Rare sierras

[New POD]

My dad, lover of Ford's finest, had a number of sierras, some company cars, but one, the first, he paid cash for, and it stayed in the family for 12 years.

 

A 1.6 beige base estate with a GL boot badge, Y reg. Mocha dash, 27 shades of sand interior, no head rests even on the front seats. No rear seat belts, no radio.  Me and my sister both learnt to drive in it.

 

It was rare as the engine was quite revy, compared to other 1.6's I have driven.

 

 

But not as rare as the tow home I had once (when my fiat 126 distributor imploded), by a 1.3 auto 3 door, Y reg GHIA in the same beige, with what seemed to me to have every conceivable extra.  The lad who owned it lived down my road, and I wish I'd bought it off him when he came to sell.  With a 2.9 V6 24V from a scorpio it would have been half good.  

[EssDeeWon]

This is a great topic with good stories and old pics.

 

Maybe each week a new thread should start on rare versions of once common everyday but now almost extinct cars. Other ideas could be

 

Citroen BX

MK2 Cavalier

MK2 Granada

Carlton's

Rover sd1

Mk4/5 Cortina

Mk3 Cavalier

Nissan Bluebird

Classic Rangies

Orions

[overrun]

Haha some great guesses.

 

It was my 1998 P11 Primera.

[D-Dubya]

mmmmmmmm

 

i do like the Sierra Ghia 4x4 estates. there used to be a nice one some bloke had on my way to school back in 93/94, dark maroon with a set of these on it.

 

looked the business back then and never seen one looking as smart for a long time. my mate once smeared dog muck on under the door handles when he shouted at us for riding past his house and skidding our bmx's into the foot path.

[New POD]

This is a great topic with good stories and old pics.

 

Maybe each week a new thread should start on rare versions of once common everyday but now almost extinct cars. Other ideas could be

 

Citroen BX

MK2 Cavalier

MK2 Granada

Carlton's

Rover sd1

Mk4/5 Cortina

Mk3 Cavalier

Nissan Bluebird

Classic Rangies

Orions

 

When I was in the mk2 cavalier owners network, there was some forum excitement when a rare 2 door turned up.

 

There were only 2 in the UK, and one was an ascona GT.  The other was turned into a CalbrE replica but with an XE and 18 inch alloys. It was about this point that I 'checked out' and decided that getting excited by a 2 door mk2 cavalier was close to mental illness.

[Cavcraft]

I bet the 2 door one (the GT I mean) was Rab's. I saw it in the flesh, it was bloody lovely. A lot lovelier than that Cadbury Purple coloured genuine (bloody F reg as well!) Calibre that a lad in Oswestry once ruined.

[Ghosty]

It's not a UK model, but the XR8 is pretty rare. 250 made for South Africa, a couple have made it up here.

Surprised nobody mentioned it, there was one in one of the eBay threads I think...

[phil_lihp]

That's the one with the 5.0 V8 isn't it?  Mental!  Can't see them doing that with the current Mondeo!

[D-Dubya]

now heres an idea...

[New POD]

I bet the 2 door one (the GT I mean) was Rab's. I saw it in the flesh, it was bloody lovely. A lot lovelier than that Cadbury Purple coloured genuine (bloody F reg as well!) Calibre that a lad in Oswestry once ruined.

 

Ah the legendary Rabbit. Yes.  I remember it being up for sale, and not buying it because I wanted an SRI 130. DOH.

[greengartside]

How about the Sierra Chasseur? I think it was basically an LX with a spoiler and sports seats??

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[philsford]

mmmmmmmm

sierra.jpg

 

i do like the Sierra Ghia 4x4 estates. there used to be a nice one some bloke had on my way to school back in 93/94, dark maroon with a set of these on it.

sierra alloy.jpg

 

looked the business back then and never seen one looking as smart for a long time. my mate once smeared dog muck on under the door handles when he shouted at us for riding past his house and skidding our bmx's into the foot path.

Where is this? For sale somewhere or an old pic?

[sheffcortinacentre]

in the uk I know of 1 1.6 L ohv  5 speed, 2 mk1 XR6 (3.0 V6 5 speed) & 3  XR8 (5.0 V8 5 speed) all mk1 5dr. plus 1 3.0 GLSi auto sapphire (3.0 V6 inj 4 speed auto).

