Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Ellis]

It's hard to believe that it's nearly thirty two years since the Ford Sierra was launched and the varied opinions on the new Ford. Some people liked it, many did not.

I saw one in November 1982 when I took my mother's Metro in for it's first service. The garage's proprietor, Mr H.G Thomas who had dealt with my father many times asked me to follow him to a curtained off part of the bodyshop and there was a new unregistered Sierra 1.6L, five door in blue with it's rear end caved in.
He explained that it had been offloaded from the transporter and a young gladiator in his Ford Escort, travelling too fast failed to brake in time and rear ended the brand new Sierra.

In 2014 you see very few on the road, I think I have only seen two this year. With Mark 1 and 2 Cortinas, even the non sporting ones commanding high prices, are there any versions of the Sierra which could be considered classic or desirable?

I owned one of the last RS Cosworth Sapphire 4x4's but engine apart there was nothing really special about it and it was shockingly badly built with orange peeled paintwork when I bought it as a three month old 1700 mile ex Ford management car in July 1993.

There is a retired Metropolitan Police traffic officer who lives locally and I enjoy listening to his service reminisences. When first appointed as a traffic officer in 1978 he drove Triumph 2.5TC's then Rover SD1 which had specially uprated police specification 5 speed gearboxes.

His opinion is that the finest traffic car he ever drove was the Ford Sierra 2.8 4x4i, the police version of the XR4x4,. the automatic version for inner London and the manual version for suburban duties.

Are there any Ford Sierras you would consider worthy of being termed "classic" ?

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1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[ka]

If you look back on car design before the Sierra, most were based on boxes and square edges, with very few airo-designed curves, excluding the odd few design projects, and the early Audi's, the Sierra was the first wind tunnel, jelly mould design to be mass produced, and to me it was not a patch on the Cortinas it replaced. Over the years the Sierra softened with colour co-ordinated bumpers etc, but it did set the practice for smooth cars designed in a wind tunnel for economy, look at the cars that followed it, (excluding the smooth Granada that I never did warm to, and still looks heinous, particularly the booted version around the tail lights).
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KA

Better three than four.

[Rick]

Hi Ellis,

I remember not liking it at all when it was introduced, and I've not really warmed to it ever since although the Cosworths (especially the RS500s) must be a hoot to drive. The Cossies therefore would be my - obvious - choice as a classic contender, plus the rwd XR4i which used to crop up in CAR magazine articles quite regularly. I suspect the bog-standard base model, with the grey panel between the headlights, will be sought out by fans as they'll not survive in any great quantities, just like the fleet-spec 105E of the 1960s.

From time to time I see the odd estate car version, and Cosworths (either 2wd or 4wd), but few of the once-numerous family saloons.

The early ones weren't good in a crash if memory serves, with the floors rippling up beneath the carpets even after a minor low-speed bump. Who remembers Neil Kinnock writing his off? - it was well covered in the newspapers of the day.

RJ
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[mikeC]

There are at least five 'banger' Sierras in daily use locally; they haven't dropped off the radar round here yet!

I made the mistake of buying a very low mileage 1.8LX Sierra Sapphire a few years ago; it seemed like a good idea at the time, but I quickly changed my mind! It was horrid; I've had some bad cars in my time, but they were usually bad due to age and neglect. Apart from a comfortable ride - my wife liked it! - I can think of nothing good to say about the Sierra, and the thought of Cosworth power going through that chassis makes me shudder!

[JohnDale]

When the Sierra came out I was looking for a new car to replace my MklV Cortina 2.0GL. I took one look at the Sierra & said no thanks. I managed to find a MKV Cortina which had been sold to a gentleman who had died & the car then sat in the showroom while his probate was sorted - took a year. I still prefered the year old 'new' MkV to the Sierra & drove it quite happily till the next change - for a Nissan Patrol LWB.
Cheers,JD.
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1958 Ford Zephyr Mk2 Convertible
1976 Ford Granada Ghia.

[Ellis]

[Ashley]

That's put me right off! Until you told me that I liked them, they were a good driving car, but everything was pretty badly made then.

[MikeEdwards]

There's a couple near here - a white Sapphire version on a late plate (K, I think) and a very clean 2.0 XR4x4.

It's a big selling family saloon car, nothing special when it was new, not particularly cherished then (with the exception of the various Cosworth or XR4i/4x4/8 versions) - just like many accepted classics such as the Minor, Escort, whatever.

[V8 Nutter]

I have never seen one but I should think a South African built XR8 with a 351 Cleveland engine would be interesting

[goneps]

In 1991, in South Africa, I had a new 2-litre Sapphire (Sierra with a boot) as a company car. It had been preceded by two company Mazda 626s, which came out of the same factory (Samcor, in Pretoria). The Mazdas were badly built and became increasingly unreliable once over 100,000km., and at the time I was covering 60,000km per annum.

The Sapphire was in a totally different league in terms of comfort and ride, and bettered the Mazdas' 24mpg by at least 3mpg (all were automatics). Best of all, it was rear wheel drive and thus a pleasure to drive on unsealed roads. It was high-geared, long-legged and quiet at freeway speeds.

I've no recollection of an XR8 version before I emigrated, but should have thought it used the 302 Ford V8 which powered the Basil Green-designed V8 Capri and Granada. Both engines were excellent and surprisingly economical (I'd previously owned four Fairlanes, two standard 302 versions and two of the 351 Fairlane 500).

Richard

[RotaryBri]

In 1994 I sold my company to a South African one. When I went to visit them their Managing Director collected me from my hotel in a rather scruffy Sierra. This surprised me but it was an XR8 and went like the proverbial....

He explained that to prevent hijacking it did not pay to have a smart new car so he used this Sierra. Some time later he did buy a new BMW and sure enough he had his car hijacked whilst stationary in Jo'berg. He offered the thieves the keys but they still pistol whipped him but he said that he was thankful that they did not shoot him. He was in hospital a long time. He went back to using the Sierra.

It would be God's gift of a country if they could stop the crime.
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RotaryBri

1976 NSU Ro80

[OuBallie]

Amen to your last remark RotaryBri.
The Gunston sponsored V8 Sierra Peranas where a regular sight on the SA circuits.

Geoff - Cooler at last.
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1957 Austin A35 2-door
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Model Engineering

[Minxy]

I can think of many forums where when someone asks is 'x' a classic the thread is locked instantly
The 'classic' question can be very emotive but here's my opinion (and I stress it is just MY opinion) The Sierra is not and never will be a classic. In my humble opinion 'age does not a classic make' To be a 'classic' an item has to be a unique forerunner.
My Minx is not and never will be a classic, it's just an old car. The Sierra is, and always will be, just an old car.

[ukdave2002]

My first brand new car (company) was a Sierra Sapphire 1.8 LX; F377RHG. I did about 50,000 miles in 12 months and at that time we changed all cars at 60,000 miles. It did the job well enough, but was replaced just over a year later with my second new car, an Astra GTE a car I did really enjoy!

Dave

[goneps]