While old, fast Fords being expensive should no longer be news for any car enthusiast, the prices currently being commanded remain startling. While we know that RS500s, in fact all the three-door Sierra Cosworths, are bonafide classics, it's when you see left-hand drive, 4x4 Sapphire Cossies for more than £20k that you're reminded that things are clearly bad. So what's the alternative?
Well, as is often the way with these sort of classics, you need to look further a little further down the fast Ford food chain. Like its Fiesta and Escort compatriots, the somewhat less famous Sierra XR4i does offer what looks like far more enticing value. These things are relative, of course, all of the cars being worth a lot more than they were just a short time ago, but for a classic fast Ford that could be enjoyed rather than preserved like a Viking artefact, less would sometimes appear to be more.
We all know why the RS has proved so popular. Not only is there its status as the Sierra flagship - and the lust from 80s teenagers that comes about as a result - there's also the homologation mystique and motorsport success to add in. Combine it with the reputation for being a bit scary to drive - plus a Cossie's popularity with bank robbers during a certain period - and it isn't hard to see why it's so coveted by so many. But could you really pay £60k for a Sierra?
It's not like the XR4i was a poor relation, either. Described by Motor Sport on launch in 1983 as "a car for driving, fun all the way", the Sierra was powered by the trusty Cologne V6 and made 150hp. In Motor Sport's road test they clocked less than eight seconds to 60mph, plus 50-70mph and 70-90mph (both in third gear) at five flat and 6.5 seconds respectively. Easy to get decent performance from 150hp when family cars weigh just 1,200kg...
The XR4 was just so fantastically 80s as well, the colour-coded bodykit, funky graphics and double decker rear spoiler so typical of the era that you'd hope the next buyer of this one has some good stonewash denim to pull it off. You don't need us to tell you that 80s trends, both automotive and sartorial, are currently big business.
In the weird classic car market that currently exists, everybody seems to think their car is an undiscovered jewel; this Sierra, on the other, really does look like a gem of an XR4. The seller is apparently more interested in restoring classics rather than driving them, meaning this car has only covered a handful of miles since the restoration was completed eight years ago. While the 43,000-mile mileage cannot be verified, the Sierra is surely now approaching the age - a 1985 reg makes it 33 years old, remember - where condition is as important as anything, and on that score it looks great.
Moreover, the ad is full of encouraging details about the work this owner has carried out, what was changed when, and the logic behind the sale - simply that a collection has become too vast. As good a reason as any, right? At £8,750, the Sierra XR4i is probably worth as much as it ever has been since costing £9,170 at launch. The alternative way to look at that figure is as less than 33 per cent of what this 160,000-mile Cosworth is going for. This barn find Capri, a year younger than the Sierra, is up for £15k. And good luck getting a contemporary six-cylinder BMW for similar money.
So while the XR4i might not be the poster pin-up the Cosworth is, this is still a rare, three-door with Sierra with a silly spoiler and powerful engine out front. People nowadays lust after far more humble 80s machinery than this, meaning it ought to be only a matter of time before the XR4 finds its next happy owner.
SPECIFICATION - FORD SIERRA XR4i
Engine: 2,792cc, V6
Transmission: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 150@5,700rpm
Torque (lb ft): 159@4,300rpm
MPG: 25.6 (Motor Sport test figure)
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1985
Recorded mileage: 43,536
Price when new: £9,170
Price now: £8,750
1 / 4