The 1987 Ford Sierra Estate: A Case Study in Cool

[@NiceCakeMix]

I had a 1987 1.8L Estate back in 1999 and it was an ok car, it did exactly what I needed then and provided good service when I owned it. Also back in 1989 one of my friends dads had a 2.3 Diesel estate and I remember, before that he had a Ford Cortina 1.6L estate which he had traded in for it and the difference was like night and day, how much more advanced the Sierra seemed to the Cortina, even though I do like Cortinas, I have owned 5 of them over the years, the Sierra was a more advanced vehicle. You have done a great job showing us a comprehensive coverage of the Ford Sierra.

[@quarterlight]

Thank you so much

[@massimo6770]

It is amazing how many different versions of the Sierra were produced over the years and for different markets around the world. And it is great to find all these brochures on this channel. My father had a Sierra Ghia 2.0 OHC (Sapphire) with leather steering wheel, alloy wheels and RS accessories. Externally it could easily be mistaken for a Cosworth. The car was undoubtedly beautiful, but the overall quality was a bit low. After the Sierra we moved on to an Omega and the overall standard was much higher.

[@quarterlight]

Certainly very memorable cars

[@adamtoms2726]

I'm definitely in the facelifted camp, I think 87 onwards the Sierra got into its groove for me. I think a GL estate would of been a nice choice a fine mix of not too posh, but not poverty spec. The Sierra Estate always managed to look attractive and stylish, compared to others in the class.

[@insceman8515]

Had a G reg strato silver 1.8 GL estate as a temporary company car in 1991 for 2/3 months whilst waiting for my new permanent car after my carmine red Astra SRi was written off when it was hit by a lorry when parked! The Sierra was ok but was definitely not cool for a 25 year old used to a hot hatch😂. Plenty of room though and a good ride as I recall. Certainly would not have complained if it had been a 2.8 V6 4x4 Ghia estate but you would have had to have been a top HO manager to get into something like that in those hierarchical company car days. I briefly personally owned a XR4x4 2.9 V6 which was pretty good, but I knew I’d done well with an Astra 1.8 SRi company car at that time! Look forward to the Capri episode 👍

[@quarterlight]

Yes I think you was doing ok for the time at 25

[@owensteele1645]

I think many of the Base estates were bought as fleet cars by major companies like British Telecom. I certainly remember seeing a few yellow BT Sierra estates around in the late '80s/early '90s. I think they had their rear seats removed from memory. It would be interesting to know what happened to them after they were de-fleeted and sold on.

[@owensteele1645]

I actually have a fairly recent memory of a Ford Sierra 2.0 GL estate in Willow Green, identical to the one pictured, D133UTA. It used to live round the corner from my house and was in daily use, right up until only about 2 years ago when it had a big MOT fail and just disappeared. D133UTA has since been on SORN so it could be hiding away somewhere. It's possibly too valuable to scrap now. It was new in March 1987 too, so I would like to think its lucky first owner picked up the same brochure from the Ford showroom when they bought it.

[@quarterlight]

Aw that is interesting

[@albertbekassy2709]

I remember the Sierra Estate ads from the era, in swedish newspapers. They compared it to the Volvo 245. I don't think anybody contemplating buying a Volvo changed their mind and bought a Sierra instead due to those ads...

[@quarterlight]

Indeed two completely different buyers

[@gaufrid1956]

A good looking and practical estate car. Unavailable in Australia of course, due to Ford Australia having model sharing with Mazda at the time.

[@anthonyperkins7556]

I liked the Sierra estates, they were a bit more useful, practical and spacious, than the saloons and hatchbacks.

[@quarterlight]

Absolutely

[@owensteele1645]

It was possible to choose a Citrine Yellow Sapphire GL with a Bluestone Strobe interior. A very weird colour combination.

[@clivet3252]

I thought there might be some more subtle differences with the dash when you looked at them side by side. It looks like it's just the clock, the steering wheel and the instrument panel.

[@quarterlight]

Indeed

[@adampowell5376]

I am surprised that Ford initially only offered 4 x 4 on the 2.8i Ghia. They could have extended downwards to smaller engines and other trim levels and be a serious competitor to the Subaru or break into new markets. There was a 2.0i DOHC Ghis 4 x 4 but I think it came too late.

[@quarterlight]

Absolutely

[@nealpannett6136]

Ford were lazy on the roof bar photo, shows a MK1 estate.

[@gaufrid1956]

A good looking and practical estate car. Unavailable in Australia of course, due to Ford Australia having model sharing with Mazda at the time.