Quite daft to compare this to the trio. This is a video commissioned by the manufacturer to inform dealers of new updates to the car, of course it's going to be chock full of information.
The late Tony Bastable was neither a motoring writer nor an 'L. J. K. Setright-esc' engineering writer. He was a TV presenter who read from a script. He presented many programmes on many subjects, (children's, historical, current affairs, finance, consumer etc), and Cricket was his main interest. I'd imagine that this film is from his production company, as Ford were one of his clients. Prior to Top Gear, both Clarkson and May were both motoring writers. Later editions of Top Gear were more about "entertainment".
My first motor show too I was 9. It rained very heavy that day I went and was parked miles away as had to bussed in. Then the bus driver got lost on the way back to the car.
Well the velour seats and the headrests sold it for me so I've just placed an order for a 1.6L. Gone for a manual because a 4 speed automatic sounds like witchcraft.
The presenting is fantastic, so much detail and information which as a car fanatic I really do like! I'm sure that a modern day type of presenting like this would go down well on one the more narrow cast channels, the only current day programme that's similar is wheeler dealers with ed China although that's more about repairs and selling cars
Interesting how both the ford sierra and the mk1 focus are way ahead of their time. Im going to keep hold of my focus as in years to come like the sierra it will be sort after
First year I visited the car show at the NEC. I was sixteen. Came home on the train to Walsall with two plastic bags rammed with brochures which ended up on my bedroom wall between posters of naked women stretched out on 1970s motorcycles.
I test drove one with a view to buying it in about 2012 or so. I had just driven 150 miles in an E60 530i, so getting out of that and into the Sierra didn't do it any favours. It was a bit agricultural, bouncy (maybe tired shocks) and very small (how cars have grown). I bought a Granada Scorpio a year or so later, which I still have.
The extra they missed out was any rustproofing. Generally outclassed by the front wheel drive Cavalier, which was also a complete rot bucket. Then there was the Montego. The mid 1980s were not a good time for UK built cars.
@@alanwayte432 Everyone to their own. My Sierra friends had enough of differential whine, engine failure and disintegrating trim. The Cavvie had more lively engines and better equipment levels. But you would have to admit, both were hopeless rust buckets.
Alan Wayte but the Cavalier caught up and passed the Sierra in sales (mid 80’s), and we just couldn’t shift those XR4i’s in significant numbers. That’s why they kept the Capri 2800 on finally closing that line off with Brooklands version.
You really have to give it to Ford, the improvements they made to the Sierra are remarkable. It's a bit of a shame that Tony didn't mention that the new A4LD had converter lock-up in 3rd and 4th, I don't think many brands had automatic gearboxes which could do that, a very important enhancement for fuel economy. But only a minor flaw in an overall excellent presentation.
At least you can be quite clear that in no way was Tony endorsing Ford products or in any way receiving remuneration from them. Lovely clear objective and independent reporting here.
Ford really developed the Sierra into a excellent car after a shaky start, loved the 3 I had back in the day can't believe I did 180000 miles in a 2.3d hatch ! Slow but indestructible foot to the floor everywhere ♥️
Took me a moment to work out this is an internal Ford bulletin. Not a TV item for public broadcast. Interesting points with which to dazzle the punters! I certainly didn't realise that automatic gearboxes were getting rather sophisticated. The new 7 speed jobs are amazing but nobody seems all that interested in the internal goings on of their vehicles these days. Going electric and it's all about range unsurprisingly. Oh and Infotainment/connectivity!
Best car in the World ....... if you had one made in Belgium like my dad (UK made where not as reliable, but still very good). Only FORD can come up with idea to put 5 digit odometer to car with 500,000+ km lifespan :) (Same in Transit) My dad had 3 door Sierra with Peugeot 2.3D, it was noisy and slow, at some RPM had decent punch for that era .... 460,000 km's when it was sold (last 50,000 km's used as tractor to bring wood from forests), and it still ran pretty good. Only serious repair was some minor transmission refurbish (I won't call it rebuild because nothing significant or costly was done). And even for 3-door, it roomy enough for 190cm fellas, boot was huge and accessible for wide stuff.
Tony Bastable was on Ford’s payroll for years & never had a bad word said against them. He praised the 1990 Escort to the hilt when in reality it was a dog. He left Magpie thinking the grass was greener but ended up being a Ford salesman.
