I have had many other Fords, here is a brief summary of them:

Mk 1 Fiesta

My first car was a 1984 Rio brown Mk 1 Fiesta Mk 1 950cc Popular Plus and was simply all I could afford.  I managed to write this off after 6 months but I had already bought an identical model as a spares car so did a 2 into 1 and ran that for a year.  I also bought a Mk 2 Fiesta for £30 that I used for spares and sold a few bits.  I then sold the Mk 2 to a scrappy for £30, not bad.  I did not fall into the trap of modifying these cars as it is just not worth it, I just saved my money for something better.  The 2nd Popular plus was sold at 600% profit!!

Mk 2 Fiesta 1.4S

I then got lucky with an MOT failure 1987 Fiesta 1.4S which I bought for less than I sold my Mk 1 for.  After 2 new sills and a bit of paint done by my father and I it was like new.  This car was the first car I modified, all be it a K&N filter but the bug was born.  I used this car for just over a year and had a lot of fun in it.  The 1.4 S is basically an XR2 without the 1.6, bigger brakes and body lit so the handling was very good and with 75bhp it was quick enough for my improving driving skills.

Mk 3 Capri 1.6 LS

I sold the 1.4S and doubled my money and bought a really nice Mountain bike and my first Capri (the Capri cost less than the bike!).  The Capri was an 1984 1.6 LS, not the quickest car in the world with only 73 bhp but far better on the motorway than the 1.4S, despite only having 4 gears.  This car was treated to a twin choke webber to replace the VV carb and a K&N filter.  I had some body work done and it looked (and still does) very nice in it's Nimbus Grey.  I used this car for a nearly a year of trouble free miles (27K) with only servicing to pay for.  The car was treated to a complete interior from a Lazer, not the best interior but mint and complete with a good dash top (mine was cracked, like most Capris) and a leather steering wheel and ghia spec carpet and centre consul.  It also got some pepper pots from a 2.8 Capri that although improved handling caused it to tram line as the bushes were worn and the struts were still the standard spec.  While owning it I bought my next car, again as a spares car.  I did buy a 3 lt Essex engine and running gear to put into it, but realised it was not worth the effort as the insurance would cost more than if it was a real 3lt.

Mk 3 Capri 2.0S

This car was bought as a donor car for it's 2lt engine for the LS.  The car had been used as a Garden Shed for 12 months and even had bullet holes (Air Rifle I think) in the front screen.  Once fitted with a battery the tyres were pumped up and a gallon of fuel put it she started with the 3rd turn of the key.  She was then driven home on trade plates, you can't argue with that for Ford reliability.  The car was rough to look at, but solid and after a small repair to the sill and a new screen I decided to use it and sell the LS.  The S was treated to 2.8 Capri struts complete with vented discs.  The front end was then polly bushed and treated to some kevlar pads and new Grp N discs from Rally Design.  This was a good improvement and the pepper pots from the LS were swapped over before I sold it.  The car already had a 4 branch manifold and ,after a reversing accident, an Ashley exhaust.  The car went really well and has a 4 spd quickshift box the worked a treat.  I eventually sold the car to my brother who used all the good bits for his Mk 1 Escort and the remains are still at home.

Mk 3 Granada Ghia

I bought this mint 1985 Granada Ghia as I needed a good motorway car and it was only the 2nd car I had owned with 5 gears.  It proved to be a very good motorway car doing 30K miles over 2 and a bit years before it was given to my brother.  The car had the fuel injected pinto engine and was surprisingly quick with excellent brakes and an OK chassis once you got used to it.  While I owned this I was also using a 2.8 Capri.  The Granada was the winter car, the Capri for summer use.  This worked really well as I get bored with cars very easily and they both did their seasonal jobs very well.  The injected pinto is a good option for your Escort as it has the Cosworth 205 block that can be safely bored to 21.1 ltrs.  The head is also better with improved gas flow and bigger valves.

