Pete basically said what I was thinking, sort of.
When I got my license in the late 80's, one of my first cars was an 83' Rabbit GTi. One of my best friends had a late 80's Escort GT. I want to say it was a 1.9 to my 1.8, if I remember correctly. I was already racing in the mini sprints, and being a typical hooligan teenager on the streets and fire roads in our local area. He had no experience at all.
He never could even stay with me anywhere we messed around. Auto-X, streets, fire roads, anywhere. We switched cars one day, and I let him lead, and I couldn't stay with him, while he was driving my car. The car just had no grunt, no gearing, and no suspension. Even stock vs. stock.
Once I started modifying my GTi for track events, he didn't even try anymore. About the only thing the Escort GT was good for, was setting the E-brake, and doing FWD burn-outs.
I will admit however, that the mid 80's GT was a handsome design, for a FoMoCo product.
What about finding yourself a mid 80's Mercury Capri? Beautiful car, IMHO, and you could do a lot with it considering it shares everything underneath with a Fox body.