Tweet
Ford gives you more. That was the company's strapline in the 1980s. A friend's dad mentioned how he didn't like Ford back in the 1980s and he preferred Japanese cars instead. With Ford you had to pay extra for this, that, and the other, and it all added up, whereas Japanese cars had more stuff fitted as standard. Ford was only cheap if you wanted a basic model. If you selected most of the extras then you often ended up paying more than a Japanese car with the same features, and the Japanese car was usually better built and more reliable.
Let's go back to August 1983. Margaret Thatcher was a hero PM and the Ford Escort was Britain's best selling car. Ford had given their hot-hatch Escort another shot of adrenaline with fuel injection at the end of 1982, creating the legendary XR3i.
The price of a basic XR3i just in time for A reg was £6150.60, including all taxes. In comparison a basic 1.6 L model which the XR3i is derived from sold for £5058.60. It may come as a surprise that the (infamous) clover leaf alloys are no longer standard like they were on the old XR3, so will increase the price a bit to £6278.09. With hindsight, you would have probably picked some more stylish aftermarket alloys or the pepperpot alloys as fitted to the XR4i that still look modern today rather than the clover leaf but this is 1983 when alloy wheels were a rare sight on the road and mainly encountered on sports cars.
If you want black paint then it costs an extra £80.68. Remember Ford's famous slogan “any colour so long as it is black”? Henry Ford must be turning in his grave!
No XR3i is complete without the front spotlights but they will set you back £81.50. You think about buying some spotlights from a car accessory shop for half the price until the salesman reminds you that the wiring loom isn't fitted unless you specify them. You have second thoughts and realise that it's probably not worth trying to save money here.
Front fog lights are also available for £70.53 and a headlight washer spray for £97.19.
Central locking is an optional extra at £136.36. Once you have started using central locking you will wonder how you ever managed to live without it. It's a security feature as well. No longer can a burglar enter your car because you accidentally forgot to lock a door. It's something that your partner nags you to buy.
A tilting / sliding glass sunroof costs £288.98 although it's a standard fitment on the Ghia. An expensive option but one of the latest and greatest design trends of 1980s cars before air conditioning was available for most cars – including the XR3i. You shudder at the price but then think about racing down the highway with the wind in your hair and how on stifling hot days the interior is cool and comfortable. It's the next best thing to a Cabriolet and the fact that it's even an option on the L model persuades you to buy it.
Tinted glass is £43.08 and also standard on Ghia. Undecided on this one until your partner comments about their sensitive skin and you realise that cars with tinted windows look meaner and cooler than those without. It's one of the cheaper options so you can't really refuse it.
The salesman then offers you the options of electric front windows at £161.41 and opening rear quarter window at £36.83. You pick the opening rear windows because it's another cheap option and passengers in the back might appreciate some fresh air. The electric front windows aren't cheap but they are fun to use and save your wrists from repetitive strain injury, so you can't resist them.
Rear seat belts are extra at £89.93. You were about to give them a miss until your partner stresses that you must not compromise on safety. In a decision between ninety quid or a nasty accident (an image forms in your mind of a kid thrown through a car windscreen!) then there is just no contest. The seatbelts win.
The XR3i, like many Fords from the early to mid 1980s, was fitted with a basic P21 'snap, crackle, and pop' LW / MW radio with two knobs and a row of push buttons between them. This has about as much street cred as the xylophone you used to play in primary school. Fine for old codgers who want to listen to cricket on Radio 4 but FM and a cassette player are essential features for anybody with musical tastes. An upgrade to the SRT 32P – which is a P21 with FM and a cassette player – is a pricey option at £261.59 although a fully electronic ESRT 32PS stereo radio cassette player is also available at an eye watering £315.45. At these prices it's unsurprising that many buyers opt for the miserable P21 then install an aftermarket stereo of their choice that's better and / or cheaper than the Ford offerings. Aftermarket car audio was big business at the time.
An electrically operated radio aerial is convenient (and potentially rude!) so at just £43.85 you feel compelled to buy it.
Customers who select both the electrically operated radio aerial and the tilting / sliding glass sunroof are eligible for an Executive Pack which costs £334.56, a few pounds more than the individual items, but provides a significant discount on the stereos - £118.37 for the SRT 32P or £172.20 for the ESRT 32PS. You select the electronic one. Not quite a Blaupunkt but undeniably a bargain at this price.
