Sierra Charlie Victor Hotel

[scaryoldcortina]

I like the phonetic alphabet.. confuses telesales folk, annoys policemen (when you know it too) and makes random stuff sound vaugely odd. Remember the "Tango, Whiskey, oh, and get me a kebab..." sketch? I do, even if I can't remember which comedey show did it. I bet they were driving a sierra though. Good TV cops AND uber badass guys always have a Ford. I spent this morning razzing round Newcastle and Gateshead in a sapph sierra, pretending I was Spender, which made a refreshing change from pretending to be Jack Carter.

 

So yeah.. winter is here, I've traded up from a G plate cortina to a H plate sierra, thanks to cav_estate and his mad dash to unload all his tat before leaving the country. It's excellent. We are now the early '90s aspirational family, our 21" phillips "Flatter Squarer Tube" TV with HI-Fi sound and built in VHS recorder only reinforces that FACT. ffs.. in 1992 I had a talbot horizon and a 10" b/w portable telly... our lass's parents had a sierra saph... she got driven to the registry office in it!

 

do feel free to add random 90's nostalgia rubbish... not like there is anything on the other side

[barrett]

I think you know what we want to see now....

 

I know a very racist joke about the phonetic alphabet, but I wont post it here, despite it being '90s nostalgic'

[scaryoldcortina]

I know that joke

OK, but they will be very shit "flash in the dark" photos.. I only just got it!

[scaryoldcortina]

 

Camera batteries say NO MORES! plus its fucking cold out there. So that's your lot.

[barrett]

Thanks for making the effort, at least when you come to sell it you've got some photos to stick up on ebay....

 

I actually saw one the same colour (I think) as this coming out of asda carpark today. It had alloys though. Definitely growing on me these Sierras, not something i'd have given a second look to a few years ago tbh.

[scaryoldcortina]

Funny, I was thinking as I posted that I've seen worse pics on ebay (and bought the car too..)

 

I kinda have a soft spot for facelift sierras (and mk3 granadas) they always seem to make a good cheap hack, because everyone else shits on them so badly. For all the crap you hear, at the end of the day it's a ford...

[Jon]

Hey scary, great to meet you and offload another bit of tat to a welcoming Autoshiter!

 

Here's a pic of it just after getting it in June 2009, to replace the rather shoddy AX GT5 in the background:

 

 

Note its nice original wheeltrims too, which someone felt fit to help themselves to one evening. Twats.

[autofive]

the phonetic joke was from Thin Blue line

[scaryoldcortina]

What, the mad racist one, or the Tango, Whiskey one? cos I thought the latter was the Fat Sweaty Group (I mean Coppers) although I can't decide if it was Fast Show or French & Saunders. Hell, it was probably all of them and originally stolen from Dave Allen.

[Guest Tony Hayers]

All you need now is a carphone and a jacket in the back window = WIN.

 

Liking your purchace. Well I would, just look at my sig.

 

Oh and I bet its a 1.8 from the title of the OP

[Lord Sterling]

The 'Tango, Whiskey, kebab' was a Fat Sweaty Coppers sketch from the Fast Show.

 

Lovely car SC, reminds me of my old Sierra Sapphire Ghia, Black F-reg etc.... Driven a 2.9 Ghia F-reg Granada-Scorpio, really nice and wollowy.

 

Last winter I had to learn the phonetic alphabet as my job involved spelling numberplates out to parts suppliers and it could get confusing at times without using said alphabet. I never thought I'd learn it. I tried once when I did a Tourism course years ago at college.

[scaryoldcortina]

 

I havn't found it yet.. but I'm having fun looking, rover 414 and a metro...

[autofive]

 

i was obviously wrong, you were all correct

 

i hang my head in shame

[Pete-M]

I'm half tempted to go to Germany and buy a Sierra 4x4 Estate.

[warren t claim]

I hate to sound like an insensitive driver but I remember my first drive of a 4x4 Cosworth. I thought it felt like a 2WD Cossie with a full compliment of passengers.

 

I'll go further than that and say a an Astra GT/E 16v is more fun to drive.

