Ford Sierra XR4i......30 years on.
Discussion
had it over 16 years, was my first car!
Should have posted this a while back, to mark the 30 yrs since the end of production.
In June 1985 the last Sierra 2.8 XR4i rolled off the production line at Genk.
The final spec saw most of the desirable 1983 options as standard at a list price of £10731. (Elect windows, central locking, tinted glass and sunroof)
The bright red piping on the body kit was replaced with a more refined? Burgandy/Cherry colour. The interior lost all the red inserts completely, new smaller rounded headrest and the loss of the "XR4" graphic on the back windows completed the minor makeover of the interior.
Ford Marketing did a survey of around 10000 owners of competitor's vehicles and ask them why they never bought the XR4i, the response confused them a little, because there was nothing specific they could put there finger on. The conclusion they drew was if it didn`t have a Ford badge on the back it may well have sold better.
Under the skin of the controversial body was a good car trying to get out, and today,love it or loath it, they have a cult following and prices on the rise.
The car was replaced by the XR4x4 which ran right up to 1992, but the "6 lite" 4i body shell stayed around till 1989 in Merkur XR4Ti and the Argentine XR4.
To quote a 1980s motoring weekly, "Bye bye Bi-plane.
In June 1985 the last Sierra 2.8 XR4i rolled off the production line at Genk.
The final spec saw most of the desirable 1983 options as standard at a list price of £10731. (Elect windows, central locking, tinted glass and sunroof)
The bright red piping on the body kit was replaced with a more refined? Burgandy/Cherry colour. The interior lost all the red inserts completely, new smaller rounded headrest and the loss of the "XR4" graphic on the back windows completed the minor makeover of the interior.
Ford Marketing did a survey of around 10000 owners of competitor's vehicles and ask them why they never bought the XR4i, the response confused them a little, because there was nothing specific they could put there finger on. The conclusion they drew was if it didn`t have a Ford badge on the back it may well have sold better.
Under the skin of the controversial body was a good car trying to get out, and today,love it or loath it, they have a cult following and prices on the rise.
The car was replaced by the XR4x4 which ran right up to 1992, but the "6 lite" 4i body shell stayed around till 1989 in Merkur XR4Ti and the Argentine XR4.
To quote a 1980s motoring weekly, "Bye bye Bi-plane.
T66ORA said:
Ford Marketing did a survey of around 10000 owners of competitor's vehicles and ask them why they never bought the XR4i, the response confused them a little, because there was nothing specific they could put there finger on. The conclusion they drew was if it didn`t have a Ford badge on the back it may well have sold better.
Was it really badge snobbery that did for the XR4i? What were it's competitors and did they sell any better? I doubt as t the tine anything with a more prestigious badge was in a similar price bracket. This was a time when BMWs were a fair bit pricier, Audis were also expensive and not as well known. I suspect a 3dr Hatch the size of a Sierra just wasn't what people wanted. Family man wanted 4 or 5 doors and single/no kids wanted a proper coupe. Devil2575 said:
T66ORA said:
Ford Marketing did a survey of around 10000 owners of competitor's vehicles and ask them why they never bought the XR4i, the response confused them a little, because there was nothing specific they could put there finger on. The conclusion they drew was if it didn`t have a Ford badge on the back it may well have sold better.
Was it really badge snobbery that did for the XR4i? What were it's competitors and did they sell any better? I doubt as t the tine anything with a more prestigious badge was in a similar price bracket. This was a time when BMWs were a fair bit pricier, Audis were also expensive and not as well known. I suspect a 3dr Hatch the size of a Sierra just wasn't what people wanted. Family man wanted 4 or 5 doors and single/no kids wanted a proper coupe. They sold 18000 of them in 83, about 5000 in 84 and then roughly 2500 in 85 when the 5-door XR4x4 came out.
