OMG, SA did some crazy conversions for production. They were kept from the rest of the world, here in NZ, we had no idea these cars existed, days before the internet.
In South Africa - late 80s and early 90s the Sapphire V8 was what the Mercedes c63 is today. It was one of those cars that just the rich guys could afford. What made it unique was the fact that it was a "dealer built" car that came with a full factory warranty and all the bells and whistles ie. A/C, electric windows and other comfort features. Only Novel, Grosvenor and JT Developments built them. The Sierra XR8 was a factory built homologation special (252 built) and was "basic spec" and almost ready to race. It was a my dream to own a Sapphire V8, and I finally got one around 3 years ago. The white Sapphire in the video (4:13 to 4:31) is mine.
Gosh, this motoring presentation just invoked a sense of nolstagia in me... I owned two Ford Granada Ghias in succession back then with the Cosworth 3.0l V6 engine but my dream car was the Ford Sierra 5.0l V8 which unfortunately I could not attain the dream of owning... Those were the motoring icons of the day and thank you for rekindling this sense of nostalgia for some of us who enjoyed that era of motoring back then.
Always loved these 302 powered Sapphire's, i remember there was a guy john Williamson iirc that put a 302 in a uk Sierra due to this being relatively easy to do due to this car from SA having the motor mounts ran 11's with nitrous iirc.
I’ve just had to search it up there about the xr8 I had never heard of a one I thought you had got it wrong and meant xr4x4 that’s what we got in the uk mate and I’ve never heard of the 5litre saph, it’s a nice car all the best on your show from England 🏴 uk 🇬🇧
@@nothingordinarymedia I’ve never heard of a one, bet they have a nice sound, we got the sierra sapphire cosworth here they are getting rare to find now aswwl
OMG, SA did some crazy conversions for production. They were kept from the rest of the world, here in NZ, we had no idea these cars existed, days before the internet.
We also enjoy sharing them with the world!
In South Africa - late 80s and early 90s the Sapphire V8 was what the Mercedes c63 is today. It was one of those cars that just the rich guys could afford. What made it unique was the fact that it was a "dealer built" car that came with a full factory warranty and all the bells and whistles ie. A/C, electric windows and other comfort features. Only Novel, Grosvenor and JT Developments built them. The Sierra XR8 was a factory built homologation special (252 built) and was "basic spec" and almost ready to race. It was a my dream to own a Sapphire V8, and I finally got one around 3 years ago. The white Sapphire in the video (4:13 to 4:31) is mine.
I am the very lucky owner of number 4, only 50 were built by Novel Ford. She has 32k kms on the clock and in show room condition
Gosh, this motoring presentation just invoked a sense of nolstagia in me...
I owned two Ford Granada Ghias in succession back then with the Cosworth 3.0l V6 engine but my dream car was the Ford Sierra 5.0l V8 which unfortunately I could not attain the dream of owning...
Those were the motoring icons of the day and thank you for rekindling this sense of nostalgia for some of us who enjoyed that era of motoring back then.
It's only a pleasure bra Sipho! We hope you subscribed and check out more of the videos we have on motoring icons from that era!
Always loved these 302 powered Sapphire's, i remember there was a guy john Williamson iirc that put a 302 in a uk Sierra due to this being relatively easy to do due to this car from SA having the motor mounts ran 11's with nitrous iirc.
Ah... man that sounds crazy fast! Would've loved to see it
All the love going to African car culture for chugging out them belters ❤
Ahhh... Thanks to the car tuners and manufacturers of the past.
😮❤❤❤❤ sick car uk🇯🇲👊🏾
The narrative is someone reading from a script and no knowledge? 😮
Somebody wrote the script Steven, our script writer to be precise.
I’ve just had to search it up there about the xr8 I had never heard of a one I thought you had got it wrong and meant xr4x4 that’s what we got in the uk mate and I’ve never heard of the 5litre saph, it’s a nice car all the best on your show from England 🏴 uk 🇬🇧
Thank you so much Bra Craig. Information on these is so hard to find!
@@nothingordinarymedia I’ve never heard of a one, bet they have a nice sound, we got the sierra sapphire cosworth here they are getting rare to find now aswwl
@@craigconey9971 The Cossies are some of our favourites too! We definitely gonna make a video on those!