Car Shows: XR Owners Club Pre-season get together at Coventry Transport Museum

After a long and wet winter, the sunny days of spring seem to have finally arrived and what better what to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon than meeting with your friends that share the same passion as you, catch up on what you've done to the car during the winter and talk about what awaits in the summer months. That was probably the idea behind the pre-season get together that the XR Owners Club organized last Sunday in front of the Coventry Transport Museum.  "What is the XR Owners Club?" I hear you ask.   Well it is a car club established over 30 years ago with a sole aim to bring together all of the enthusiasts that have a special place in their hearts for the legendary XR range of cars that Ford produced. The club offers unique members only services like a quarterly magazine and unrivaled technical advice.  There were over 25 cars from all model years spanning from a Mk1 Fiesta XR2i to a comparatively new Mk5 Escort XR3i and a Andy Rouse Merkur XR4Ti  Replica.

                                 For a full gallery with 65+ photos click HERE.

The Fords attracted a lot of attention from the public.

This Mk1 Fiesta Supersports/XR2i was for me the best example of how a beautifully restored and carefully looked after Fiesta should look like. It had all the right parts and I was particularly impressed by the attention to detail in the engine bay. But this is something you could say about all the cars that were there. Some of the engines were cleaner than a hospital operating table. And probably cleaned more frequently.

My favorite XR3i Escort from the day was this Red turbocharged cabriolet. The chrome in the engine compartment was so bright it was confusing my camera so I had to manually compensate for the shininess of this turbo engine.

I have a soft spot for fast Ford Sierras because they embody all I want in a performance saloon: a powerful engine, four-wheel drive for traction and plenty of space for scared passengers.

This particular XR4i was twin turbocharged by TurboShed Developments and with that four wheel drive system I wouldn't want to be next to it at a traffic light. Especially in the wet.

All of the cars had great paintwork but this black Sierra was the shiniest of them all. Black cars are hardest to maintain in a tip top condition because unlike other colours black doesn't hide small imperfections. This Sierra was so well polished you could easily see the reflections of other car owners' faces as they turn green with envy. 

If anyone showed me a car and said it was in mint condition I would always compare it to this Sierra XR4x4i.
The car looked like it had just been delivered from the factory without even been ran in. Since it's four wheel drive conversion in 1991 this XR has been pampered and kept in a truly mint condition showcased by the spotless running gear.

This is what an Escort would look like if money wasn't an object. Everything on this Mk5  XR3i was high quality and looked like it was custom built especially for the car.  I was really impressed by the brakes because they show how much attention to detail has been put into this car. Also this is the first car I have seen that could pull of the single front windshield wiper mod.

I had a great time shooting the cars and because there were only three different models of cars present I got to see just how individual a car could be made.

                    For a full gallery with 65+ photos click HERE.