Did you know Ford built a Sierra XR8 with Mustang power?

When we think of the Ford Sierra, the fire-breathing Cosworth/RS500 springs to mind. As the dominant force in local and world touring cars, even us Aussies got behind the idea of a four-cylinder, and not a V8, in top-flight tin-top racing in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Punters even jeered when Dick Johnson and John Bowe were ‘robbed’ a Bathurst title in 1992 due to a red flag technicality, demoting the DJR Sierra to second.

However, there was another way. It came before the boosted four-pot screamers and dominated its domain in much the same way – and it was branded an XR8. Like the homologation rules that delivered us the road-going Cosworths, South Africa gained a four-door, 5.0-litre V8-powered Sierra back in 1984. Regulations for the SA Group One category stipulated that 200 road-legal examples must be built and sold, but the end tally crept to 250. Again, for South Africa only.

While Dick Johnson turned to the Mustang after the Greens’-Tuf XE Falcon, Ford Motorsport in SA plonked the 302ci Mustang V8 into a Sierra for the road-going specials. Okay, the raw numbers aren’t mind-blowing in a modern context.

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Try 161kW @ 4750rpm and 374Nm @ 3250rpm for the road car. However, the 0-100km/h time of 6.95 seconds, a standing kilometre in 28.24sec and a top speed of 231km/h is much more impressive. Remember, this was ‘84. Entry-level Ferraris had 179kW.

The XR8 also only weighed 1269kg, or 30kg more than the RS500, and with tweaks to the cooling, suspension and brakes it was a tidy handler. It uses the Mustang’s Borg Warner T5 five-speed manual as well as a Borg Warner differential. The side shafts and driveshaft were beefed-up considerably.

A MacPherson strut front end and an independent rear featured springs 50 and 40 per cent stiffer respectively, while ventilated four-pot calipers took care of arresting the XR8’s surprising turn of speed.

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To fit the pushrod bent-eight in the relatively small engine bay the belt-driven cooling fans were swapped out for electric units and a slotted grille was added. Aesthetically, the 15.0 x 6.0-inch Ronal wheels were machined to fit over the upgraded brakes and you could option it in any colour you liked – as long as it’s white. Two-tone white. With Ford Motorport triple blue pinstripe and a grey interior.

The exterior isn’t dominated by the Red Baron-inspired rear wing the RS500 is known for. Instead, it uses slightly less ostentatious XR4i-style bi-plane rear deck. It’s on super-skinny 195/60 rubber, so it’s liable to hang its tail out at virtually any sniff of throttle.

Each of the 250 V8-powered Ford Sierra XR8s built are numbered accordingly. It’s just a shame none of those came Down Under.

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Off and racing

While the Sierra XR8 is an interesting track tool, it also competed against a BMW 745i – yes, that’s right, a 7 Series. Alfa Romeo entered its lightweight GTV6 3.0-litre and an R31 Nissan Skyline also made an appearance.

1984 Ford Sierra XR8 specifications