Ford Sierra Sapphire - an 80s to 90s classic car or overhyped junk?

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Ford Sierra Sapphire

The Ford Sierra came into the market as a medium to large family car which was useful for both families and travelling business folk.

It had come in to replace the Ford Cortina MK4 and was debuted in 1982 and was debuted to some suspicion; being very different to the outgoing model of Cortina which was squarely 70s in its design.

It might’ve been a wary first meeting, but buyers loved it and in West Germany where it replaced the Taunus, it was achieving treble the amount of sales the Taunus had been hitting.

In Britain, it was similarly well liked and in her heyday, the Sierra was Britain’s best selling car. Even in the second to last year of sales in Britain, 1992, the car was still in the top 5 best sellers for the UK.

The car which boasted a drag coefficient of 0.34 far exceeded the Cortina’s 0.45 and there were little details like the conventional rain guttering being replaced by concealed channels which made this possible.

However, the car had a lot to offer the discerning buyer and for the Sapphire buyer, which is the car we’re testing today, you got so much as standard, according to the brochure, including

- An attractive range of colours
- 14 inch wheels - yep - a noted plus point in the brochure
- Four door operated courtesy light with delay function
- Variable interval intermittent wipers
- The electric windows - something I rave about later
- A choice of engines including the 1.6, 1.8, 2 litre or 2.3 litre diesel
- 60/40 split fold rear seat - manufacturers loved bigging up these split seats back in the day
- Tilt or slide sun roof
- Radio cassette with 6 speakers and an aerial
- Plus a whole host of exciting optional extras including metallic paint, heated front screen, and electronically controlled anti lock braking system

The Sierra Sapphire we’re testing today had, what Ford dubbed at the time, their powerful new 2 litre engine. The engine was was double overhead cam engine and was paired with the MT75 five speed manual transmission; which had a key upsell point of having synchro on reverse. The combo was said to bring new levels of smoothness and drivability to the car.

The new engine was available both on carb and EFI versions and was looking to the future: it was set to run on unleaded as standard in a world where leaded petrol was being cast out of forecourts.

In addition to this, Ford engineered the suspension to provide, in their own words, a class leading combo of ride comfort, confident roadholding and crisp handling. How did they do this you ask, well they created a fully independent suspension with a front layout which incorporated a stabiliser bar which reduced the car’s body inclination to roll when cornering.

The rear suspension, was fitted to a sub frame with rubber mounting points to reduce noise and vibration.

We talk later of Ford’s commitment to safety with their glass etching when buying from a Ford dealer, but did you also know they installed high security locks on the Sierra.

The locks were fitted to the doors, boot, fuel filler cap and steering column in addition to the motorised central locking. Said to be more difficult to pick than a standard lock, the cars were issued with keys which were difficult to copy and a mechanism less likely to freeze.

This might seem a rather hollow boast, but remember, even as late as the 70s cars were being sold by manufacturers with keys which were so generic with a code etched on them that a quick call to an auto factor would have you another set in no time. The idea of your key being unique and hard to copy was relatively novel.

The car was replaced by the Mondeo, another Ford big hitter, which finished production last year in 2022.

It might not be a sports car or a luxury barge, but I think we can all agree the Sierra is a car we shouldn’t be discounting from automotive history.

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