[Pete-M]

4x4s do feel heavier, mainly because they are, and because there's tons of stuff spinning around all over the place.

 

They do handle insanely well though.

[warren t claim]

4x4s do feel heavier, mainly because they are, and because there's tons of stuff spinning around all over the place.

 

They do handle insanely well though.

 

 

I used to drive a couple of different Cosworths every month back in the early 1990's as part of my job. For the same money a 944 Turbo is a much better car.

[Pete-M]

944 Turbo is a different kind of car though.

 

I like Sapphire Cosworths because they're just a nicely sporty Sierra with Ghia trim and Recaros when they're pootling around town, but are capable of playing with stuff like the 944 Turbo when the opportunity occurs. They're also rather easy to get decent amounts of power from, and they can carry four people comfortably over long distances without breaking a sweat or giving the passengers cramp.

 

The 944 Turbo is a sports car that can do town work if needs be. The Cosworth is a saloon car that can do lunacy.

 

I'd sooner have a Cosworth than my Jag, but I have no urge whatsoever to own a 944.

[warren t claim]

I'll up the ante.....

 

I had more fun in a Maserati Bituro than I did in any of the Cossies I've driven. It didn't break down either.

[Pete-M]

Swims up, sniffs bait, swims away.

[garethj]

Sierra looks really good, do they go rusty?

 

You need a Little Chef atlas on the parcel shelf, you do

[scaryoldcortina]

There was an out of date road atlas included with the car - it is indeed on the back shelf.

Later sierras don't seem to rust as badly as the early ones did, and apart from a little arch scabbing this one seems pretty good.

 

I had a ghia 4x4 estate about 10 years ago.. Lovely car, but thirsty. Did handle superbly though.

[gearoil]

I'm half tempted to go to Germany and buy a Sierra 4x4 Estate.

 

Pick me one up too will you Pete. A nice 2.9 Ghia if you will.

 

I've managed to offload my crumbly E-plate XR4x4 on another forum, lad picks it up on the 15th. Don't know if hes going to put it back on the road or break it. Meh, his choice. I certainly don't have time to patch it back together unfortunatly.

[Timewaster]

Sierra looks really good, do they go rusty?

 

A months wages recently spent at the bodyshop says they do!

[MK5 Escort]

Later Sierra's were usually pretty decent when it come to rust resistance. Certainly better than early ones.

 

Anyway, a lovely car - much underrated. My dad had a H plate 1.8LX (hatchback) and it was loved to bits.

 

I've always wanted to own another for myself, or a Sapphire Cosworth of the same age in original mint condition. It’s actually one of the car’s I’d have in my ‘top ten of all time’ garage.

 

Note its nice original wheeltrims too, which someone felt fit to help themselves to one evening. Twats.

 

(Sad anorak mode on...)

 

They aren’t the original trims for that particular year of LX model I’m afraid, cav_estate. They were indeed fitted to Sierra LX’s but only from 1992 J plates through to the last of the line 1993 K plates. Only the GLS and basic XR4i models of that vintage came with those trims. The proper trims for a H plate LX would have been these.

 

(...sad anorak mode off)

[scaryoldcortina]

shurely you mean XR4x4? (XR4i discontinued in '85?)

[warren t claim]

shurely you mean XR4x4? (XR4i discontinued in '85?)

 

I'm sure the badge was re used on a 5 door Sierra Twin Cam.

[scaryoldcortina]

shurely you mean XR4x4? (XR4i discontinued in '85?)

 

I'm sure the badge was re used on a 5 door Sierra Twin Cam.

 

Yes, it probably was.... bit like the "2000E". Actually, I'd like one of those now, despite thinking it a bit horrid at the time.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Almost every old Ford thread descends into a Ford nerd convention, the willy-waving nerds brandishing their most accurate trim level and model year facts.

[scaryoldcortina]

Almost every old Ford thread descends into a Ford nerd convention, the willy-waving nerds brandishing their most accurate trim level and model year facts.

 

 

You say that like it's a bad thing....