RE: PH Heroes: Ford Escort XR3

[Cotty]

That looks great

[Fleckers]

HoggyXR3 said:

Hi, What a brilliant write up, how I felt in 1982 & how I still feel today, as I have had my Sunburst Red 5 speeder XR3 from new, over 29 years now, must be a record.
Heres a pic of her last year on County Run..
Hope you like..



HoggyXR3

very nice car

I had the same on an X plate, not new but about 2 years old, unfortunatly I changed it with a bit of wood, some people call them tree's, I jsut called it in the way, managed to get the engine to move backwards nealry 9 inches when we assessed it

still miss the old girl, I upgraded to a Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia after that

[Evo]

Looks very nice indeed, how many miles have you done in 29years.

A good friend bought his Lancia Beta Coupe new in 1980 and still has it today with 14,000 miles on the clock. Spent all of my childhood and teenage years with that car, very happy memories.

[HoggyXR3]

Evo said:

Looks very nice indeed, how many miles have you done in 29years.

Hi Evo, Thanks for comment. Not used as every day car for 12 years or so, only used on dry roads now, must look after the old girl....
61k trouble free miles & never failed an MOT.
HoggyXR3

[TRUENOSAM]

Getting picked up from school as a 6 year old by my dad in his black 1984 XR3 was pretty cool. I bloody loved that car

[sjmoore]

DJRC said:

No fking way.

Its a goddam Zero.


What kind of moron ever regarded the XR3 as in any way good?

Probably those that can remember the 80s.

Rightly or wrongly, when I was a teenager I thought the XR3i looked brilliant. Of course, when a friend's brother bought one and I got to ride in it...I wasn't quite so impressed.

[Roop]

Great memories and as already mentioned, the first of the breed. As an aside, *that's* not a whale tail. The Sierra RS Cosworth was the first to coin the moniker for Ford...

[cornershop]

Still remember my brother pulling up outside the family home in his brand new Caspian Blue XR3, nearly knocked myself out opening the front door i was so excited (was only 11 at the time)

YFD 381X where are you ?

[mcelliott]

Slow and crap in 1980, slow and crap now.

[MH82]

Great cars these although I do prefer the injection as they brought about suspension updates. Got to say that I disagree about the MG Maestro being more reliable and better built, my brother had one whilst I had my mk4 XR3i and his was always breaking down and rattling. We used to swap cars occassionally and we always agreed that the XR was better handling, more comfortable and more reliable. The engine in the MG was smoother yet there wasn't much difference in performance. ( I used to use Super plus as the XR required the timing to be retarded for unleaded which mean't it knocked a fair amount of power off)

They were the good old days before power steering and other luxuries!

[Martin 480 Turbo]

"the enquiry is complete
The vehicle details for YFD 381X are:

Date of Liability 01 08 1993
Date of First Registration 01 05 1982
Year of Manufacture 1982
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1596CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour BLUE"

Probably not on earth anymore ?

[Lord Flathead]

This takes me back. My mate had a brand new XR3, red of course. I had an almost new Capri 1.6S with 22k miles on it. Another mate had a new Astra GTE mk1 and another bought a Fiat 105TC Abarth. I used to play (DJ) at Chertsey Lock and the Galleon in those days, and in the summer all three would be parked in a line at Thames Court - the pub opposite. Yes I had Spandau in the cassette player, yes my girl had 'big hair', and yes I used to wear white trouseres, and a sheepskin when it was cold My Capri was the slowest with the worst handling, the Fiat was permanently in the garage, and no one could touch the Astra in either performance or handling - it was streets ahead of the XR3.. we need a writeup on one of the those Garlick..

What a fantastic decade this was. Great article, fond memories

[cornershop]

Martin 480 Turbo said:

"the enquiry is complete
The vehicle details for YFD 381X are:

Date of Liability 01 08 1993
Date of First Registration 01 05 1982
Year of Manufacture 1982
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1596CC
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type Petrol
Export Marker Not Applicable
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour BLUE"

Probably not on earth anymore ?

Thanks - tis a shame, gone but not forgotten!

Wonder how many GTI's exist from the same year

[Shaw Tarse]

HoggyXR3 said:

Evo said:

Looks very nice indeed, how many miles have you done in 29years.

Hi Evo, Thanks for comment. Not used as every day car for 12 years or so, only used on dry roads now, must look after the old girl....
61k trouble free miles & never failed an MOT.
HoggyXR3

Looks good, if you get chance post some more pics.
I had a White XR3i A463TYM, enjoyed it at the time.

[M666 EVO]

dockertrigger said:

Sheep! the whole lot of you! Why have a Golf GTi like everyone else?!

My choice? that would be a Peugeot 309 GTi but of course that did didn't come out until 1986, like the Mk2 Golf.

Agreed. I had a blinding 309 GTi, shiny red, very quick and sneaky round corners BUT I did always have a soft spot for the XR3s bigger and better cousin, the Escort RS Turbo


I can still appreciate the hype for XR3s though, I was 5 in 1980 so was clearly impressed by them and almost anything else car shaped including the Golf GTi my uncle had a little bit later in the 80s...

[anything fast]

the XR3 was launched in a rush to take advantage of the hot hatch market, thats why there was no fuel injection, 4 speed box and wobbly front suspension. Despite this it was a massive hit (even Jackie stewart loved it) The 3i version was a lot better, better damping, no coughing carb to worry about and a good one would get to about 118 mph and 60 8.5 ish..not too shabby..

To those who mock, have you seen how much a good unmolested example is worth today??? you will be shocked, next up the brilliant GENUINE MOTORSPORT bred rs1600' and of course the S1 escort RS turbo.. all sought after modern classics.. so there..

[Wedgepilot]

I remember when these first came out, they looked very sharp and made the mk2 escort look very old fashioned.

I used to have a black B-reg XR2, so the XR3 interior looks very familiar

I lusted after the XR2 for ages, with its chunky rally-inspired looks, but the reality was not as good - a back-end that refused to play unless you stamped hard on the brakes mid-corner and that awful, wheezy CVH.

Like the XR3, it was desirable, just not actually all that good, even by 80's standards. But that is missing the point

[Mr2Mike]

Crap handling, not very quick, thirsty and rusted like a 70's Alfa. Utter POS.

[Evo]

mcelliott said:

Slow and crap in 1980, slow and crap now.

0-60 in 8.5 seconds was far from being slow in the 1980's so not sure how you figure that one out and to be fair pretty much every car rusted back in the 1980's.

Edited by Evo on Monday 2nd May 14:46

[Mr2Mike]

Evo said:

0-60 in 8.5 seconds was far from being slow in the 1980's so not sure how you figure that one out.

In your dreams. The XR3 (not the XR3i) did 0-60 in 9.7 seconds and topped out at 113mph.