At about the same time my father wanted to replace his car and I persuaded him to buy an innovative car for that time - a Ford Sierra (in the US - MERKUR). My father bought the car and for several years it served the family and was even the first vehicle I drove when I got my license.
After a few years my father decided buy anohter vehicle but always remembered the Sierra fondly and used to tell everyone who would listen that this is the vehicle he loved the most.
Since then a lot of fuel has been flowing in my veins. The hobby turned into a profession and I became an automotive journalist.
Over the years I droved almost every new vehicle in the market. I wrote hundreds of road tests and it's hard to count the people who approached me for advice about cars, but I always had a warm spot in my heart for my first motor recommendation - the Sierra.
A few years ago my father, who until that day was a very healthy and active person, died unexpectedly. As a Car lover and collector I decided recently that to commemorate five years of his untimely death, I would purchase a Ford Sierra, another way to remember him by and also never forget that he was the one who hooked me up with the motor world to begin with.
--The Search--
The mission proved to be not so simple and here in Israel not many Sierras survived. Those that are still on the road are not kept in good condition and most of the later sedan version is very different from the vehicle with the unique aerodynamic design we bought in 1984.
In Europe, too, I have not found too many vehicles for sale - at least not online. They are available in the UK, but the wheel there is usually not on the right side (or more accurately, it is on the right side, which is the WRONG side…).
And so I started looking in the United States for the US version of the Sierra and the most powerful except for the Cosworth which its' prices have lost proportion a long time ago.
I started looking on eBay but there weren't many available. Advanced search engines (www.searchtempest.com - highly recommended to those looking for unique cars) helped me scan many areas of Craigslist.
I found some cars; some were too expensive ; other were quite attractive but generally most of the sellers preferred to sell to someone paying rather than some strange overseas buyer looking for a car from the other side of the Atlantic, so even some of the cars I almost closed on and had good communication with their sellers, were sold in the end to local buyers.
After searching for more places on the web where I can find XR4TIs for sale I came across the FB group Merkur Club of America and the MCA website and forum – probably the places that bring together most of the people in the world who are passionate about this model .
--The Find--
On the MCA forum I found answers to all sorts of questions I had that in the end convinced me to stick (for now) to an original engine (I was thinking about a 2.3 Eco boost modern Mustang engine swap), to look for a running - not modified – car and not any kind of project car.
One day I came across an ad posted here by N. from Michigan that wanted to sell his 1988 XR4TI that he bought new from almost 30 years ago.
I wrote him and asked him to send me pictures of the vehicle and when they reached my mailbox it was clearthat this vehicle would be mine since it looked in relatively good condition, N. was asking for a reasonable price, the car was still in use by the original owner and… it's color is the same as my father's car!
Obviously, I had to buy it.
For some reason at first the seller was sure that I was from neighboring Canada and almost passed out when he found out that he had just sold the car to a madman thousands of miles away. When he found out that I was actually from Israel, he was very excited as a fellow Jew when he realized that his vehicle is going to make aliyah (immigration of Jews to Israel).
N. pointed out to me some small issues and I realized that I would have to find some parts before I send the car to Israel and since the vehicle was a 1988 model I also had to find a rear hatch with a bi wing - the most prominent design element of the model that I can't understand what went through the head of Ford's designers who decided to ditch it in the 1988-89 model year.
At this point, most people who buy a vintage car overseas do the reasonable thing and book land transportation from Michigan to New York (a matter of several hundred dollars) and from there to Israel by sea. But as an adventurous enthusiast who loves road trips and old cars, I decided to fly to Michigan and pick the car myself.
-- To be continued…--
Soon I'll post here the rest of my story - a 3500 mile road trip I went on with the car I had just bought and amazing MERKUR people I met along the way like Mike from Merkur Depot (MerkurDriver) and Jody Cook.
