SIERRA VAN !!!!

greendragon3 · 26-02-2012 02:16PM #1

well lads it has finally arrived , after months of speculation and head scratching and with a huge thank you to declan rafter ( black magic ) i am now the proud owner of what is believed to be the only sierra van in exsistance , now i know the sceptics among you will say " ah sure thats just a feckin estate with panels instead of glass " !!!!! but you'r wrong , from what we can gather from the first owners they wanted a mid size van from ford and something " a bit different " ,the local ford dealers here tried to sell them an escort van and a small transit but it wasnt what they were after so after a lot of searching they came up with this solution ,three of these vans were produced in-house by ford as an experimental demo vehicle to see if they would take off ,as you will see in the pictures it has a proper bulk head divider and a full flat floor , they were shipped to ford in cork and this one was delivered to sligo in january of 91 and subsequently bought by barton smiths of sligo , the other two vans dissapeared , maybe shipped back to england because they didnt sell , who knows , just ask yourself this " have you ever seen one " ???? the van has led a bit of a chequered past up until now and the most up to date info we can get on it is that she ended up in the hands of a sheep farmer ( hence the big pile of ****e in the back of it )

but again thanks to declan, he was aproached and a deal was done , it suffered a snapped timing belt in 2003 and it has been off the road since , dumped in a field !!! so enough talk, here are the pics i took of her last night as she was being delivered .

quattro777 · 26-02-2012 02:43PM

There were some on the continent, a guy who sells Ford spares imported 2 to the UK.

jimmyw · 26-02-2012 02:44PM

Thanks for that, I have just brought up my dinner:eek:.

Whos to say the farmer was not using it himself:D.Yuk!Yuk! That is a completely horrible mess. You are brave to be taking on this.I hope you got it for free!!.

Redrocket · 26-02-2012 03:24PM

you've got your work cutout for you to get her back to glory, lovely piece of ford history tho!

manta mad · 26-02-2012 05:15PM

as redrocket says ,very nice bit of irish ford history you got ! :cool:

and you have your work cut out ,but it will be well worth it when you get it finished !

keep us posted on your progress please !

carchaeologist · 26-02-2012 06:20PM

Odd yoke. Comes up as fuel type Gas?

Silvera · 26-02-2012 06:24PM

Nice find! Never heard of a Sierra Van before?!

You have a big task ahead of you, however the shell looks solid enough - the rest..seats, trim, engine, etc - shouldnt be too hard to source/replace.

Best of luck with it!
Keep us updated.

...nice reg too '91-SO-111'
...the '1' is appropriate, being the only '1' of it's kind in Ireland!

a_v525 · 26-02-2012 06:32PM

try to save the sierra van sticker, I doubt you'd be able to get your hands on another one if they were really 3 of a kind

Gene Hunt · 26-02-2012 09:33PM

Alot of work there....but I find it very hard to believe the conversion was done by Ford, that spot welding done around the rear back window is sh## to say the least but would be a nice van when done and I'm looking forward to the finished product:)

bijapos · 26-02-2012 09:59PM

The Sierra Van was sold in Holland, with fully closed off rear windows, not like the one in the pic above, but as they also needed the roof conversion for tax reasons I would think its possible the window conversions were done by a coachbuilder. The bulkhead on that Sierra doesn't look like its from Ford but its rare nonetheless and deserves to be saved, best of luck with it.

Pic here is of a Dutch Sierra Van, note the fully integrated panels on the windows.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/6916303433/

carchaeologist · 26-02-2012 10:39PM

Gene Hunt wrote: »

Alot of work there....but I find it very hard to believe the conversion was done by Ford, that spot welding done around the rear back window is sh## to say the least

I agree here, it seems to have been an estate converted to a van at some stage in its life, but i really cant see ford having done it as a trial of just three cars. The sticker on the back could have been done by any sticker company.
There wouldnt be any problem doing that to an estate and changing the tax from private to commercial at any stage of its life. Then it will show as commercial on the records.

Although, the rear lower bulkheads do look very similar on the irish and dutch vans, i will say that!

Post some pics of the inside of the blanked out windows and more of the loadbed when you get the crap cleaned out of it.

mickdw · 26-02-2012 11:39PM

That panel with the dodgy welds could have come from anywhere. Assuming that the history as described in the OP is correct, that rear door could have been replaced at any time due to damage and a botch done to replace the glass as a van door would not have been available.

Even that dutch car linked above has glass in one side for some reason.

gn3dr · 27-02-2012 12:31AM

carchaeologist wrote: »

I agree here, it seems to have been an estate converted to a van at some stage in its life, but i really cant see ford having done it as a trial of just three cars. The sticker on the back could have been done by any sticker company.
There wouldnt be any problem doing that to an estate and changing the tax from private to commercial at any stage of its life. Then it will show as commercial on the records.

Although, the rear lower bulkheads do look very similar on the irish and dutch vans, i will say that!

Post some pics of the inside of the blanked out windows and more of the loadbed when you get the crap cleaned out of it.

I mentioned this in another forum where this was posted - but I remember seeing at least two more of these back in the 90's - a red one on Cork and I think a blue one in Killarney. I also have a vague memory of seeing a brown one somewhere in Irleand. None looked homemade - all looked factory like this one.

selfdiy · 27-02-2012 01:30AM

Good luck with the project. interesting to see what it looks like when cleaned out.
I hope you got a large luck penny returned on that deal!

GSBellew · 27-02-2012 01:58AM

Interestingly there are no weights stamped on the ford chassis weight plate.

What is on the other rusty plate on the slam panel? Coach builders weight plate?

The lack of any weights on the ford plate would suggest it was either an incomplete chassis for a coach builder to convert to a hearse / ambulance etc or indeed a pre-production / experimental chassis.

68deville · 27-02-2012 05:25PM

nearly certain an 92 Wx red/maroon Sierra van was sold new by Bolands
was a regular on the roads in the South east!

Raytown Rocks · 27-02-2012 05:31PM

And I thought you meant this??
Ah well

kuro2k · 28-02-2012 02:36PM

gn3dr wrote: »

I mentioned this in another forum where this was posted - but I remember seeing at least two more of these back in the 90's - a red one on Cork and I think a blue one in Killarney. I also have a vague memory of seeing a brown one somewhere in Irleand. None looked homemade - all looked factory like this one.

I used to see a white one alot around western road in Cork, last time i saw it was probably around 98/99

tinyjiney · 29-02-2012 10:19AM

Shouldnt a van have only two doors and no c pillar......
Looks like an estate /van to me....

carchaeologist · 29-02-2012 11:21AM

Well, whatever it is, full marks to greendragon for rescuing such a shed. And it was literally a shed....

G Luxel · 03-03-2012 03:28AM

gn3dr wrote: »

- a red one on Cork and..... .

the red car you mention could be or was operated by Cork Corporation and had a white stripe with coat of arms on the door. I think it was used by the water department. It was red and exactly the same layout in spec as the OPs car. This car was registered in 1991.

Capri · 06-03-2012 09:58PM

At last - vindicated !!

I'd seen a Sierra van in Dublin years ago but couldn't dig up any info on it so I was beginning to think that the ol brain was playing tricks.

Now i can stop taking the pills , and hit the pils

:D

Next is to find the Pontiac Parisienne c.68, that I remember sitting in in Ranelagh years ago :eek:

http://www.pontiacuk.com/id75.html

tony.aspergers · 09-03-2012 03:27PM

Could have been converted by NVD at Kilrane, Rosslare, upon entry into Ireland, they did such conversions right up till the beginning of last year....

greendragon3 · 12-03-2012 12:06AM

bit of an update lads , spent all day yesterday shoveling

and taking off a lot of bits off the van to see what the actual shell itself was like , turns out its not too bad at all despite twenty years of dog and sheep piss rotting away into the carpet and the sound proofing , it came out in chunks instead of one piece !!!! bit of a nightmare getting out the seats and the rear door was siezed shut but plenty of WD40 and brute force shifted her , we found and managed to remove five rats nests from the back of the dash , id say there is more in there just have to get the dash out first !!!!!! we also had to take out the rear floor because the amount of

gathered under here was unreal and we would have not been able to clean it properly other wise , anyway after a lot of stripping we got it o where it was ready for a blast of the power hose , its in the shed now drying out and we will start the body work soon , couple of sills and maybe a passenger floor might do the trick , fingers crossed , here are some more pics .

jimmyw · 12-03-2012 12:12AM

Jeez, you are a brave brave person:D.What a horrible job to be doing.I hope you reap the rewards from it.

carchaeologist · 12-03-2012 12:14AM

Christ almighty what a manky yoke!!
Looks good with a wash though, im amazed theres still a floor in it!

ahal · 12-03-2012 12:36AM

carchaeologist wrote: »

Christ almighty what a manky yoke!!
Looks good with a wash though, im amazed theres still a floor in it!

+1

Given how acidic wee wee is, it's held up surprisingly well. I think you'll need the Lord on your side with this ... and a giant quantity of Kurust :pac:

On the plus side, turning a project like this around has got to be all the sweeter

Blue850 · 12-03-2012 09:59AM

Yuck... seriously though don't let anyone near that van without gloves on, rat pi$$ is deadly. I lost a cousin to Weils disease.

Weils disease

trevorbrady · 12-03-2012 02:38PM

What a brave undertaking and given the starting point, the end result will be all the better.
Keep us posted

unkel · 12-03-2012 03:04PM

trevorbrady wrote: »

What a brave undertaking and given the starting point, the end result will be all the better.
Keep us posted

+1

Must be the durtiest resto in history

Bitten & Hisses · 12-03-2012 10:31PM

Yourself and the guy restoring the rotten P&T van seem to be cut from the same cloth!

SIERRA VAN !!!!

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