Ford Sierra GVG 510Y

[Tenmil Socket]

Spotted this 

 https://www.vinted.co.uk/items/8436560386-ford-sierra-xr4-x-4-workshop-manual

[mk2_craig]

1 hour ago, adw1977 said:

In the UK, the 3 door base and L went on sale in September 1983 (a year after the model was launched) and were prominent in that month's range brochure.

Sep 1983 brochure with three door L as the cover star.

This coincided with improvements for the 1984 model year, so the base now had side rubbing strips (the grey grille had already been discontinued in July 1983)

The three door models initially available were as shown below (why no 1.3 L ?) although the diesel base (in all body styles) had been dropped by March 1984.

They were discontinued only a year later.

I love the idea that somewhere there must be a Cosworth replica with its original Indenor derv lump still fitted. 

[Richard_FM]

3 hours ago, mk2_craig said:

I love the idea that somewhere there must be a Cosworth replica with its original Indenor derv lump still fitted. 

I was wondering how many 3 door diesels were sold, especially as many diesels would have been used as taxis.

[New POD]

11 minutes ago, Richard_FM said:

I was wondering how many 3 door diesels were sold, especially as many diesels would have been used as taxis.

There was a lad down my street near Longbridge who had an early 3 door 1.3 ghia in beige. With a mocca dash and 10 shades of sand, brown and beige interior.  

Not only was it a 1.3 it was also an automatic.  

[Wibble]

4 minutes ago, New POD said:

There was a lad down my street near Longbridge who had an early 3 door 1.3 ghia in beige. With a mocca dash and 10 shades of sand, brown and beige interior.  

Not only was it a 1.3 it was also an automatic.  

I don’t think the 1.3 was available as a Ghia or an automatic.

[Missy Charm]

40 minutes ago, Wibble said:

I don’t think the 1.3 was available as a Ghia or an automatic.

I've a feeling that a few oddball cars were made up for the likes of Motability -- non-standard transmissions and the like -- as their requirements were much different from those of the average punter.  Remember someone telling me the same about a 1.3, automatic, two-door Cortina; given that existed, I suppose it's not impossible for the same treatment to have been applied to a Sierra.

It would have been an awful car, though!  The driver probably would have reached sixty years of age before it attained sixty miles an hour...  

[andy18s]

18 hours ago, MantaGTE85 said:

How come we have managed to disappear this far into a basic Sierra thread with no reference to the 3 door version of the Sierra?  No, not the XR4i or mk1 Cossie-warts obvs. The 3 door ones that really do matter here, were only available as a 1.3 and 1.6 (or 2.3D even?) in Base and L versions for the first two years, no?

I remember back in mid-1994, noticing a well shiny freshly-repainted Sunburst Red 3 door for sale, B600 UTA, in a used car lock-up in Clifton Street, Cardiff, parked beside the C reg Ibiza that I actually purchased. I don't remember if that Sierra was a Base or a posh L. I do remember its price though, £795!

Spotted locally a couple of years ago now.. complete with it's single dangly mirror too

[sierraman]

Be a shame if it gets broken up for spares. Especially given it’s the diesel. 

[New POD]

2 hours ago, Wibble said:

I don’t think the 1.3 was available as a Ghia or an automatic.

Well, i broke down about 4 miles from home in a Fiat 126 and he towed me home in it, and we had a good chat about it.  Me suggesting fitting a V6 and getting a cosworth body kit on it. 

[Wibble]

44 minutes ago, New POD said:

Well, i broke down about 4 miles from home in a Fiat 126 and he towed me home in it, and we had a good chat about it.  Me suggesting fitting a V6 and getting a cosworth body kit on it. 

Fair enough, I concede and, as @Missy Charm said, must have been a motability special and the slowest Sierra ever!

[MantaGTE85]

19 hours ago, andy18s said:

Spotted locally a couple of years ago now.. complete with it's single dangly mirror too

Excellent find. Those rare early Ghia trims go very nicely with the colour that makes it appear even more modern. Titan Blue?

[MantaGTE85]

In a recent Focus video on the Big Car YouTube channel, there's a nice image of an early dark blue mk1 Sierra 15:30 minutes in, that's well worth a quick look, as long as you ignore what he says about the car's shape. Dangly mirrors, vented hub caps, painted grille, Y reg, this example has the lot!

[MantaGTE85]

On 21/03/2026 at 10:38, adw1977 said:

In the UK, the 3 door base and L went on sale in September 1983 (a year after the model was launched) and were prominent in that month's range brochure.

Sep 1983 brochure with three door L as the cover star.

This coincided with improvements for the 1984 model year, so the base now had side rubbing strips (the grey grille had already been discontinued in July 1983)

The three door models initially available were as shown below (why no 1.3 L ?) although the diesel base (in all body styles) had been dropped by March 1984.

They were discontinued only a year later.

Just noticed no dangly mirrors on the cover car, nor do they feature on the red A reg diesel at Copart. Ford would have ceased dangly mirror production at the same time as the grey grille for the original Base.

