25th May, 2024 10:00
The May 2024 Auction

1982 Ford Escort XR3
Lovely example of pre-injection hot Escort

Estimate
£8, 000 - £9, 000

Buyer's premium: 15. 00%

Registration: UPA 6X
Chassis: WF0BXXGCABCY42060
Odometer: 85, 000
Transmission: Manual
MOT: April 2025

Presented in original specification
Desirable 5-speed manual gearbox
Long, advisory-free MOT
UK supplied

When Ford released its brand-new front-wheel drive Escort Mk3 in 1980, the Escort model already had a rich legacy of sporty variants. Volkswagen had released its hugely successful and class leading Golf GTi and the pressure was on Ford to respond. Mechanically, a twin choke Weber carb was added to the all-new hemi-head CVH bringing the output to a perky 96 bhp and the suspension was uprated for sharper handling. The most obvious cosmetic alterations were twin front spotlights, rubber rear spoiler and attractive four-hole alloy wheels. In period, Motor magazine said “The Escort… is more attractively finished and looks terrific - few mass-production cars have ever attracted as much favourable interest from passers-by as our XR3 test car.” Before long the XR3 was replaced by the more powerful, fuel-injected XR3i but it kicked off a line of hot hatches that established themselves as best sellers in the UK market for much of their life.

We are delighted to offer this 1982 Ford Escort XR3 in black with Laser cloth interior. First registered in May 1982, this was the final year for the carburettor XR3 but the year in which it gained the desirable 5-speed manual gearbox. Our vendor acquired the car in 2018 and it has formed part of a larger collection, doing a mere 500 miles in 6 years. Despite not needing to, the vendor wants potential bidders to have confidence in the car, recently putting the XR3 through an MOT and it comes with clean, advisory free certificate through to next April.

The car certainly presents well, having been kept in standard specification. The vendor tells us that it has benefitted from new front wings and sills in the past and, whilst we can never describe any 40 year old car as completely rust free, there can be no doubt that the bodywork is in extremely good condition with no obvious rust issues. The original XR3 “telephone dial” wheels are very hard to come by these days, so it is great to see that those fitted are in lovely condition. The rubber rear spoiler appears free from damage and is not excessively faded. Inside, the Laser cloth seats are good but not perfect with some tiny nibbles to the fabric of the passenger seat. Pretty much all of these cars have some cracking to the dash, and this is no exception but the interior remains a lovely place to be and is pleasingly unmodified. Any 80s boy (or girl) racer worth their salt would source the biggest, loudest speakers they could find and fit them proudly on the back parcel shelf, so it’s great to see that our XR3 sports an uncut rear shelf, reinforcing the appealingly standard presentation of the car.

The car comes with V5C, current and some old MOT certificates, a small selection of invoices and some manuals and brochures.

The XR3 sold for only two years and despite the strong sales in period, rust, neglect and abuse have seen numbers dwindle, making a solid, original specification car both rare and desirable. Fast Fords seem to have their own trajectory, seemingly unaffected by the vagaries of the general market and it’s hard to see values of good XR3s going anywhere but up.

PLEASE NOTE: The car was recorded as a Category D Insurance Loss on 30th November 1998 - “Vehicle Damaged But Repairable - Insurer Decided Not To Repair”.