RE: PH Heroes: Ford Escort RS Cosworth
Discussion
.............. well, most of the time anyway 
Baryonyx said:
It will never turn heads the way a Cosworth does, thats for sure.
I love the Escort Cosworth, though my favourite Ford Cosworth is course the Sierra 4X4. I nearly bought one a couple of months ago, but after a long consideration on running costs and the fact that people still try and steal them I decided not to. They're amazing cars though. The Escort didn't do incredibly well in rally, certainly. But that was maybe because the Japanese had taken an interest then, and were developing new technology for the sport, rather than just sticking a 4WD-train onto a platform that had already produced three iterations of performance cars (which had dominated touring car racing, in all fairness).
They are one of those cars that attract a legend in the way that few others do. You can spy a Ferrari or an Aston Martin on a dual carriageway and point, and be mildly impressed with it. Seeing a Cosworth is something else, that fleeting glimpse of something incredible from a time now long since past. I commend those with the dedication to keep these amazing cars going. If I had a garage to secure one in, I'd own a Sierra Cosworth now.
escorts didn't do well ? what planet are you from?,the escort beat the factory lancias that were all singing and dancing when sainz was in the deltas and would of won the wrc if toyota were not cheats and got thrown out the wrc,did you forget that ?I love the Escort Cosworth, though my favourite Ford Cosworth is course the Sierra 4X4. I nearly bought one a couple of months ago, but after a long consideration on running costs and the fact that people still try and steal them I decided not to. They're amazing cars though. The Escort didn't do incredibly well in rally, certainly. But that was maybe because the Japanese had taken an interest then, and were developing new technology for the sport, rather than just sticking a 4WD-train onto a platform that had already produced three iterations of performance cars (which had dominated touring car racing, in all fairness).
They are one of those cars that attract a legend in the way that few others do. You can spy a Ferrari or an Aston Martin on a dual carriageway and point, and be mildly impressed with it. Seeing a Cosworth is something else, that fleeting glimpse of something incredible from a time now long since past. I commend those with the dedication to keep these amazing cars going. If I had a garage to secure one in, I'd own a Sierra Cosworth now.
the escort cosworth won the irish tarmac championship,the belgian,the italian,the french,the british,the turkish,the german,the austrian,the polish,and some multiple times. Besides a load more victories also won the european rally championship so please get your facts right.
nigelonich said:
I endured physical pain at the sight of them in the 90's when they came out. Anyone recall the magazine ad where they had Polaris Grey (very rare colour now) Escort Coswirth with the strapline 'the only car that drives in two directions' or something like that?
That was the poster on my wall as I was only about 17 that i tore 'badly' from the magazine! There was a white one in (motorsport spec) and a green lux spec in Fort William at the same sort of time and they were awesome looking machines. The white one was owned by a wealthy you man who drove it flat out most of the time. It just looked great.
However, I finallly made it in 2002 and bought my own one at long last. A mint 1995 petrol blue lux small turbo with only 20k miles. What a pile of total rubbish it was. It looked the nuts in the garage but truth be told it was, alas a Ford Escort and the review written at the start of this thread is spot on. Sold it very quick and lost nothing which was good and the buyer was over the moon.
Strange thing is I still see them and want one?
If anyone could be bothered looking at all the homologated road cars built to allow the parent companys to rally in the world rally championship you would be surprised to see the small turbo escort cosworth is not a homologation car,the big turbo was the real deal so unfortunately with a small turbo you got a shopping car and missed out on the one that could be built into what ford rallied in the wrc at the highest level.That was the poster on my wall as I was only about 17 that i tore 'badly' from the magazine! There was a white one in (motorsport spec) and a green lux spec in Fort William at the same sort of time and they were awesome looking machines. The white one was owned by a wealthy you man who drove it flat out most of the time. It just looked great.
However, I finallly made it in 2002 and bought my own one at long last. A mint 1995 petrol blue lux small turbo with only 20k miles. What a pile of total rubbish it was. It looked the nuts in the garage but truth be told it was, alas a Ford Escort and the review written at the start of this thread is spot on. Sold it very quick and lost nothing which was good and the buyer was over the moon.
Strange thing is I still see them and want one?
so if your thinking of buying a escort coswprth and have waded through some of the rubbish on here like stuff about boring audis or plentiful evos etc remember the big turbo escort cosworth early cars were the homologation specials and thus the ones to have that will be worth the most in the future.
TonyHetherington said:
I thought they were even a little more than that now, but nevertheless - for a classic, it doesn't seem much money.
However it is probably worth remembering that the cars are 20yrs old now and not only do they feel that way inside (i.e. it's a 20yr old Escort dash) but the power (of a standard one) is less than a luke-warm-hatch today.
Nevertheless, those that want to can overlook that for bags of character and a rear spoiler straight from teenage boys' bedroom walls.
Momo Arrows?However it is probably worth remembering that the cars are 20yrs old now and not only do they feel that way inside (i.e. it's a 20yr old Escort dash) but the power (of a standard one) is less than a luke-warm-hatch today.
Nevertheless, those that want to can overlook that for bags of character and a rear spoiler straight from teenage boys' bedroom walls.
sawman2 said:
One of the oddest things I've seen on the road, one of these towing a caravan, in the Gloucester area in the 90's.
Don't know why you think thats so weird really?Incidently an Escort Cosworth held the world caravan towing speed record for many years.
http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://www.youtube.c...