 

all sa imports. sure there are prob a few more.

 

mk3/4/5 Cortina rareties (factory models)

 

mk3 2 dr 1.6 ohv  GXL/GT (esp in maize yellow) no survivors known.

mk3 1.3 saloon/est with bench seat. (1 est survivor) couple of 1.6's

mk3 bakkie (sa pickups) 7 known in uk (3 2.5 V6 (1 know V8) 3 1.6's ( 1 beleaved V4 now ohc)) non prefacelift .

 

mk4's 2dr (1.3 base/L only) handful survive.

mk4 2.0 S double figure survivors) 2.3 S (half doz surviors)

mk4 2.3 GL saloon/est (single figure survivors)

mk4 3.0S (sa 3.0 V6) 2 known in uk

mk4 bakkies (1 unconfirmed)

 

mk5 2dr (1.3 base/L , mobility 1.6 auto only base/L)  std cars rare (prob 100 in total)

mk5 GLS estate (with recaro int) double figures.

mk5 huntsman est (100 made) def 1 survivor (pos a couple more)

mk5 genuine "S" packs (avl across range) low double figures.

mk5 3.0 GLS est sa(3.0 V6)

mk5 XR6 (sa 3.0 V6 4 speed) half doz  3 std, 2 team ford,1 interceptor.

mk5 bakkie 3 ( sa1 swb 1.6 ohv, 2 lwb 3.0 V6) no 2.1 diesels

[sutty2006]

Happy memories of spinning on the bypass, still today I don't know how we came out of that unscathed except for that scrape along your mondeo headlight from the central reservation, the gods of shite really were looking after us that day, another fond memory was setting it on fire when I was welding the inner sill.

 

Yeah I remember that well! Ive got a picture of the weldathon somewhere, but cant find it. but ive got a pre-paint picture!

 

[cort16]

I've only had 2 Sierra, which is weird as I've been to look at but not bought loads more.

 

I had a mk1 3 dr xr4i I got for £450 about 4 years ago. It was super clean and drove really nice once I put a set of original pepper pots back on it. I wish I still had it.

 

THe other one I had was a an all together ropier affair. It was a bog mk2 1.6L in white i bought from a dodgy garage in the east end of Glasgow for £295. It drove really well

until one day about 3 weeks later when I was coming back from work the rear quarter window fell out on the dual carriageway. 2 days later the head gasket blew.

I ended up swapping it for £100 and a PS1 to a bunch of track suit wearing delinquints. I got the better end of the deal.

[sierraman]

The face lift ones with 1.6 had the cfi cvh in them but as pointed out loads of azuras had the old pinto dropped in them to shift them. To be fair the majority of sierras by this point had the 1.8 cvh. Around this time the dash binnacle was more rounded as well. God I'm so sad recalling all this

[fordperv]

Yeah I remember that well! Ive got a picture of the weldathon somewhere, but cant find it. but ive got a pre-paint picture!

 

She were a straight enough old tub, The only thing I can think of looking at that car pre paint is you chasing me on private land* with the lights on top when I had the silver manta.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I've just been working out how many Sierras I've either owned or had as company cars, I think it's about 35 and that doesn't include cars bought to sell on or pool cars/ hire cars driven a few times.

Best. J plate Twin Cam GLS

Worst. A plate 2.0 Pinto 3 dr Cossie Rep.

Favourite. A plate 2.3 Ghia Auto( had 3 of these).

Slowest. C plate 1.8 pinto 'Business' estate .

Longest owned. E483 MMF 1.6 GL (pinto) company car for 2 years,stolen by ex employee, I was sent to Marbella to recover it after a year, then bought from company for my wife then kept it for 2 years. I drove it to my wedding , on my honeymoon and it picked my 2 oldest girls up from hospital when they were born. It towed caravans,4 wheel car trailers and ( when not towing) would cruise at 100mph. Who needs more than a 1600?.

I loved Sierras so much that when my company was sent a very late K plate1.8i catalyst GLX Saph as a fleet demo, I grabbed it and drove it for 3 months,the transport manager even asked if I wanted him to buy it off Ford to run for a year then sell it to me,like a fool I turned him down!

