, started it and off you went – fantastic for those venturing out onto the roads for the very first time.

Because the non turbo model was so basic yet easy to work on, most Lasers were quite happy to clock up as many kilometers as you could throw at them. It’s pretty common to see Lasers with close to 300,000 ks on the speedo in today’s market that still run. They might not be luxurious, nor speedy or entertaining, but that wasn’t the point – Ford built them to be basic and they do that exceptionally well.

 However with their resilience came the attitude that no matter what happened, the Laser would be fine. Which meant there were many models sold by private users that hadn’t been looked after properly during their life, mine included. By the time I sold my humble 1989 Ford Laser KE GL, 100,000 kms after I inherited it, there was more problems I’d ignored than a mechanic could shake a wrench at. The gearbox oil had developed into sludge and I’d managed to cook 5th gear. There were oil, petrol and coolant leaks. The radiator was on the way out too. All because I put too much faith in their revered toughness. The car could go forever but I couldn’t sell it in that condition and ultimately costing more to fix than it was worth, it ended up on the scrapheap.

However if you can find one with low k’s (almost an impossibility with their fondness for longevity and mileage) or one with a regular service history, then you’ll have an ideal first car. It won’t move mountains, but it’ll get you to the top eventually.

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