The total cost £7582.36. You decide that you want a red car which reduces the price slightly to £7501.68. That's still £1351.08 on extras, or nearly 22% of the cost of a basic plain XR3i. Apart from the Executive Pack enabling you to buy a stereo at a huge discount, the only other consolation is that a 5 speed gearbox is now standard.
Let's go back to August 1983. Margaret Thatcher was a hero PM and the Ford Escort was Britain's best selling car. Ford had given their hot-hatch Escort another shot of adrenaline with fuel injection at the end of 1982, creating the legendary XR3i.
The price of a basic XR3i just in time for A reg was £6150.60, including all taxes. In comparison a basic 1.6 L model which the XR3i is derived from sold for £5058.60. It may come as a surprise that the (infamous) clover leaf alloys are no longer standard like they were on the old XR3, so will increase the price a bit to £6278.09. With hindsight, you would have probably picked some more stylish aftermarket alloys or the pepperpot alloys as fitted to the XR4i that still look modern today rather than the clover leaf but this is 1983 when alloy wheels were a rare sight on the road and mainly encountered on sports cars.
If you want black paint then it costs an extra £80.68. Remember Ford's famous slogan “any colour so long as it is black”? Henry Ford must be turning in his grave!
No XR3i is complete without the front spotlights but they will set you back £81.50. You think about buying some spotlights from a car accessory shop for half the price until the salesman reminds you that the wiring loom isn't fitted unless you specify them. You have second thoughts and realise that it's probably not worth trying to save money here.
Front fog lights are also available for £70.53 and a headlight washer spray for £97.19.
Central locking is an optional extra at £136.36. Once you have started using central locking you will wonder how you ever managed to live without it. It's a security feature as well. No longer can a burglar enter your car because you accidentally forgot to lock a door. It's something that your partner nags you to buy.
A tilting / sliding glass sunroof costs £288.98 although it's a standard fitment on the Ghia. An expensive option but one of the latest and greatest design trends of 1980s cars before air conditioning was available for most cars – including the XR3i. You shudder at the price but then think about racing down the highway with the wind in your hair and how on stifling hot days the interior is cool and comfortable. It's the next best thing to a Cabriolet and the fact that it's even an option on the L model persuades you to buy it.
Tinted glass is £43.08 and also standard on Ghia. Undecided on this one until your partner comments about their sensitive skin and you realise that cars with tinted windows look meaner and cooler than those without. It's one of the cheaper options so you can't really refuse it.
The salesman then offers you the options of electric front windows at £161.41 and opening rear quarter window at £36.83. You pick the opening rear windows because it's another cheap option and passengers in the back might appreciate some fresh air. The electric front windows aren't cheap but they are fun to use and save your wrists from repetitive strain injury, so you can't resist them.
Rear seat belts are extra at £89.93. You were about to give them a miss until your partner stresses that you must not compromise on safety. In a decision between ninety quid or a nasty accident (an image forms in your mind of a kid thrown through a car windscreen!) then there is just no contest. The seatbelts win.
The XR3i, like many Fords from the early to mid 1980s, was fitted with a basic P21 'snap, crackle, and pop' LW / MW radio with two knobs and a row of push buttons between them. This has about as much street cred as the xylophone you used to play in primary school. Fine for old codgers who want to listen to cricket on Radio 4 but FM and a cassette player are essential features for anybody with musical tastes. An upgrade to the SRT 32P – which is a P21 with FM and a cassette player – is a pricey option at £261.59 although a fully electronic ESRT 32PS stereo radio cassette player is also available at an eye watering £315.45. At these prices it's unsurprising that many buyers opt for the miserable P21 then install an aftermarket stereo of their choice that's better and / or cheaper than the Ford offerings. Aftermarket car audio was big business at the time.
An electrically operated radio aerial is convenient (and potentially rude!) so at just £43.85 you feel compelled to buy it.
Customers who select both the electrically operated radio aerial and the tilting / sliding glass sunroof are eligible for an Executive Pack which costs £334.56, a few pounds more than the individual items, but provides a significant discount on the stereos - £118.37 for the SRT 32P or £172.20 for the ESRT 32PS. You select the electronic one. Not quite a Blaupunkt but undeniably a bargain at this price.
The total cost £7582.36. You decide that you want a red car which reduces the price slightly to £7501.68. That's still £1351.08 on extras, or nearly 22% of the cost of a basic plain XR3i. Apart from the Executive Pack enabling you to buy a stereo at a huge discount, the only other consolation is that a 5 speed gearbox is now standard.
Comment