That year the 4wd car sold 5000, 86 nearly 10,000, 6000 in 87, 5500 in 88 and then when the 2.9 came out in 89, another 12,500. It was by far the most successful 4wd saloon of that time
Even the popular motoring press were slightly confused as to XR4i competitors.
If you take a launch price of £9170 in standard spec, adding desirable option could lift the price by an extra £1k.(My 84 mdl fully loaded 4i would have cost c£12k!!)
Group tests and prices.
Motor,
Alfa GTV6 £10300
Audi 2.2 Coupe £9593
Toyota Supra £10284.
What Car?
BMW 323i £9655
Audi 80 Quattro £11269!!
Autocar, added to cars already listed
Mazda RX7 £9199
Porsche 924 Lux £10793.
So the cars varied a little bit from 4 door saloons to larger 3 door coupes.
Fords market was the high end 3 series, Saab 900 Turbo and Audi Coupes.
Unless a model sold in high numbers it was always going to be under scrutiny with the hiarchery,and according to Ford the XR4i sold under 10000 in the UK in its 2 year production. Not many survive today, and at last those cars are being reverted to standard or period.
If you take a launch price of £9170 in standard spec, adding desirable option could lift the price by an extra £1k.(My 84 mdl fully loaded 4i would have cost c£12k!!)
Group tests and prices.
Motor,
Alfa GTV6 £10300
Audi 2.2 Coupe £9593
Toyota Supra £10284.
What Car?
BMW 323i £9655
Audi 80 Quattro £11269!!
Autocar, added to cars already listed
Mazda RX7 £9199
Porsche 924 Lux £10793.
So the cars varied a little bit from 4 door saloons to larger 3 door coupes.
Fords market was the high end 3 series, Saab 900 Turbo and Audi Coupes.
Unless a model sold in high numbers it was always going to be under scrutiny with the hiarchery,and according to Ford the XR4i sold under 10000 in the UK in its 2 year production. Not many survive today, and at last those cars are being reverted to standard or period.
Keep it stiff said:
This one went to Africa a few years ago on a charity rally, a great trip and the XR4 was as good as gold, well mostly. This one was an XR4Ti, rare then and even rarer now, that said I bet this one is still running around out there, I was sorry to have to leave it behind!
I remember when I used to leaf through Auto Trader mag in the 90s for used cars, there always used to be a lttle cluster of XR4tis for sale over by the US air bases in East Anglia. I'd have been tempted if they were rhd
blade7 said:
s m said:
Even on a motorway things can go wrong
The 205 wide D40's were easily overwhelmed in the wet, even on a standard Cosworth you had to be very careful how boost was applied.T66ORA said:
Well those 5 yrs past quickly.
35yrs ago this week Autocar and Motor magazines road tested the XR4i, so I thought I would bump this back to the top.
Decent examples now achieving 5 figures, and mine still going strong after recommssioning in 2013.
I found one of these parked up around the back of an industrial estate in Cornwall near looe with an e36 m3 for company recently. Looked like they had been there a couple of years and no intentions of moving, I suspect rust has set in now but from the outside it didn't look to bad. Seems a shame to me as I'm sure someone would enjoy restoring it.35yrs ago this week Autocar and Motor magazines road tested the XR4i, so I thought I would bump this back to the top.
Decent examples now achieving 5 figures, and mine still going strong after recommssioning in 2013.
s m said:
Even on a motorway things can go wrong
Shows how much modern tyres and slectronics have normalised things. A 200 hp car with a top speed of 143 mph and a 0-100 time of 16 seconds being spoken of in hushed tones as a voodoo killer machine. That's pretty similar performance to the GT-86 which half of PH regards as dangerously slow.
though sadly its not moved under its own power since before this thread was started, need to get on that!We had a national meet at the weekend at Hatton country park in Warwick to celebrate the cars 35th anniversary, 18 cars turned up, proving the rarity of the species.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/q32C4Xvb2zLyects6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/q32C4Xvb2zLyects6
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