1990 Ford XR2

The second-generation Ford Fiesta lent itself to the development of the XR2 perfectly: as eighties’ legends go, the XR2 is there with the best of them. It was light, well-balanced, impeccably proportioned and very affordable.

Part of the XR2’s enduring appeal is its stance, which is nigh-on perfect. And the iconic twin front spotlights. And the pepper-pot alloy wheels. And the contrasting black body-kit. But, above all, the XR2 offered blue collar workers a stab at the yuppie dream. City boys might have driven the Golf GTI, but Essex boys drove an XR2. Nuff said.

This one’s in very nice condition having been restored by a Ford enthusiast, and finished in its original hue of dark metallic grey. With the same engine as the contemporary sporting Escort, the XR3, the little Fiesta packs quite a punch, bearing in mind its diminutive footprint and low kerb weight.

The dark grey paintwork is quite fresh and looks very good, with excellent panel gaps and shutlines. This car has two new front wings fitted, and the job looks to have been very well executed, as there are no signs of it having been carried out that we could spot. In the roof is a glass sunroof panel that hinges from the front to allow airflow on hot days.

The correct XR2 pinstripes and boot decals are all in place (the latter could do with a dab of glue to stick their corners down) and the rear hatchback has the correct rubber XR2 mouldings fitted.

The 13 inch pepperpot alloy wheels, tiny by modern standards, are period perfect and give the little fast Ford a distinctive look. And if you think they look small of a Fiesta, bear in Mind Ford used them on its run-out Capri model too, the 2.8 Injection – still in 13 inch size. These have a set of new looking 185/60/13 tyres fitted. The wheels themselves look to have been refurbished and look great.

At the front Ford made the most of its rally heritage by adding a pair of spotlights to hint at the company’s motorsport successes with the all-conquering Mk1 and 2 Escorts (they remained all-conquering until the advent of the Audi Ur Quattro, amazingly).

Inside the correct distinctive XR2 steering wheel catches your eye, with its offset hub and twin holed design. The instrument binnacle has a wrap-around look with all the switchgear within easy reach – a line of toggle switches on the right plus the three column mounted stalks control just about everything, bar the heater.

Ford dashes of this period can crack if they get too much sun (we know how they feel) but in this car the dash looks to have survived very well indeed, and looks excellent.

The roof pod mounted digital clock was high tech back in the day, and this one works perfectly. The cloth seats are also in nice shape. The driver’s seat shows some signs of wear, a slight looseness of fit over the seat base foam, but a competent trimmer could probably sort this out relatively easily. The main thing is that the cloth isn’t torn or work through anywhere. It’s clean and bright looking too.

In the back the seats look barely used, as is often the case with a hot hatch. The only things missing that we noticed is the rear parcel shelf. What is present is the original Ford radio cassette, although we don’t know whether it works.

The 1.6-litre cam in head CVH engine (Compound Valve-angle Hemispherical) was developed by Ford in the mid 1970s and intended as a replacement for the much-loved Kent Crossflow (which ironically ended up outliving it by a couple of years). This is the later lean burn version, which, again ironically, doesn’t strictly speaking any longer have hemispherical combustion chambers. Still, what’s in a name?

Ninety five horsepower doesn’t sound like it’s going to light up any tyres, but the XR2 only weighs a little over 800Kgs it’s plenty to give sprightly performance. The engine in this one looks very tidy, as does the bay it sits in, with period correct stickers in place. The blue silicone hoses are a later addition and not standard, although they are superior to the original spec parts and will last much longer than rubber equivalents.

Unlike the Mk1 cars, the Mk2 XR2 also benefitted from a five speed gearbox, with an overdrive fifth to give fairly relaxed motorway cruising ability.

Inside the boot, the paintwork is excellent and the spare wheel is another refinished pepperpot alloy with a good tyre on it. Space savers were still a future ‘development’ when this Fiesta rolled off the line. What we could see of the Fiesta’s underside also looked very good, with what looks like a new fuel tank and a recent exhaust system too.

The current owner is a Ford enthusiast who brought the car up to this standard himself. He says:

‘I bought it as a stalled project about a year ago – the guy I bought it from had done the same but he didn’t get around to doing anything to the car. When I got it, it looked like it had been in bits for a while, with broken windows, but the shell was almost up together.

I have fitted two new front wings and I also had the underside sprayed – it looks amazing underneath. It’s all back to standard XR2 spec, with the correct engine. The car speaks for itself – all rust has been cut out and been replaced with fresh metal. It drives really nicely too.’

Anyone in any doubt about a 1990s Ford’s status as a classic should take a look at the prices rear-wheel-drive Escort are capable of fetching. Apart from the mass appeal of a car many wanted in their youth, the fact that they were generally unloved once they hit the 10 year old mark, means most were driven until they dropped, then went to the scrap yard.

So a sporting Ford in this kind of condition is probably harder to find than something that had a big ticket price tag when new – when did you last see one of these on the road? That, and halo effect of the almost universally worshipped Escort, means values of cars like this tend to get dragged upwards, making this XR2 a good bet for the future.

We expect this car to fetch between £6,000 - £11,000.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.