RESTORED: Sierra XR4i
Classic Fords restored: When her husband arrived home with an XR4i, Diane Goodge wasn’t sure what to make of it, but over a decade and full rebuild later her Sierra named Bootie is a bonafide member of her family.
Sleeping Sierra given the rebuild treatment.
Diane Goodge’s love of cars likely came from her father. “He worked as a mechanic,” remembers Diane, “and used to take me to watch stock car racing. He always owned Cortinas and I thought of those as big cars, they certainly were compared to the Fiestas. I decided then I wanted to own a big car. Women were always portrayed driving Fiestas and Escort Cabriolets, why couldn’t a woman own a big car?”
Diane’s opportunity came via husband Richard. “In December 2010 he was driving past a farm and saw this Sierra XR4i parked outside, the farmer was cleaning out the barn where the car had been stored by the farmer’s friend for the past seven years. They started chatting and a price of £1000 was mentioned, Richard got him down to £700 and bought the car for me. The XR4i arrived at our house the following week.”
Diane wasn’t initially too sure about her unexpected gift. “I thought ‘what’s that?’ I knew what a Sierra was of course, but I hadn’t really heard of the XR4i. This one was dirty and in quite poor condition though it was drivable — the barn was dusty but had kept the car dry. The plan was for us to strip the Sierra down and restore it that winter and we did start to; we removed the plastic trim along the lower edge of the body, unbolted the seats and dashboard and pulled out the lights. But then the car sat for eight years.
“I was squeezing around the Sierra where it was parked in the garage doing nothing,” continues Diane, “we’d pump up the tyres and they’d just go flat again… In 2018 the time was right for us to get the car restored but there was rot in the arches and sills. It wasn’t something we could do at home, there was so much it needed and I wanted a professional job so I started the search for a local specialist. It had to be someone nearby
because I wanted to visit to see the regular updates. I phoned Steve Cato of Steve Cato Classic Cars and Restoration and described the condition of the Sierra, he agreed to come out to view it but insisted first we had to reattach all the loose parts so he knew the car was complete and could see what he was dealing with. Once reassembled we’d only lost one fog light, which we never did find…”
Precision parts
“Steve asked if I wanted to source the necessary parts myself but we’d discovered it was easy to order the wrong piece if you didn’t know precisely what you needed, so I let Steve handle that. I did join the XR Owners’ Club and found the support from them fantastic and they happily answered all my questions. Their club magazine editor and XR4i specialist, Allen Patch helped us out with a number of parts including seals. I also discovered the optional extras that the car has are the black paint, tilt and slide sunroof, electric windows, tinted glass and central locking.”
Typical old car rust was found around the wheel arches and in the sills, “I remember Steve showed me where someone had previously done bodged repairs and filled the area with expanding foam,” winces Diane. “Our main aim was to keep the Sierra as original as possible. I popped in to see Steve regularly – every week or 10 days – he’d often ask how we wanted to do certain bits and he’s not someone who’ll cut corners. Everything he did had to be correct.” Naturally the discs and pads, brake shoes and cylinders were all replaced and the handbrake mechanism refurbished. “Steve also renewed the sunroof, dashboard, headlining, headlights and foglights, rear lights, refurbished the wheels and put on new tyres,” explains Diane. “The car got a new water pump, bottom and top gaskets, fuel tank, distributor cap, radiator, temperature sensor, various pipes, driveshafts, wheel bearings, flanges, hubs and brake pipes. The back half of the exhaust was replaced — the front half might even still be the original. The suspension was re-bushed… he even restored the original fuel cap.” The car was then, “resprayed where needed and all underneath has been treated.”
“Steve wasn’t able to do upholstery and the seats had suffered and gone a bit mouldy where they were stored in our shed. We found a specialist who renewed the internal foam and springs, then recovered the seats in the closest matching material we could find to the original. That cost more than Richard originally paid for the car,” laughs Diane. “We were able to save the door cards and had double insulation fitted under original carpets that we’d also managed to re-use. Also original to the Sierra are its stereo and rear window sun blind.”
Home again
The XR4i, which Diane named Bootie, was returned in September 2018. Diane subsequently fitted the “rare red gearknob, it was only used on early cars and although my Sierra didn’t have it on when we got the car, being a July 1983 build it might well have
“OUR MAIN AIM WAS TO KEEP THE SIERRA AS ORIGINAL AS POSSIBLE”
had one from new. The gearknob was a lucky find on eBay.” Another addition to the car was refitting the air freshener that hangs from the rearview mirror. “It was in the car when we bought it so I thought it had to go back in for sentimental reasons.” The dealer who originally sold this XR4i was Hollingsworths of East Sussex and Diane had a dealer sticker remade to put in the back window.
“Some time after we got the car back it didn’t seem to be running quite right, Scott Vincent from City of Ely Motors replaced the water pump, distributor and fuel lines which fixed all those minor issues. Then in 2020 I noticed rust on the tailgate around the spoiler mounts, the XROC found us a new tailgate and spoiler, but the caps that fit over the mounting screws couldn’t be sourced. In the end my son Wayne, who owns several classics including a Sapphire Cosworth, was able to 3D-print a set and he now sells them to the club.”
As to the future for the car, “it’s to keep showing it with the XR Owners’ Club, I’ve been to a number of events including showing the Sierra as part of a track display at Dunton Technical centre in September 2019. I did have an embarrassing moment at the first show I took the car to,” laughs Diane, “someone asked to see the engine and I realised I had no idea where the bonnet catch was — I’d never had a car where it’s hidden under the steering column!
“The first time I drove the XR4i I wasn’t sure I could cope without power steering but I quickly got used to it, I couldn’t believe the pleasure I get from driving it, nothing could replace it. I’ve heard the XR4i referred to as ‘the poor man’s Cosworth’ but they’re now actually rarer than Sierra Cosworths. I might be the only lady in the country who prefers receiving a petrol cap or a classic car air freshener to a box of chocolates.”