ME AND MY RESTO
Alan Plowman rescued this rotten 1983 XR2 and turned it into a show winner
WORDS & PICTURES JAMES WALSHE
When you spend each day painting other people’s cars, you spend much of your life going to shows and seeing classics that you’ve painted – but never ever your own! I thought it was time I did my own car for a change, so this Fiesta was my first personal resto project. I’ve always been proud of doing a good job when it comes to paint – but nothing compares to the feeling you get when it’s a car that belongs to you!
Here in the far north of Scotland, you’re not exactly spoilt for choice with any kind of classic when the nearest big town is four hours to the south. The priority was sourcing a Fiesta with a complete interior and decent mechanical parts. It wouldn’t have mattered how shabby the body was since I knew I’d be able to sort even the worst rust, but finding bits of trim for instance… it has become a challenge on cars of this era.
In 2018, I stumbled over a rusty 1983 XR2 in Wick. It had been off the road for a decade or so, but it started and ran, and the interior was complete. I bought it but then the pandemic hit, and I was back to doing other people’s cars again! It sat there until two years ago, which is when I began the resto.
I put the car on a spit, blasted it and discovered that while there were areas I was able to do myself, I had some help from my friend Nick Manson. He’s better at fabricating than I am and having painted his Ford Thames a while back, he was happy to assist. The shell was full of patches, so I cut out the bad parts of the floors, sills, boot, scuttle panel and front wings and while Nick fabricated some of the trickier areas, I sourced replacement panels for others. The sunroof is double skinned, so the frame had to come out – getting it back in wasn’t fun but managed after some long evenings!
AS FOUND The Fiesta had been gathering dust in a barn for ten years, so the shell presented some challenges to Alan when he began working on it.
Under the bonnet
The engine had done around 100,000 miles and was running, but I decided to re-bore it and fit new pistons, while all the bearings were replaced and the valve seats hardened to take modern fuel. It was all familiar territory – my dad was a mechanic so I spent a lot of my youth tinkering with engines. In the end, I fell into working with the bodywork side of things more in my career – I just preferred it. My first job was at a local Ford garage so, in painting my Fiesta, this was the easiest part for me. I was still a bit paranoid though! I tend to use Novol products, so on went the epoxy primer, then the filler which I carefully did after work over the course of a few weeks. I went for metallic Caspian Blue with Ford’s trademark pinstripe.
The only big change I made inside was in finding a replacement for the cracked original dash. It was so satisfying to put it all back together again and then hit the road for the first time. I’ve definitely caught the resto bug! I like an XR2 MkII, so I'm considering one as my next project – but only if I have time. Cars aren’t a priority for me – my main hobby is playing the bagpipes!
INTERIOR Alan’s mission was to find a car as complete as could be – which included the cabin. Fiesta interior trim is difficult to find, and he didn’t want the headache of searching for missing bits of plastic. ‘I didn’t mind how rusty the car was – that was the least of my worries!’
BODYWORK Paintwork is Alan’s forte. Once the floors, sills and front wings among other areas had been cut out, fabricated and welded, a typically thorough amount of prep took place from Alan before he lavished the Fiesta with its metallic Caspian Blue paint job. It’s among the best we’ve ever seen.
ENGINE The XR2’s engine was running when Alan bought it, but he nevertheless wanted it to match the rest of the car, condition-wise. He rebored it, fitted new pistons, replaced all bearings and had the valve seats hardened for modern petrol.
ORIGINALITY With so many Fiesta XR2s having suffered at the hands of boy racers in the Eighties and Nineties, Alan wanted to keep his car as original as possible.
TRIM Fiesta trim, from door cards to window winders, isn’t all that easy to find these days, so Alan says it pays to find a project car that’s as complete as possible.
Practical Classics Restorer of the Year 2025
Alan is entered into the 2025 Restorer of the Year competition. You can vote for your favourite in a future issue of Practical Classics magazine.
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