PROJECT HUNTER

Fiesta XR2 and Mk2 Granada project ideas and inspiration.

Fiesta XR2s that haven’t bee returned to standard are few and far between these days, so to come across this project was a pleasant surprise. And while, with some effort, we could return this one to stock, it’s easier — and more fun — to buck the trend and continue the work the current owner has put into it. We’re staying with the wide-arch look, but in this case removing the ones on there and adding some Series X replicas, expertly blended into the bodywork, before respraying the whole car in the fetching, almost Fiat 500, blue, and blacking in the B-pillar. Original XR2 graphics have been reapplied to the sides and rear because, well, it’s an XR2 and we’ve also added the obligatory US-spec grille and a pair of spots. Sticking with the theme, after falling down countless internet wormholes we’ve found an engineering company that is able to widen alloy wheels, and so that’s what we’ve done – the original pepperpots now taken out to 9 inches wide at the rear and a relatively skinny 7 at the front. Inside, the rear cage stays, along with a pair of bucket seats while under the bonnet is an 1800 Zetec on Weber 45s and an RS Turbo BC gearbox. XR2? No, XR BLU...

Somewhere in deepest Germany, there’s an avid Ford collector sitting on a barn full of Mk2 Granada two-door coupes, because we never ever see any come up for sale. With that in mind, and our patience running thin, we’re using this unsuspecting 2.3L to create our own, though with a distinct difference — a Bertone-style 4 inch roof chop difference. With the chop complete, the rear quarters recreated to perfect the notchback coupe look, and the side mouldings removed, we’ve repainted the shell in period-ish Ford Midnight Blue, and fitted it back up with some tinted rear lights and the chrome bumpers remade so that they wrap around the front and rear panels in place of the standard plastic corners. The wheels (tucked deep into the arches courtesy of air) are 17 inch Chinese-made step-ups, while under the bonnet we’re thinking straight-six, but with nothing really suitable from Ford, it’s got to be the Nissan RB26 unit. All that’s left is to sort the interior — dark blue leather sourced from a Mk3 Granada and adapted to fit. Worthersee, here we come!