Unveiled to the world’s press on 24th November 1980, the Escort XR3 signalled a pivotal moment for Ford.

It was the first front-wheel drive performance Escort, the birth of the now legendary XR range and Ford’s direct reply to the Volkswagen Golf GTi.

On that crisp day in South Wales, journalists were taken to an unfinished section of the M4 near Bridgend to drive rows of bright Sunburst Red XR3s, we believe around 400 cars were involved, fresh from the Bridgend plant – a defining moment in Ford history.

Only a handful of those very earliest press and pre-production cars survive, and remarkably, the example offered here is believed to be the sole unrestored car from that original batch still in existence.

Registered on 21st November 1980, just three days before the press launch, this car wears its original registration TTW 83W, part of the famous TTW sequence reserved by Ford exclusively for the initial batch of XR3 pre-production, demonstration and launch cars.

These TTW cars we...