I loved my 1984 Ford Sierra V6 2.3 ghia. Was way ahead of the competition like Cavalier's, Montego's etc etc. There is something special about a rear wheel drive Ford, The nice sensation of being pushed out of the bends is nice :-)
I never made up my mind about the Sierra. The GL and Ghia models probably looked better for obvious reasons but I never bought one. What was the purpose of the cooling fan (6:30) on the engine for having irregular fan blades. I'm baffled.
It was an excellent car for the time. Unmatched in Europe - we wanted them in Australia, but weren't allowed as the Mazda 323 clone, the Ford Laser was being sold.
I had loads of Sierras. In order of owing them... 1.8 L hatch (had two of these one after the other). 2.0i Ghia hatch 1.8 L Saphire 2.0 GLSi XR 4x4 2.8 version with Bosch K XR4i RS Cosworth 2WD Saphire 1.8 L Estate Loved them all... even the estate workhorse was good to drive. My favourite? The XR4i.
Yes it was - much in the same way the transmission bell housing, the torque converter, and the transmission were cut open - they are lighter that way.....
Most radiator fans have unevenly spaced blades. Computers, particularly laptops, use this too. It's to reduce tonal humming noise. They will not vibrate if the center of mass remains on the spin axis. Think about it this way: imagine a 2 blades in a line. That's balanced. A 3 bladed Y is also balanced. Now add the two together and rotate one of them so that the blades are unequally spaced. That will also remain balanced.
That metallic red GL is rare as hen's teeth now that spec GL only lasted for 12 month's as it got face lifted again when they brought the sapphire out. Remember the advert on the tv for it with richard briers, & that 85 spec xr4i is even rarer as it only lasted a few months into 85 as it was replaced with the 5 dr xr4x4 ( great tow car )
@Bengt Handlebars The mk1 was waay too old, i am talking about the mk2, which performance wise, model for model made the sierra look like a steam roller!
So that's what those rear window strips were called... and so elegantly nailed on too. Ford certainly did not care about quality with these facelife MK1s! Dashboards became more prone to cracking, door cards from melting in the sun and, as previous comments add, they were rotters! I can only assume they cheaped out on production when realising the Sierra failed to achieve the runaway sales success anticipated. One of mine is an E-max 1.6 which is pretty impressive on economy but feels lobotomised when it comes to showing any driving characteristics. The economy variant, inconsistently named 1.6 economy/1.6e/1.6 Econ/1.6 E-max, must have been shoehorned into post '85 models to get rid of stockpiled engines (I assume?) as they were never popular from launch.
Bang on. Was working at Ford main dealer at launch and couldn't believe how crap they were after the Cortina. I think Vauxhall loved them because, suddenly, the motorways were full of Cavaliers and then Vectras. I think the Sierra marked a turning point for Ford because, up until it was launched, everyone rightly said 'it doesn't matter how good or bad it is it will always sell because it's a Ford' and then suddenly that wasn't true anymore.
The Sierra cost much more money to build than the Tempo; Ford would have had to raise the price far above what North American consumers would pay for a Ford car of that size. Besides, they also had the Taurus, which was a sales smash and a much better product for the North American market. Don't forget that they did eventually bring the Scorpio-deep down just a lengthened Sierra-over and sell it as the XR4Ti's four-door counterpart.
@@Rlotpir1972 You're misinformed, Robert. The Scorpio was a Ford of Europe product introduced in 1985. Although they shared a family resemblance the Scorpio and Taurus were completely different cars underneath.
Men worked to provide for the family back then. Times HAVE changed (For the worse!). Women were women and men were men. None of these namby pamby shirt lifters and drag queens poncing around groping our kids while the funny haired fraggles go into a mental meltdown over pronouns and misgendering someone. I miss the old days.
Each car starts with a lot of hype. The journalist is just advertising. As time goes on the flaws will start to manifest. Eventually the car has zero desirability.
The Cavalier was better? Errr. And the engine? Sorry what did the Holden Camira (sorry, rebadged to cavalier) have to rival the XR and RS versions? I'll give you a hint..nothing. ones collectable now, ones scrap.
I had loads of Sierras. In order of owing them... 1.8 L hatch (had two of these one after the other). 2.0i Ghia hatch 1.8 L Saphire 2.0 GLSi hatch XR 4x4 2.8 version with Bosch K XR4i RS Cosworth 2WD Saphire 1.8 L Estate Loved them all... even the estate workhorse was good to drive. My favourite? The XR4i.