To put this Sierra love into context,my day job involved driving S Classes and Daimlers and I had the pick of about 30 pool cars from Astras to E Classes and Scorpios to use privately not to mention the fleet demonstrators that were always floating around, still I'd always use a Sierra if there was one available. I really should buy one, that and a Mk2 Granny whilst I can still afford them.

[CortinaDave]

I've had a shitload of Sierras as well. In fact I went through a period of nothing but.

 

Best - Mk1 2.0 Ghia, Diamond White, blue trim - CJT 900Y and a Smokestone Black Mk2 Sapphire 2.0 GLS - J296CUM (unfortunate numberplate on a great car)

 

Worst - light blue ex taxi 1.8 base K reg. utterly shagged and used more oil than petrol. Been round the clock at least twice. Why the hell did I buy it?

 

and a K reg diamond white 1.8 i LX hatch - K478XOM - one of the very late ones with a cat. Got it cheap because it only did 55mph before making a funny noise and going back to 20mph. replaced everything, couldn't find the fault. A real shame as it was a tidy car. Got back what I paid when I gave up.

[Bren]

Many moons ago a work colleague had a J plate GT with the twink engine.

 

He sold it to the husband of the cleaning lady who worked in the factory - he remarked it was like shit off a shovel, and would tear off up the road in it, going well over the limit whenever he picked his wife up.

 

He had a head on crash in it near Garswood that killed his wife a few weeks later.

[CortinaDave]

The Sierra was notoriously bad in crash tests - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-eFHwcjUr4

 

Having said that I was heavily rear ended by a Fiesta in a mk2  back in 1999. The car was really rotten yet everyone in it walked away uninjured save for a bit of whiplash.

 

The fiesta came off much worse, thankfully the driver was OK though. I suspect my towbar took the brunt of the impact,

[cort16]

looking at that you can see why the A pillars on modern cars are as thick as they are. My Cortina doesn't even have enertia seatbelts FFS.

[Bren]

Mine was written off when a van delivering newspapers rear ended It at 25 mph.

 

Even the back of the roof had deformed - plus my seat broke in the impact.

 

No matter how we berate modern cars, they are extremely safe.

[xtriple]

I had loads of Sierras back in the day, loved them, then went on to hatchback Grannies.

 

I had a lovely 2.0 Ghia as my first 'sensible' car when my lad was born... it replaced a Lotus! Brilliant thing and I did 88000 miles in it in a couple of years. Smoked on start up but was otherwise perfect. Vouldn't guve the bloody thing away because of the mileage!

 

Then had a 2.8 4x4. Bright red and definitely one of the best cars I ever had. Bent valves in it one night racing a 2.8 Capri and a Saab Turbo.... traded for a 2.9 in black. Never felt quite as quick as the earlier one, which was odd but still nice. Parked that in a field backwards after the car ran out of grip and I ran out of talent!

 

Then occured one of my sporadic bouts of insolvency and I needed a cheap car, After much looking, found a 2.8 4x4 that had had a biff up the bum. Quite a severe biff actually as the passenger side rear door was jammed shut and that side rear wing was... very pretty! Got it back on the road for minimal (financial) damage and ran it for ages. I intended to sort out the rear wing but never did. Did 'Porta-power' the chassis/floor back into some semblance of 'straight' and welded in a new rear chassis leg but left the rear wing as it was. At least the back door opened! Of course this was before Cat C/D write offs, which was just as well as it would have been written off. It was an awesome car. Handled a treat and went like a rocket. I kept that car long after my financial situation improved and ran it for a couple of years.

 

When it was sold (still with a crumpled rear wing) I even made a profit!

[andrew e]

A random find in my archives, thought I'd post it.

 

 

 

 

[omegod]

Local giffer owned 2.0 is 

 

[sierraman]

Rare those 2.0is Sierras.

[Pillock]

Is that Ford branded luggage?

 

Also when was the last time someone was designing a brochure and thought "wait.... We need a photo of the engine here"

[Magpie215]

A "friend" of my dad's hired a Sierra from one of the rental places when they were first released.

 

He liked it so much he decided not to return it and keep it for his best car for use on special occasions.

 

Iirc the police eventually caught up with him some 3 or 4 years later.

 

[brandersnatch]

I had a shite brown 1.6 GL hatch. Economy engine and a four speed box. Dreadful thing. B reg if my addled memory serves. The 1.8 LX that my dad had was so much better.

 

 

One’s too many, ten’s not enough!