Mk 3 Capri 2.8i

I bought this car cheap off my brother, mechanically it was excellent although the body work was never mint on it.  This car was fantastic fun with 160 bhp and 167 lbs of torque.  It was excellent in all conditions giving 40 mpg on a long run as it would do 70 at 2700 rpm.  When driven hard the economy dropped to 25 mpg but it was worth it.  Over a couple of years it was treated to an Ashley exhaust that really freed up some power, but was LOUD and K&N (that improved economy, more than performance).  It also got up rated front springs (145lbs), front polly bushes and cross drilled/cross grooved discs and kevlar pads that made a huge difference to the brakes.  I really loved this car and when swapping each summer from the Granada I counted down the days.  It was while I owned both these cars I bought my Mk 1 Escort (see separate page for detail on the Escort).  After over 2 years of ownership I was starting to lose the battle with the rust, it even had rust in the roof!!  This car was so good and i highly recommend the 2.8i as a fast fun car, but it had to go.  Another problem with it was the growing number of stupid speed bumps that I couldn't go over as it was quite low. 

The quest was on to find another car.  I started looking at Hot Hatches including 205 GTIs, Golf GTIs and the 16v XR2i as I had already decided on the Zetec for my Escort.  I couldn't find any good ones, so I started thinking that I needed a car that I could tow my Escort to track days with.  I thought about buying a 24v Scorpio thinking that one day I could put the 205 bhp engine into a Capri, but although you can pick them up for as little as £200 they are very expensive when they go wrong.  New cats are £1500 alone!!  The next idea was Sierra XRs and I even looked into a 2.8 4x4 Estate.  Then a local garage advertised a mint Mk 1 XR4i, rare 3 door 2wd model.  This was about as close to a 2.8 Capri as I could get, it even had the same engine.  As soon as I saw this car I wanted it, it was mint and completely original unlike most.  The car was bought and even had 8 months MOT.  The Capri was sold shortly after and is still going strong, but now on LPG apparently.

Mk 1 Sierra XR4i

This car has been very reliable clocking up 15k in my hands so far.  For the first 6 months it wasn't used that much and it wasn't as much fun as the 2.8 Capri.  I was close to selling it in 2003, not because I didn't like it, but because I kept on getting Boy Racers try to get me to race them.  One time a Nova with 4 baseball cap wearing youths was so determined to over take me they nearly killed them self because they did want to wait for a straight.  I stuck with the car, but still get the idiot Boy Racer problems.  The car has been treated to a RamAir filter, Mongoose Exhaust, front poly bushes (Deflex), vented cross drilled/cross grooved discs (zero fade, very good) and 4x4 ARB (thicker).  I have some 2wd Cossie hubs/brakes waiting to go on, along with rear discs and LSD.  I have also got some nearly new Spax adjustable on there way, free (like the LSD and rear discs) from a mate, sorted.  I also have some Bilstien magnesium coilovers, but I am in 2 minds whether to fit them or not.  I have also fitted the rare 15" 7 spoke RS wheels that look like Brooklands Capri wheels.  These are shod with 205/50 Bridgestone Potenzas that are unstickable, even in the wet.  The tyres cost me less than £180 for the set from TJ Motorsport, bargain.  The car is proving to be very practical and tows very well.  The economy averages 30 mpg, increasing to 40+ mpg if driven like a granny!  The XR4i is one of the most streamlined cars ever built and your really notice it on the motorway.  She is very stable, even in strong winds and when you get to a certain speed it all goes quiet.  It has just been fitted with a quick shift kit which has improved the gearbox, a similar (but better made) kit will be fitted to the Escort in due course.  The next stage is to fit an Omex 2d ECU to improve response and ecomomy.  Long term I want to fit part of the EFI system from a granada and supercharge it.  I will be able to upgrade the ECU to 3d spec and all I will need is a map sensor and I'm sorted, should be around 200 bhp.

I also have a few other cars in the current collection.

A 2.8 Capri Special that I am breaking,  which is donating it's rear axle with LSD to my X Pack Capri (see below)

A D reg Capri 2lt Lazer with 55k on the clock that I bought as summer car as I really missed driving Capris.  I have never driven this on the road and it is up for sale (please e-mail) with 11 months MOT.  I was going to fit a Duratec to this one day.  The reason I am selling this is because......

I dropped lucky and have bought an extremely rare Mk 2 Capri 3.0 S, not rare all you Capri fans will say, but this is an X Pack version, not a copy the real thing.  The car cost me £250 (the wheels go for £500+!!) and needs a restoration, but it is worth it.  The Capri Club do not know of any other Mk 2 X Packs in existence, that is how rare it is.  Most X Packs originally had sunroofs, mine doesn't so even rarer.  Another thing is it's left hand drive as it is German, Oh and it has a Scheel interior.  Rare and unique!!!!  Once the Escort is finished, this will be next.