Ford Sierra

Scooping the saloons... How Ford will shape the really new Cortina

Pictures from a clinic

Scoop : Radical new Cortina gets the green light

The new Ford Cortina - to be unveiled at the next Birmingham Motor Show in 1982 - will be a dramatically styled hatchback. But underneath its advanced body will lurk conventional rear wheel drive mechanicals

Probe - The 1982 Cortina and beyond

Ford's startling new show car is far more than pretty sheetmetal and a fascinating cabin. Its basic shape is that of the dramatic new hatchback Cortina that Ford will release next year. It also embodies revolutionary aerodynamic techniques that will transform the efficiency and appeal of all other production Fords by the end of the decade

Sierra Revealed!

'90s Breakthrough : Ford Sierra

The Flogging of the Sierra : Can Ford's Sierra, so clearly superior to their hugely popular Cortina, follow the old car's winning act?

Oracle : Britain

Within two weeks of the lauch of the Sierra the cars started to appear at auctions.

First Drive : XR4i, King Sierra

This impressive £10,000, 130mph Ford Sierra XR4i has much more to do than merely look good and go fast. It must breathe more life into the whole jaded Sierra sales scene

Giant Test

Alfa Romeo GTV6 v Audi Coupe Fi v Ford XR4i

Long Term Test : Part Harmony

Crosswinds it did not like, but our Sierra 1.6L was cheap to run and never let us down

Merking about

Having flopped with the XR4 on one side of the Atlantic, Ford are trying it out on the other side with a new name - Merkur XR4Ti - and a home-grown power train

Road Test

First impressions of the Ford Sierra XR4x4

Less soggy Sierra

On the heels of its stiffened-up 2.0iS, Ford has added a sporting suspension package to lesser models in the Sierra range.

The rise of a repmobile

Gerard Sauer concludes Project Sierra with a number of attractive and cost-effective body modifications

Sierra RS Cosworth vs BMW M3

Ford and BMW both have serious European Championship saloon car racing aspirations for 1987. The Sierra RS Cosworth and the BMW M3 are the weapons they will use. What kind of car does the customer get?

Breaking the mould

Not even Ford would deny nowadays that the original Sierra had a shaky start, but by keeping faith with the whole Sierra concept, Ford created a market leader. Now, with the attractive Sierra Sapphire, the next phase is beginning.

'Super' Cosworths soon

A new 'super' Sierra RS Cosworth goes into production in June, fitted with a larger turbocharger and - to match its greater performance potential - larger brakes.

Design awards

The new Sapphire-based Sierra Cosworth has won one of the 22 1988 British Design Awards

Super-Rep

Go-faster execs who need a conservative four-doors-and-a-boot image but who can't persuade the company to stump up BMW or Mercedes-Benz money will not be able to resist the new Sierra Cosworth, complete with its handy-for-samples boot.

Impressions : Sierra RS Cosworth

The first Sierra RS Cosworth mixed rapid performance and comfort well, but was not without its imperfections. Now there's a respectable booted version, costing £19,000, and in mainstream production

All-wheel drive club

Audi Quattro v Mazda 323 Turbo 4x4 v BMW 325iX v Lancia Delta HF Turbo 4WD v Ford Sierra XR4x4

Impressions

Cosworth RS500

I did it my way

Ford's announcement of the Sierra Cosworth Supercar in 1986 caused quite a stir. Never before had it been possible to buy 150mph for only £15,000. Now there's the mainstream production version complete with a Sapphire bodyshell and added refinement.