One proper legendary cosworth:
Rod is a proper gent and his car is superb - not to mention possibly one of the greatest Escort Cosworths of all time
http://www.rodbirley.com/Performance%20Ford_August...
Rod has owned some truly amazing cars over the years - all of which can be seen on
www.rodbirley.com
I'll always remember sitting the driving seat of his (then brand new) YB cossie powered Honda Prelude Thundersaloon as a kid - and helping the team polish it before a race!
Rod is a proper gent and his car is superb - not to mention possibly one of the greatest Escort Cosworths of all time
http://www.rodbirley.com/Performance%20Ford_August...
Rod has owned some truly amazing cars over the years - all of which can be seen on
www.rodbirley.com
I'll always remember sitting the driving seat of his (then brand new) YB cossie powered Honda Prelude Thundersaloon as a kid - and helping the team polish it before a race!
dave escos said:
escorts didn't do well ? what planet are you from?,the escort beat the factory lancias that were all singing and dancing when sainz was in the deltas and would of won the wrc if toyota were not cheats and got thrown out the wrc,did you forget that ?.
I wasn't aware they'd won so many tarmac championships, but that sounds about right. I was referring to the top level rallying, where IIRC it never did too well. Yes, the Toyota incident is suspicious, and losing a 71 second lead in such dramatic fashion raised eyebrows. The high points were Portugal, where the Escos spanked the competition (over 2/3rds fastest times records) and then with wins again at the Corsica and Acropolis stages, a privateer win in San Remo, and a win at Catalunya.
After that though, it never captured the wins it should have. Delacour's inability to race may have played a part, but for whatever reason the glory was over. The Escort was the perfect tool to tackle the Delta Integrale, but it looked outmoded against the Japanese competition. And the Escort entered competition at a time when the Delta Integrale looked as though it was finally starting to age. The game was up though, now that the Japanese were on the case.
Please, don't think I'm bashing the Escort Cosworth, I'm not. It's a fantastic car, but upon arrival it was never truely competitive (rumour was that Lancia and Toyota's cars were running significantly more bhp at the time too). It's still an awesome car though. No-one says the M3 E30 is a rubbish car just because the Sierra dominated the track at the time, for instance.
I'm game to take on most cossies in my Urquattro.
Just love the looks of the Escort though, especially in Blue. My dad had a saphire cosworth 4x4, and I remmber him testing an Escort Cosworth over a few days (during this we ran over the next door neigbours cat!), we were official Ford RS dealers at the time.
Despite all this I couldn't persude him to buy one! I think he thought it didnt move things on quite enough.
Just love the looks of the Escort though, especially in Blue. My dad had a saphire cosworth 4x4, and I remmber him testing an Escort Cosworth over a few days (during this we ran over the next door neigbours cat!), we were official Ford RS dealers at the time.
Despite all this I couldn't persude him to buy one! I think he thought it didnt move things on quite enough.
Got a couple stories for here, my dad had a lux big turbo with 300 bhp and 330 lft of torque. Think that was enough for it. Great in a straight line, it stripped 3rd gear off the gearset. Set car alarms off in multistory car parks and scared the crap out of my ex girlfriend. His had a 1 year off shade of mallard green which when he got hit in Leeds, the rer-spray didn't look right. So Ford had to get a dude from ici to mix the paint and re-spray the whole car.
He bought an EVO 8 after and that was a much better car, apart from the small tank.
My auntie had 1 as a company car from Ford and her boyfriend at the time decided to rag the nuts off it when it was still being run in. It promptly blew up. Needless to say, he didn't last long either.
I'd love to drive 1 and own 1 but with no driveway and no garage its unlikely to be acquired. A saph on the otherhand might be a more viable proposition.
He bought an EVO 8 after and that was a much better car, apart from the small tank.
My auntie had 1 as a company car from Ford and her boyfriend at the time decided to rag the nuts off it when it was still being run in. It promptly blew up. Needless to say, he didn't last long either.
I'd love to drive 1 and own 1 but with no driveway and no garage its unlikely to be acquired. A saph on the otherhand might be a more viable proposition.
Had a spin in mine this afternoon, it really is true that you don't realise quite how quick you're going!!
Best moment for me was back in 1994 when my late dad picked me and 3 mates up form school the day he bought his, hard to describe but it literally drew crowds and people stopped to stare. Awesome for a 15 year old and his friends credibility !!
Best moment for me was back in 1994 when my late dad picked me and 3 mates up form school the day he bought his, hard to describe but it literally drew crowds and people stopped to stare. Awesome for a 15 year old and his friends credibility !!
For some unknown reason I really fancy one with the delete option whale tale removed - I always remember reading topgear when they road tested one of the last ones on sale along side the Toyota supra which had also gone out of production at the same time and it had the whale tale delete option ticked - I always thought it looked quite cool without it - it's seems I'm the only one though because other than that one in topgear I have never seen one without a whale tale
AndyCzech said:
I had the Sapphire 4x4 Cosworth during the 90s. All true about the plastic dash and rather industrial feel but as a fun car it was responsible for many spontaneous, huge grins. When you talk to previous owners you can see their faces light up with genuine affection. Wasn’t best in class by any stretch of the imagination but you knew exactly what you were getting into, i.e., no pretentions.
Totally agree. I had a couple in the '90's as company cars I was only in my 20's- great boss!Used to love chasing 911's. Was a true blue collar hero. People loved them. When I switched to a Beemer that was a different story!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff