FIESTA XR2i
“THE MK3 WAS NEATER THAN THE MK2, BUT THE XR2i TOOK ITS SHARPER STYLE TO AN EVER HIGHER LEVEL”
Given the popularity of earlier XR2s, there was no way the performance version wouldn’t figure in Ford’s new Mk3 Fiesta line-up, but the manufacturer made hot hatchback fans wait until October 1989 for the XR2i — a whole 10 months after the debut of the rest of the range.
It wasn’t down to late development either, as the XR2i’s specification was thrashed out at the same time as the cooking models. Instead, it was simply due to Ford concentrating production on the more in-demand versions.
Shrewdly, the Blue Oval’s marketing bods had kept the news of a forthcoming XR version simmering away and if any fast Fiesta fan had