[wesacosa]

31 minutes ago, MantaGTE85 said:

Just noticed no dangly mirrors on the cover car, nor do they feature on the red A reg diesel at Copart. Ford would have ceased dangly mirror production at the same time as the grey grille for the original Base.

the diesel had a dangly passenger mirror and non dangly drivers side, but when it was rescued it had no drivers mirror so it could be a replacement on it now

 

[MantaGTE85]

Indeed. The slightly grainy recent Copart photos showed it with fixed mirrors on both sides, which would make sense since the original mirrors would be very hard to get. I didn't know this one started life with the early mirrors. Maybe Ford kept a few unsold '83MY examples as old stock well into A reg since they were slow-selling at first. It's very sad though to see this car in its recent state.

[wesacosa]

16 minutes ago, MantaGTE85 said:

Indeed. The slightly grainy recent Copart photos showed it with fixed mirrors on both sides, which would make sense since the original mirrors would be very hard to get. I didn't know this one started life with the early mirrors. Maybe Ford kept a few unsold '83MY examples as old stock well into A reg since they were slow-selling at first. It's very sad though to see this car in its recent state.

It is. I wish I'd bought it when I had the chance a few years ago but I'd just got my XM diesel recommissioned 

[adw1977]

The dangly mirrors were on base and L originally, but when equipment levels were improved across the range for the 1984 model year the L got more normal looking internally adjustable mirrors.  The brochure cover shows a 1984MY L.

Dangly mirrors continued on the base until the major facelift in 1987.

Nov 1986 brochure page for Sierra base

[adw1977]

1 hour ago, wesacosa said:

the diesel had a dangly passenger mirror and non dangly drivers side

It could have actually left the factory like that.

The original spec for an L was two dangly mirrors, but internally adjustable driver's side and passenger side mirrors were two separate optional extras!

[JJ0063]

On 20/03/2026 at 23:39, MantaGTE85 said:

How come we have managed to disappear this far into a basic Sierra thread with no reference to the 3 door version of the Sierra?  No, not the XR4i or mk1 Cossie-warts obvs. The 3 door ones that really do matter here, were only available as a 1.3 and 1.6 (or 2.3D even?) in Base and L versions for the first two years, no?

I remember back in mid-1994, noticing a well shiny freshly-repainted Sunburst Red 3 door for sale, B600 UTA, in a used car lock-up in Clifton Street, Cardiff, parked beside the C reg Ibiza that I actually purchased. I don't remember if that Sierra was a Base or a posh L. I do remember its price though, £795!

Was just looking at this 3dr!

Slightly ruined, but still

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DeC5fatC3/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

[Volksy]

I'm pretty sure that the 3 door Sierra was still produced, even after the facelift for other markets. I definitely remember these in Spain as a kid. 

 

[adw1977]

Yes, for some reason larger cars with fewer doors have sold a lot better in many European countries than in the UK.  See also the swiftly discontinued two door Mk2 Cavalier and the never offered in the UK two door Granada saloon.

[sierraman]

Most surviving Sierras I see in Spain are 3 door facelift ones. Same for the Ascona, not many saloons but quite a few 2 door GSI ones. There’s a guy that’s got one on here I think? 

[Richard_FM]

12 hours ago, adw1977 said:

Yes, for some reason larger cars with fewer doors have sold a lot better in many European countries than in the UK.  See also the swiftly discontinued two door Mk2 Cavalier and the never offered in the UK two door Granada saloon.

Opel offered 2 doors on almost all their range at one time.

[danthecapriman]

Wasn’t the 2 door version of saloon/hatch cars a taxation thing in Europe?

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

On 22/03/2026 at 15:10, wesacosa said:

the diesel had a dangly passenger mirror and non dangly drivers side, but when it was rescued it had no drivers mirror so it could be a replacement on it now

 

Has anyone enquired about this one yet? Seems a real waste for it to be broken after being given another chance so recently. 

[New POD]

2 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Wasn’t the 2 door version of saloon/hatch cars a taxation thing in Europe?

 

lots of Ascona Cs (Mk2 Cavalier) were 2 door 

[Dave_Q]

I'm sure 2 doors were offered as an option on loads of stuff in the UK but it just wasn't taken up.

In the village I grew up in there was a chap we knew with a 2/3 door MK3 Astra estate.

My mum used this as an example of what a mingebag he was, as he had to factory order the 3 door version and wait months for it, all to save about £300

[mk2_craig]

13 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

3 door MK3 Astra estate

Was it a mk2?

There must have been tiny numbers of those sold in the UK, and presumably only available because it was basically the van bodyshell. 

[danthecapriman]

19 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

Was it a mk2?

There must have been tiny numbers of those sold in the UK, and presumably only available because it was basically the van bodyshell. 

Istr those Astra 3 door estates being fairly common. 
Someone I used to work with bought them because as you say, it’s the van but with windows. I used to work on one for someone too, a lovely metallic green.

[lisbon_road]

2 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

I'm sure 2 doors were offered as an option on loads of stuff in the UK but it just wasn't taken up.

In the village I grew up in there was a chap we knew with a 2/3 door MK3 Astra estate.

My mum used this as an example of what a mingebag he was, as he had to factory order the 3 door version and wait months for it, all to save about £300

I never realised that there was such a thing!