I had a Ford Escort about 25 years ago. It was a love hate relationship and in hindsight it's hard to say if it was more bad than good or vice versa . The windows wound up the wrong way, the blinkers and windscreen wiper controls were on the opposite side to the standard Aussie layout and it had a tendency to snap keys off (keys shared with the ignition switch) in the door locks.

So when it rained I'd wind the window down instead of winding it up and put the blinkers on instead of the wipers after I'd hot wired because the ignition key had broken off in the door.

I reworked the engine in it and went like a rocket and with suspension upgrades it went around corners like it was rails. It was great little rally car.

After the ignition key broke in the door lock the second time and I had to remove the back of the ignition switch to start it with a screwdriver I just left the ignition switch disconnected and left the screwdriver on a parcel shelf down to the side of the steering wheel. I parked it on the street like that for about 10 months (unlocked because I had no door/ignition key) and no-one ever stole it.