The XR2 I’m talking about the Mark 2, made from 1984 to 89. The Mark 1 with the 1600 Crossflow was a good light car, but a bit underpowered.

The Mark 2 swapped that for the new CVH engine. Finally a mass-produced Ford engine with an overhead cam! How modern. It didn’t rev very well and the engine was gruff, but it powered these light 80s cars at a reasonable pace.

When the XR3 first came out it wasn’t injected, that took them eight months. I imagine it will be pretty hard to find a non-i XR3 now. But once the injection was added the XR3i had 10HP on the carburettered XR2.

So extra Escort weight was matched by extra power. This left little to choose between them acceleration-wise: XR2 0-60 9.3 sec. XR3 0-60 9.4 sec.

Both had 5 speed boxes as standard, so they were (for the time) quiet on the motorway.

I think it’s handling where the XR2 pips it. A smaller more compact car, wheels at the corners. That led to a proper hot hatch experience. Whereas the XR3 was a bigger family car, a bit more cumbersome and less willing to change direction.

I know I’m biased, as I used to race an XR2 in the XR challenge, so it’s always going be the little ‘un for me. But actually you don’t have to decide, because we have both available:

XR2 listing

XR3i convertible listing

So have a look at the listings, watch the video, then make us an offer on one or both.