White trainers on for Escort XR3i Tolman Edition
Having completed the 205 GTI, Tolman is continuing its trip down memory lane with another '80s icon
You’ll be familiar by now with the idea of a Tolman Edition car. The temptation is to call them restomods, but so subtle and well integrated is the work that they transcend the usual classification. Editions are more like what would happen if the manufacturer were to make them again, with no expense spared - see the glorious (and popular) 205 GTI for proof of the approach.
Now there’s another, the Ford Escort XR3i Tolman Edition. For now, it’s a one-off commission, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if some similar cars follow in future. People love a classic fast Ford, after all, and the Tolman approach understandably already has plenty of fans. This latest build is pitched as one that ‘looks just like the one the customer craved as a teenager and performs far beyond what the original could deliver.’
Nothing has been left untouched in the quest for an excellent Escort. So the wheezy old CVH has been treated to the head from a 16-valve Zetec engine, plus new pistons and rods as well as a tougher bottom end. Electronic engine management keeps things tickling along smoothly, with power now rated at 150hp - 50 per cent more than it would have made in period. That’s how lazy a CVH was. While the gearbox is original, Tolman has built a bespoke exhaust for this XR3i.
There are plenty more custom components for this Edition, too, the most notable of which are probably the wheels. From a distance they look like the original ‘Dog Leg’ 14s, but look closer and you’ll see they’re actually 15-inch diameter. They’ve been made specifically for this project by Tolman, with attention to detail such that the rims keep the original centre section so that the cap with the original factory casting marks can be retained. That’s the sort of thing they mean when talking about a ‘non-invasive’ approach. Bigger wheels means a better choice of tyres these days, plus the ability to fit discs all round.
The suspension of the XR3i has also been substantially overhauled, with parts borrowed from the RS1600i plus Bilstein dampers and a unique (again!) anti-roll bar. The engineering and fitting of which was probably the easiest part of the task, really, given a full body restoration was also needed; that included creating a new roof skin with the sunroof aperture in, because no good replacements were available and the original was (of course) rusty. Labour of love probably sells the XR3i short, but it is now undersealed and ready to be enjoyed ‘in all weathers’. Indeed with a DAB radio, LED lights and an alarm with tracker now, it’d be rude not to…
What this Tolman Edition costs hasn’t been shared, though given the 205 driven on PH was £125k it’s easy to imagine this is another six-figure prospect. Money no object doesn’t tend to come affordably, and looking at these pictures Tolman surely has one more happy customer on its hands.
Chris Tolman said: “The XR3i was hugely popular at the time, which means many people have an affinity with them, but revisiting one today would be underwhelming. So just as with the 205GTi, we’ve applied our knowledge to make it drive the way you think you remember the original driving, while looking essentially like the one you yearned for. Balancing a desire to preserve the DNA of the original while meaningfully improving it made this a particularly challenging project. It would have been easier to slot in modern running gear in a restored shell, but the experience and emotional connection the customer came to us to replicate would have been lost. We’ve got two more commission projects this year as we find more customers want a more personal restomod.”
Told you they were in demand. Those new builds can’t come soon enough…
I remember driving my mate's S2 RST (back when I still had my 205 Rallye) and being underwhelmed by pretty much everything dynamically about that car, particularly the very slow steering rack. I also expected way more performance.
Tolman have done an excellent job, again. I don't feel any desire towards it but I admire the engineering and I hope whoever commissioned it is ridculously happy with the result.
I entered it in a night rally based in the Trough of Bowland. After about 2 miles, the brakes cooked and even though I got out and tore the front airdam off to help airflow to the brakes, they were still woefully inadequate. I also banged the fuel tank on a jump, reducing its capacity by about two gallons....
Sold it shortly afterwards.
I later bought an ex works RS1600i rally car. It was about as bent a car as ever existed, suspension pickup points were in a different postcode to it's homologation papers! Won a few pots with it competing in the North West Tarmac rally championship 1600cc class though.
I believe it still exists, dissolving quietly away, which is a shame.
Though I never regretted the 205's handling and verve, I did regret it's dire reliability and shoddy construction (exhaust rusted through at 18 months!) and sometimes thought life could have been easier with an XR3i or RS Turbo. My friends with those had no issues other than keeping them from being nicked!
They really were crap cars, from a time where being handed a key with that oval on it was all but a guarantee that an unenjoyable drive was about to be had; they left the factory half shagged out and went the rest of the way by the time they were 24 months old.
More power & decent suspension is exactly what these cars need, let alone the 15in rims.
These were everywhere in the 80s early 90s in East London & Essex, with many of them being supplied by once big name Ford main agents Gates, of Woodford, but they are rot boxes, no wonder so few have survived.
Very fond memories of 1986 & late night hooning in my Mums red Y plate XR3i, in the 3 months that she owned it, until it was stolen one night, from outside our house in Chingford, never to be seen again.
They really were crap cars, from a time where being handed a key with that oval on it was all but a guarantee that an unenjoyable drive was about to be had; they left the factory half shagged out and went the rest of the way by the time they were 24 months old.
A new XR3i was a desirable car, looked the part, was a bit faster and it didnt matter it wasnt the best car ever, because most were pretty rubbish, or much more expensive, most didnt care how it drove, and many didnt drive them hard anyway, rare to see a cabrio one that wasnt driven by a middle aged lady at normal speed.
It was a cultural icon, much less so a motoring one, a Sierra Cosworth is a motoring icon, I only drove one once which was a colleagues standard 2wd Sapphire and I was a bit underwhelmed, nobody is buying this because its driving nirvana, its a wealthy person wanting to relive their younger years without having to send it in to be sorted out, and a few of the rough edges smoothed off to make the experience more palatable in 2026, better brakes, bit more power, fresh paint, non manky interior and all new suspension so it feels less s
t than most will feel after 40 years of deterioration, modifications and progress. Tolman has a reputation being built, wonder how many multi millionaires aspire to the mintiest, sympathetically modified XR3i ? They dont need that many, one in this case, can see it more with a 205 but not everyone wants a 205.
Loadsamoney XR3i Turbo Nutter b
d - 40 sec in.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKWjJ5t8fhU
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