wulliesxr4i

iTrader: (1)

Sierra History

The Sierra was based on the 1980 Probe III concept car. The designer team included such big names as Uwe Bahnsen, who created the most of the european Fords in the '80s and the first half of the '90s, and Peter Horbury who is the Premiere Automotive Group's current lead designer. Nobody denies that the shape was stunning at that time, and basically influenced the car design of the upcoming 15 years. The mechanical structure was also redesigned, new front suspenison and independent rear suspension was used, but the engines were the same as in the predecessor Taunus/Cortina. The First Sierra was out in 1982.07 with 5 door hatchback and turnier chassis, available with four petrol engines (1.3, 1.6 and 2.0L OHC ("Pinto"), and the 2.3L V6 OHV). On the German market it was also available with the 2.0 V6 OHV engine. In '82 october the 2.3L OHV diesel engine arrived to complete the selection. The model specifications were Standard, L, GL and the Ghia, featuring fog lights, electronically operated windows and heated mirrors, sunroof, check control, board computer, etc... The XR4i joined the model range in the spring of 1983, with 3-door chassis and the Capri-originated 2.8i OHV "Cologne" engine. Ford extended its world-car programme in '85 january with the first turbocharged Sierra: the Merkur XR4Ti which was an XR4i, but it had a 2.3L inline 4 engine, and it was sold in the US. Interesting fact that Ford aimed the American market with a relatively small (4 cyl.) turbocharged car while the bigger V6 engine was available only for the European customers. The Merkur was the first Sierra with air condition too. Later in that year the XR4i production was halted, and the 4x4 version turned up at the Geneva Motor Show. The Anti Lock Brake system was first introduced in this model. Ford started to sell it in june of '86 with 5-door chassis, under the XR4x4 name. A month later the strongest Sierra appeared: the 3-door Cosworth with the 16V turbocharged version of the 2.0 "Pinto" engine, the first road car performing more than 100BHP/litre. But despite the fact that Ford just made it's first car with four-wheel drive, the Cossie was only available in 2wd version. It was a true racing car, it competed in the world rally championship in factory colors, after the cancelation of the notorius B Group. Altough it was more succesful on the racetrack, Klaus Ludwig gained the world champion title behind the wheel of the RS500 version. The street-legal 500 cars required for homologation was built by Tickford, so the RS500 was (and currently is) the most expensive Sierra. In 1987 the Sierra got facelifted: the more conservative 4-door "Sapphire" appeared and the basic trim was now CL. The Cosworth was available with the 4 door chassis instead of 3, but it still got rear wheel drive. Small changes by '89: side repeaters behind the front arches, the CL was only available with 3 door chassis wich was named "Coupé" and the LX was basic on the 4-5 door modells. The XR4x4 got the new 2.9i Cologne, with chain driven camshaft and Bosch L-jetronic injection, and the fresh developed MT75 gearbox. Completely new engines appeared later in this year to change the aging Pintos: the 1.8 CVH in march, and the 2.0 DOHC in may, which got the MT75 too. Plenty of changes became by the modelyear 1990, the Merkur programme was cancelled, all petrol engines were available with catalic converter. The Sierra was again facelifted: it got the front grille from the Sapphire Cosworth which finally got the four wheel drive, because the 2wd wasn't competitive anymore against Lancias in the World Rally Championship. The basic trim was again CL, followed by CLX, GL and Ghia. The XR4i has reappeared in the model range as the successor of the 2.0iS, it had a 2.0i DOHC engine and 5-door chassis. The XR4x4 was cancelled. The engine palette was completely upside down: 2.3 Diesel was replaced by the new 1.8 OHC turbodiesel, the 1.6 OHC was replaced with the 1.6 CVH. The 1.8 CVH was cut from the engine palette, and the 2.0 OHC has reappered. Altough none of the catalogues mention that, there were facelifted 1.6 OHC and 115 BHP pinto Sierras also. The sales were going down as the Sierra reached it's 10th birthday, for it's last full year it got restyled dashboard and bumpers to keep the customers interest. The production was finally ended up in February 1993, the Front wheel drive Mondeo took the Sierra's place.