My XR4i. 30yrs old today via Southways Automotive.
Discussion
The story starts in 1982, i was a young engineer in the Royal Navy and had just come back from the Falklands with money to spend on my next car.
I was posted to Faslane while waiting for my Submariners course, and set about car hunting, i knew what i wanted, spec and colour, it was just a matter of finding it.
A visit to the local Ford Dealership in early 1983 to view my eventual purchase (a Sunburst Red Escort XR3)was interrupted by the sight of a transporter with a couple of the new Sierra XR4i`s being unloaded, they looked stunning and so futuristic with the Bi-Plane wings, one day i said to myself.
A year later the XR3 is in for a service at the same dealer, there is a fully loaded 6 month old Nimbus Grey XR4i for sale in the showroom, i just had to have a look, WoW,want, want, want, this was the first time i set eyes on.... A915NOO.
There was no way i could afford the car, but one day i said to my self, again.
Fast forward another year i had just finished paying for the Escort, finance in those days normally meant a 30% deposit and payments over 2/3 years max!
Off we went (the Mrs and me) car hunting again, over the next month or two we looked at all sorts of different metal,(Astra GTE,Golf GTi, 205 GTi,a new XR2,) but deep down, again, i knew what i wanted. Believe it or not used XR4s were thin on the ground,then by chance i spotted a car at a slightly dodgy looking Glasgow used car dealer, that was worth a look i thought.......It was NOO!!
The mileage was above average, a company sales manager had put over 25k miles on it in a year!But the good news? It was in my price bracket, and a deal was done.
That was over 28 years ago, and the car has probably been stored or off the road as long as it been on.
The car was taken out for a little run to day and a few birthday photos were taken, hopefully the photobucket file comes up for you
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/fortyone/slideshow...
The car has recently completed a minor restoration/recommissioning at our PH friends Southways Automotive.
The work took around 15 months, with most of the work taking place on Thursday evenings known as "Sierra Night"
A big thank you to Rich, Steve, and the rest of the team for getting the car ready in time for its 30th.
A Facebook blog of the work can be found here, feel free to comment on the work, i know they would appreciate any feed back.
Click on the first photo and scroll through for information on the work.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.30257135...
So there we go, i hope you enjoyed the story and photos,the body work is original, and good for its age, the interior is very tidy,the power train is to be treated to a 200bhp Turbo Technics conversation, possibly over the winter, its all here waiting, lads........lads don`t run off
Please feel free to ask any questions about the project.
Oh and Happy Birthday "NOO"
I was posted to Faslane while waiting for my Submariners course, and set about car hunting, i knew what i wanted, spec and colour, it was just a matter of finding it.
A visit to the local Ford Dealership in early 1983 to view my eventual purchase (a Sunburst Red Escort XR3)was interrupted by the sight of a transporter with a couple of the new Sierra XR4i`s being unloaded, they looked stunning and so futuristic with the Bi-Plane wings, one day i said to myself.
A year later the XR3 is in for a service at the same dealer, there is a fully loaded 6 month old Nimbus Grey XR4i for sale in the showroom, i just had to have a look, WoW,want, want, want, this was the first time i set eyes on.... A915NOO.
There was no way i could afford the car, but one day i said to my self, again.
Fast forward another year i had just finished paying for the Escort, finance in those days normally meant a 30% deposit and payments over 2/3 years max!
Off we went (the Mrs and me) car hunting again, over the next month or two we looked at all sorts of different metal,(Astra GTE,Golf GTi, 205 GTi,a new XR2,) but deep down, again, i knew what i wanted. Believe it or not used XR4s were thin on the ground,then by chance i spotted a car at a slightly dodgy looking Glasgow used car dealer, that was worth a look i thought.......It was NOO!!
The mileage was above average, a company sales manager had put over 25k miles on it in a year!But the good news? It was in my price bracket, and a deal was done.
That was over 28 years ago, and the car has probably been stored or off the road as long as it been on.
The car was taken out for a little run to day and a few birthday photos were taken, hopefully the photobucket file comes up for you
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/fortyone/slideshow...
The car has recently completed a minor restoration/recommissioning at our PH friends Southways Automotive.
The work took around 15 months, with most of the work taking place on Thursday evenings known as "Sierra Night"
A big thank you to Rich, Steve, and the rest of the team for getting the car ready in time for its 30th.
A Facebook blog of the work can be found here, feel free to comment on the work, i know they would appreciate any feed back.
Click on the first photo and scroll through for information on the work.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.30257135...
So there we go, i hope you enjoyed the story and photos,the body work is original, and good for its age, the interior is very tidy,the power train is to be treated to a 200bhp Turbo Technics conversation, possibly over the winter, its all here waiting, lads........lads don`t run off
Please feel free to ask any questions about the project.
Oh and Happy Birthday "NOO"
Cant see photos but i do love these... If only that 2.8i had a little more in it. I seem to remember them being a little breathless...
great looking cars though and i used to drive my dad's brand new 2.0i Ghia... It had leather AND a sunroof AND rear electric windows....imagine that...;)
great looking cars though and i used to drive my dad's brand new 2.0i Ghia... It had leather AND a sunroof AND rear electric windows....imagine that...;)
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/7Wty393R.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/ZEmVML8G" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/ZEmVML8G.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/cRIFDLxh" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/cRIFDLxh.jpg)
Shame they're such a rare sight nowadays.. T66ORA said:
Kitchski said:
Wow! That must have been a special occasion for you to take those seat covers off!
Did i not mention? It has just had its birthday Not much love for the old thing on here though.
That said the BX seems to get lots of love, weirdly.
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