Tolman’s Ford Escort XR3 Is ’80s Nostalgia Perfected

When discussing the golden age of hot hatches, the 1980s inevitably enters the conversation: GTIs with a big ‘I’ from Volkswagen and little ‘i’ from Peugeot, Vauxhall’s GTEs, turbocharged Renaults and MGs. Then there was Ford’s XR series, hotted-up versions of the Fiesta, Escort and Sierra that couldn’t be more of their time if they tried. Pepperpot wheels, extra driving lights, bits of red trim inside and out – they had it all.

As fantastically fun as they were, there’s no denying that they tended to be built down to a cost. It was with that in mind that the owner of a 1981 Escort XR3 approached Warwickshire firm Tolman Engineering the year before last. You might know Tolman from its work restomodding the likes of the Peugeot 205 GTi and Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, giving them thorough overhauls with modern componentry and performance.

This XR3 isn’t quite the same thing; rather, it’s a full restoration, carried out with exacting attention to detail that’s arguably left the car in a finer fettle than it was in when it rolled off its Merseyside production line over 40 years ago.

Thought to be one of less than 200 cars left on UK roads with the early, carburetted 106bhp version of the 1.6-litre four-pot, the process began with a full audit of the bodyshell and over 1,000 parts, many of them unlabelled nuts and bolts. An overhaul of the body was undertaken, with particular attention paid to refining the original car’s often shonky shutlines.

With lots of parts hard to find, every big online platform was scoured over the 18-month process. Tolman was apparently just days away from commissioning a specially produced batch of the XR3’s iconic ‘Laser’ black-and-red upholstery when an unused, new-old stock roll of it was found in someone’s loft and popped up on eBay. A single unused driveshaft was sourced from Germany, with Tolman having a new item locally built to the original spec for the other side.

While originality was the name of the game, some parts, like the new stainless steel exhaust and CNC-machined brake lines, have been made from uprated materials to give the car better longevity. Tolman even went as far as airbrushing the dials’ needles to restore their bright orange factory finish, and reverse-engineering a new set of heater control dials with the original parts no longer available.

The end result is quite possibly the best condition XR3 to have ever existed, either now or when the car was being made. Apparently, it will do the rounds at various shows and concours events throughout 2024. We can only hope its owner also takes the opportunity to get out and enjoy it on the road, preferably wearing a lurid jacket of some sort and blasting new-wave cassettes.