Soul Survivor

John MacNiven’s put his heart and soul into the latest build of his XR2, with enough trick touches to keep you guessing for hours.

- Jon Hill

Sometimes it’s hard to look at a car as a mere machine — as something that gets you from A to B. But then, because we’re reading a magazine about preserving and modifying old Fords, I guess it’s safe to say, none of us are normal.

The longer you’ve had a car, the more difficult it is to part with, especially if you’ve been modifying it from the day you bought it — it becomes part of your soul. Even if it were a stocker, when someone says, why don’t you just sell it, it’s impossible to explain why you simply can’t – it’s yours, has your stamp and even if it were a rusty wreck in the corner, it’s like losing a limb to let go of.

John MacNiven’s XRZ-badged Fiesta is a car he’s had for forever. Back when he first bought it, it was a white stock XR2 and it’s true to say it’s evolved. John’s gone through plenty of paths — from the usual hot Crossflow to the current Zetec power that simply looks like it should be there, hence the XRZ graphics - a clever play on XRV, the now rare Mk1 Fiesta van but sporting XR underpinnings — but the shift up the alphabet to hint at the more modern powerplant.

Evolution theory