1983 Ford XR3i

This remarkably well-preserved Ford Escort XR3i was first registered in February 1983 and is showing just six previous owners and 121,100 miles on the odometer.

It’s also been in the seller’s care since February 2022, during which time he’s invested a significant sum in conserving it. 

The paperwork is in order too, and ‘DJA 591Y’ is also being offered with a sensible guide price and no reserve, making it the perfect way to banish any post-Christmas blues.

There’s an invoice on file for £4,000-worth of paintwork in February 2023 and given it’s covered barely any miles since then the fact it still looks as good as it does will come as little surprise.

Interestingly, the seller only took it into his favourite bodyshop to have the front bumper aligned more neatly, but when the chap suggested the XR3i was good enough to warrant a full respray, he couldn’t resist writing out a cheque for a coat of fresh paint.

Peer beyond the admirably glossy and very well applied red paintwork and you can admire good shutlines too, plus neat panel alignment. It also sits well, with a suitably sporting stance and the air of a car that doesn’t feel the need to try too hard.

But then all the right bits are in all the right places including the obligatory Ford-branded spotlamps on the front bumper, which are in fine fettle with just one small chip from the outer rim of the nearside unit; the rest of the lamp lenses are in an excellent condition with no chips, cracks, or other damage. 

The glazing is good too, including the rubber seals, and the front and rear screens also proudly proclaim someone in the car’s past was a member of the XR Owners’ Club, and that’s never going to be a bad thing, is it?

The rear spoiler is still a nice deep black colour, as are the overriders and trim on the corners of the body-coloured bumpers – and even that on the lower edge of the front spoiler is in good shape with no obvious damage. 

The door mirror cappings are also free of brush-by marks, and the four corners show no signs of a devil-may-care attitude towards parking.

The iconic 14-inch alloy wheels, which nestle nicely in their respective wheelarches, are free of scuffs, scrapes, and other kerbing damage. Their exceptional condition is probably due to a combination of careful curation and 185/60R14 tyres, whose relatively high sidewalls help protect the rims. Those tyres are matching Pirelli P6000 too, albeit perished with heavy cracking to the sidewalls, so you’ll need to budget for a new set of boots.

As for other issues, there are some marks to the rear bumper, the rear spoiler is starting to harden, and there is some unevenness to the door skin in front of the nearside mirror.

The presence of a Fischer cassette holder in the centre console brings a flood of nostalgia to those of us who are old enough to remember buying them from Halfords; the younger members of the team are still looking for the touchscreen that’ll connect their iPhones…

And they’ll search in vain because the Escort is still fitted with what may well be the original twin-spindle, Ford-branded radio-cassette player, a headunit that more than makes up in style what it lacks in connectivity. 

Of course, the lack of a built-in sat-nav means that if you get lost you’ll have to go Old School and stop at a petrol station for directions, a task that’ll inevitably be delayed by passers-by who want to talk about your new wheels.

The good news continues with the fact the parcelshelf is still straight and free of extraneous holes and cracks, a feature we don’t often get to write about given how popular aftermarket speakers were, back in the day.

The figure-hugging front seats are still firm and supportive, and they’re covered by taut, clean, and undamaged fabric. The rear seats are in an even better condition, with even the fragile fabric on the back of the front seats still being unmarked. 

The door cards are equally impressive, the headlining is clean, taut, and free of damage, and the dashboard has been spared the indignity of being modified with extra instruments and switches; if you were to suggest it had covered a five-figure mileage rather than six, people would believe you. 

The boot, including the side panels, is every bit as clean and unmarked as the rest of the interior. Lifting the floor trim also reveals a full-size spare alloy wheel, along with what looks like nothing more than a veneer of rust around the perimeter of the wheel well.

As for faults, the top of the instrument binnacle has fine cracks due to sun damage, the trims on the nearside A-pillar and driver’s headrest are wrinkled, and the carpet, which are free of holes and other signs of wear, would benefit from having the driver’s footwell shampooed. 

That’s not a bad list after 42 years, is it?

But then it has been very well looked after, including a gearbox rebuild in May 2024, which ran up a bill for more than £1,600.

The floorpan was also welded a few months later, and the owner took the opportunity to have a few minor mechanical jobs completed at the same time, including new front strut mounts. This added another £2,822 to the tally.

There are notes for previous service and repair work too, including a new cambelt and fuel tank plus ancillaries in 2018. The original service history booklet, which records diligent servicing between 1983 and 1989, has also stayed with the car.

MoT certificates allow you to track to Escort’s mileage over the years, while old tax discs provide a healthy dose of nostalgia. 

As you can see in the video, the fuel-injected engine starts well and revs cleanly. 

The engine bay is nicely presented, being clean and tidy without being OTT; if you wanted to show it then there is work to do but if you simply want to recreate your youth by driving it as Dagenham intended, then it’ll be fine as it is.

The underside is very good too, and the presence of new underseal is a function of the work it’s had done rather than a quick blowover with black Waxoyl to obscure a problem. We spotted a good exhaust too, plus a clean gearbox courtesy of that recent rebuild.

The only flaws we have been made aware of are a temperamental main beam switch. This works fine if you press the stalk near the steering column end but is less reliable if you operate it conventionally. Also, the seller cannot remember whether the rheostat for the instrument cluster works. 

The Escort doesn’t have a current MoT certificate, and while it is exempt by virtue of its age, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have it MoT’d at the earliest opportunity. The cost of an MoT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic vehicle, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the car’s condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies… 

The recent Vehicle History Check is clear, and it comes with a well-filled history file we talked about in the section above plus two Haynes workshop manuals and a copy of the September 2003 issue of Classic Ford magazine in which the Escort features.

For most of us, the obstacle to buying one new wasn’t the XR3i’s screen price, it was the cost of insuring it: few cars were as easy to steal as a eighties-era Ford, and ram-raiding was becoming a thing – and ram-raiding was a role the Escort XR3i fulfilled in considerable style.

Thankfully that sort of thing is rarer now, and our age and experience mean insurance is now likely to be more of a pittance than a penance. 

The Ford Escort XR3i also proves you don’t need 200bhp under your right foot to have fun: Light and lithe, hot-hatchbacks and performance cars from the 80s and 90s are becoming the sweet spot of the classic car world, stylishly blending reliability with decent handling and performance.

Our guide price of between £10,000 and £15,000 probably makes it more affordable than you might have thought, while the fact it’s being offered with no reserve means it’s going to a new home after the very first bid has been placed, no matter how derisory that might be. 

Forget Dry January: welcome to XR3i January. 

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at THE MARKET HQ in South Oxfordshire. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays (apart from Bank Holidays) between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.