Image: Supplied
September is the month in which South Africans celebrate our heritage. When it comes to cars, there’s a lot we can look back at rather fondly.
Rummage through the annals of our automotive history and you will find a fairly comprehensive catalogue of machines unique to our shores.
Although the Ford Sierra was sold in other markets around the world, its reputation as a performance car was cemented in SA under the project name ‘Toni’.
Perhaps the most well-known is the flagship Sierra XR6 that made good use of the 3.0-litre Essex V6 produced at Ford’s Struandale Engine Plant in Port Elizabeth. A race car for the road was conceived, with 112kW and 236Nm pushed through a chassis tweaked for sharper handling.
Those in the know will recognise that the Sierra XR6 was more than a little inspired by SA’s Cortina XR6, and the more powerful and rarer Cortina XR6 Interceptor that preceded it.
When the Sierra XR6 ended production in 1992, it was replaced by the fuel-injected 3.0iRS the following year. By comparison, this model produced 117kW and 260Nm. The development of the fuel-injected V6 was a joint effort by the SA Motor Corporation (Samcor) and Lucas during the mid-1990s.
According to industry sales figures of the time, around 500 models were sold during the three years of production.
