Content: Ford Sierra XR8

[vanz2]

"LEADER OF THE PACK"

[Gavin RS]

Greetings all.

Have just been reading all the posts from the beginning, some very interesting comments and replies,as well as some very valid points.Its good to read these
type' s of posts as that come from people that share each others enthusiasm.Not the rubbish found in other forums.
I have just had the comment from a phone call regarding my Capri Perana being a fake as the number #299 is too high as they only built 250 according to this person. what rubbish,No one can honestly say how many were actually made.
I have stripped out the interior and my car has another BG plate on the floor under the seat which corresponds to the number in the engine bay.Must still post the pics.

Anyway regarding the XR8 a few more items to consider in identifying this car from a fake is the Front calipers.they are unobtainable as they are AP 4pot from that era as well as the rear discs which are vented.The steering wheel and dash binnacle is from the UK spec XR4i which we never got here in SA. The rear diff cradle is also different from a normal Sierra as there is an extention on the housing (torque tube).The propshaft does not bolt direct to the diff flange.(Based on Granada)

And 1 thing that really surprised me as I have recently done a comparison with the XR8 Shell and the later mk2 Sierra shell (Sapphire front end)then it is easy to tell a fake.Nothing from the mk2 shell fits, not even the roof lining.front fenders are totally different as are all the doors.Even the complete shell differs.We checked the differences with the XR8 we are restoring at the moment.
I compared these differences to the a 1991 Sierra LX V6 I bought ,(no engine) with the idea of using some trim parts for my Cosworth, fortunately the items I needed do fit.later I will proabaly build it into a SuperHatch race car with a 2 ltr motor, no rules in the MSA book about putting a rear wheel drive car into Superhatch.And at least I am not destroying a collectible SA Muscle car

[FairmontGT]

Welcome to the forum, nice to read your interesting comments Alvin - I have been looking around at XR8s and would love to read the replies on your questions before I buy one to make sure it is the real thing.

[ZA Perana]

HOWZIT to all you fordnatics
i am new to this forum and been reading most of the threads from the begining. now you sound like a bunch of knowlegable dudes but have confused me slightly.
i owned a total of 7 XR8's of which 6 were originals carrying the RY engine numbers with all matching tags under the drivers headlights and serial numbers stamped on the drivers front chassis leg behind the headlights.
the 7th car is a replica which i built using a 1986 uprated XR6 and fitting everything from the original R8. I have been personally involved in work on about another 5 R8's. now nowhere in the last 20years have i come across a XR8 that is longer in the front than the standard XR6. so if you guys are right then all these cars that i have and have worked on are "fakes".....what i can say that the addition of the R8 grille makes the front end longer but this was done only to facilitate the fitting of the 4 core radiator.
another intresting comment was the colour of the bumpers. all R8's came with dark blue bumpers and prestige panel at the rear of car. i have seen colour coded bumpers where the owners insist that it was ordered from the factory like that. i have one car that came standard with airconditioner and two cars built on GLX donors with the GLX interior also as factory fitted.i have never seen black bumpers other than those that were repainted without checking the colour properly.

Welcome Mr XR8 in Cape Town, we have met on the odd occasion(Perana sideshaft).

By having a long nose I refer to the fact that the bumper is of a differant design to that of the XR6, it has a much more acute slope to it, to prove the point it would be interesting to see if the twin fans would fit behind the std XR6 bumper because I dont think they would, I have the precise measurments somewhere, will attempt to find them, must add we are talking cm's here, hardly niceable to the human eye but noticeable nonetheless..

Colour coded bumpers never came from the factory, of that I am 99.9% convinced, I also know of one car with air con, probably the same car you know if-a particularly clean car!

Must confess the bumpers look more black to me than blue but admit they might be a dark blue.

[FairmontGT]

I have had a close look at some XR8s bumpers and it definately is a very dark greyish blue. The Xr6 ones seem black to me - but I have actually never looked close up (as I dont really have any interest in them)

[Firenza GT]

Welcome Alvin, the anglegrinder is less prevailant here on the forum! We wear suits here puristnerds !

Help me right here as all the years I was believing that the two front fenders were actually longer than the other non-XR8 Sierra's in other words they were especially tooled for this project ? If you think about it that would be a big problem when one got damaged like today many years later.

The bumper thing as with that lower section, as far as I have seen from what I remember seeing unresprayed or restored originals from the 80's is that the colour definitely is not black but a darkish blue maybe mixed with a tone of grey.

Lino

[Stealth GT]

Welcome MR XR8

If anyone needs to ask questions about the XR8 then Alvin is probably the most informed in Cape Town on the subject
I think the story with the XR8 nose being longer comes from the CAR magazine article that was written when these cars were launched I will check if I still have the article

Cheers Warren

[Gavin RS]

Hi Alvin

Welcome.

Spoke to you last week, will chat again in Jan when I am back from East London.

I agree on the XR8 colouring in the bumpers.definately a dark blue colour.And even though CAR MAG test says the nose is longer, I think it was made longerinternal where he radiator is mounted etc and not the fenders .

CheeRS

Gavin

[zahistorics]

There's a nice pic of Serge Damseaux racing an XR8 here:

http://www.damseauxmotorsport.co.za/ima ... e_10_m.jpg

1983 Killarney, Serge Damseaux (won the race), John Gibbs behind.

[moby302]

Don't know if this helps the debate at all but,

Quote:-
To fit the motor into the Sierra engine bay, the engine-driven fan had to be left out and two electrically operated units take its place, while the grille extends further forward than on other Sierra's. However the firewall remains intact, as the V8 is only 100mm longer than the V6.

All XR-8's will come in one colour only - white, with subtle Ford Motorsport trim in three shades of blue. The lower rocker and valance panels are finished in grey-blue moulded PVC and a thin stripe in tri-blue runs along the styling line, while the XR-8 badging appears only on the tail in familiar Sierra graphics.

The front grille looks aggressive and uses the top-line Sierra headlight clusters which include additional driving lights, and the XR-4i's bi-plane rear spoiler is fitted. Inside, the only changes from the XR-6 are the use of the XR-4i instrument nacelle and small diameter, two-spoke steering wheel. Upholstey is a perforated grey velour.
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