Rob, the XR3i was a hairdressers car, the Sierra Cosworth would have it for breakfast, it was not the prettiest but Cosworth were the real deal, respect where its due....
No argument at all, really, just that regardless of the jet engine inside the Cossies, the basic Sierra design is the first one that I remember as being of the featureless mold that hit the Americans just as hard as the Brits. I wonder why Jag was one of the only British marques that clung on to some style? Maybe because it was one of the few that had any since after the war. Okay, the Zodiacs and Crestas had a bit as did my own Humber, but then again, too little to mention, as the song sort of goes. Oh, I forgot the MGA looked kinds cute, and the MGBGT was pretty nice until they effed it up with those black US-legislation plastic weights fore and aft. Again, forget supercars, they don't count since they are unobtainable to mere mortals such as I.
XR3i for breakfast: of course it would, but on the other hand, though I had it for eight years and then sold it for the new Escort XRi that is now eleven years old, the XR3i took me from Spain through France and up to Scotland every year and sometimes twice a year. It had a sunshine roof, which I would never have again, and which though Ford replaced it under guarantee, sowed the seeds of destruction that spread rust everywhere. Having said that, whoever bought it after it lay in the dealership for a year, managed to keep it alive in pristine rust condition for a further eight years. I used to give it a guilty pat on the roof as I'd walk past it in the street, and I'd whisper a little thank you for some of the best driving memories of my life: my personal Route 66 except that it was mainly up and down the N20 in those first years before I gave in and started to use the A/E Routes.
One of the most shocking things about it all was hitting the change from the French A roads onto the British M versions after the Dover crossing: dear God, what a culture shock! Napoleon must be laughing his wrist off inside that jacket!
Rob C
