Sierra XR4x4

£1500-£6000

ENGINE: 2935cc V6 MAX POWER: 150 bhp MAX TORQUE: 172 lbf.ft MAX SPEED: 128 mph 0- 60 MPH: 8.6 secs

Long before niche marketing was even invented, Ford realised that adding four-wheel drive to its Sierra and giving it V6 power neatly undercut the pricey Audi 80 and 90 quattro models and offered a very real reason to tempt buyers out of their E30 3-Series BMWs once things got icy. A full-time 4x4 set-up with a transfer box driven by chain from the main gearbox and one of the front driveshafts passing through a modified sump, the XR4x4 boasted a 36/64 front/ rear torque split and drove very much like the Audis. In fact there were some that reckoned the Ford was the better driver’s car, not suffering the understeer of the nose-heavy Audis. The Sierra also boasted viscous-coupled diff locks at both ends while the early Audis only offered manual diff locking.

With springs uprated 12 per cent over the XR4i and enlarged anti-roll bars, the XR4x4 was a rapid cross-country tool. “If any car was ever chuckable, this it,” reckoned Autocar in 1985.

Today the XR4x4 is one of the Sierra models with the highest survival rates and it’s possible to bag a tidy example from around £2500, with nice examples commanding up to £6000. Don’t be confused into buying the wrong model though: from 1990 the XR4x4 was also offered with the 2-litre DOHC engine.

LOOK OUT FOR...

Rotten wheelarches, inner wings and strut tops Overheating can kill head gaskets Poor starting can be down to a faulty pressure accumulator or corroded metering head The ABS light must come on with the ignition and go off with the engine running for an MoT pass