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Sometimes, looking good is good enough. Take the 1998 Ford Escort ZX2. The thing turns heads. But it’s just an econocar with attitude.

Serious hot-rodders will ignore it; so will anyone who regularly drives a Volkswagen GTI-VR6 or a Mitsubishi Eclipse GS-T Turbo. Those little cars sizzle!

The ZX2, by comparison, simply looks hot, which isn’t saying that it’s all pretense. Nope. It’s zippy. It moves nicely in and out of traffic. But it’s not in the same league as the super pocket-rockets.

And therein lies Ford’s better idea, because the ZX2 is not in the same price range as those hotter running cars, either. Even the fully loaded test model, the ZX2 Sport, barely cruises above the $17,000 mark. Compare that with about $20,000 for VW’s GTI-VR6, or $21,200 for the Eclipse GS-TTurbo.

What Ford has figured out is that lots of people want the bacon without the sizzle. It’s a head trip. To wit:

You want to look sporty without having the grief or expense of owning a real sports car. You give up something in highway performance.

Background: Ford is going after the kids with this one, and the company isn’t the least bit chary about saying so. The ZX2, the company’s publicists say, “is aimed at youthful buyers who want an affordable, fun-to-drive vehicle.”

The key words in the pitch are “youthful” and “affordable” — and “fun.”

All automakers are going after youth — Volkswagen with its new rendition of the Beetle; GM’s Cadillac Motor Division with its Catera car and accompanying wacky duck mascot; and even Mercedes-Benz, with its C-Class automobiles.

Getting ’em while they’re young betters your chances of keeping ’em when they’re older, if you’re in merchandising. That makes “affordable” and “fun” necessary lures.

It’s basic: Young people tend to have less money than their elders, which means they generally can afford less. But it’s difficult to sell young people anything if fun isn’t attached. Just ask the people who tried to peddle Yugos in America in the mid-1980s.

“Fun” is where the ZX2 excels. People notice the car. Some folks even wave at it. Everyone I asked about it priced it at least a thousand bucks above its actual sticker. Why? “It just looks like a really nice little sports car. I thought it would cost something like a [Mazda] Miata,” said a young woman in downtown Washington.

She was off by about $2,000.

That’s the trick. Give ’em more than they expect at a price that makes ’em smile.

And ZX2 buyers actually get a lot. Though the car shares the same front-wheel-drive layout as the lesser Escort sedans and wagons, its swoop-nosed sheet metal and bigger engine are different; and its interior, though it shares the same oval center console with brethren Escorts, is distinguished by sportier styling cues on the instrument panel and door handles.

The ZX2 is tighter than the other Escorts, too, which means it’s a bit quieter as well.

The car is equipped with Ford’s two-liter, 16 -valve, double-overhead-cam, in-line four-cylinder engine, rated 130 horsepower at 5,750 rpm. Torque is rated 127 pound-feet at 4,250 rpm. The same engine is used in Ford’s larger Contour car.

A five-speed manual transmission is standard. A four-speed automatic is optional. So are anti-lock brakes, which will cost you another $570.

There is all of the usual safety equipment, including dual-front air bags, which later next year will be designed to inflate more slowly than predecessor models. Wear your seat belts.

1998 Ford Escort ZX2

Complaints: Cramped rear seating for tall people. But two short types can fit back there. Also, the engine gets buzzy at top-end highway speeds, and the steering at those speeds feels awfully light.

Praise: A perfect commuter. Can do well even on longer trips. It’s highway-competent. But mostly, it’s a darn good-looking, well-made little car that represents one of the best available deals for a new automobile.

Ride, accelera ion and handling: Very good ride. Zippy acceleration. Excellent handling. Good brakes (power front discs/rear drums). The test model was equipped with optional four-wheel anti-locks.

Head-turning quotient: Big-time necktwister. Congrats to Ford’s design department.

Mileage: About 27 miles per gallon on tested five-speed manual model (12.8-gallon tank, estimated 340-mile range on usable volume of regular unleaded), running mostly highway and driver-only with no cargo (tiny 11.8-cubic-foot cargo volume).

Sound system: Optional AM/FM stereo radio and cassette with trunk-mounted CD changer. Ford Premium system. Excellent, but a bit of overkill in this car.

Price: Base price is $13,145. Dealer’s invoice on base model is $12,277. Price as tested is $17,040, including $3,460 in options and a $435 destination charge.

Purse-strings note: An excellent value for the dollar; an even better value if you can control your lust for options. Compare with Honda Civic, Dodge Neon and Chevrolet Cavalier.