RE: Ford Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth: PH Heroes

[John_S4x4]

That red Saphire Cosworth featured is a lovely thing

I owned a white 4wd Saphire running a stage one tune and water injection, all set-up by M.A. Developments. Fantastic car, really quick of the line and as said, was a good steer. Shame it got stolen and torched

[myhandle]

Shape has aged very well. It looks better in red than it did when new.

[Toby C]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

stavers said:

Well - except a Renault 21 Turbo Quadra which costs a hell of a lot less than this but doesn't have the brand appeal. True - I have never owned a Cosworth but I do love my 21 Quadra. It surprises people even more because the Sierra Costworth is reasonably well known but with ~100 Quadras ever imported (according to howmanyleft) it was never a common site.

I am sure that a tuned Cosworth can outrun a Qudra but both would give the driver plenty of fun

I was lucky enough to get to drive a 4x4 Sapphire Cossie and a 21 Quadra back in the day. Little to choose between them, perhaps the Quadra just edged it. 21 Quadra were as rare as rocking horse st even when they were contemporary. The numbers in the UK must be in single figures by now. Only ever saw them in dark blue.

My Dad had a RWD Sapphire when I was a kid so I was always keen to read any kind of reviews. Pretty sure What Car put it up against a GSI 3000 Carlton and the Vauxhall won.

Still remember the feeling I got the first time I went out in it and my Dad gave it some squirt. In later years he bought a stainless steel exhaust system for it and it sounded mental.

[405dogvan]

The 'appreciating asset' thing probably isn't true - Cossies stopped being cheap a long time ago now - they've been in the "£6k for a tatty one and £15K+ for a nice one" zone for a decade at least (with odd spikes for unusually tidy or rare examples of course)

We're far past the point it's worth restoring a basket-case and most people who want one either own or have owned one - so the market should be reasonable stable (with most cars well know to owners clubs etc.)

A safe place for your money perhaps - but unlikely to gain further value unless you find one in a barn, perhaps.

[Mr GrimNasty]

I don't think many people paid anywhere near £28K for the last of the 4x4's.
They became near impossible/at best uneconomic, to insure, and were being knocked out for £16-19k with no miles on the clock from what I recall.
Same with Astra GTE16Vs at the time, list was £16k or whatever, but you could get a 'new' one for under £10K (as I did).
The media obsession with TWOCing and images of Maestro Turbos etc. J-turning to a backdrop of riots and burning scum estates saw to that.

[Hooli]

Always wanted one of these & I still do.

[TheAngryDog]

405dogvan said:

The 'appreciating asset' thing probably isn't true - Cossies stopped being cheap a long time ago now - they've been in the "£6k for a tatty one and £15K+ for a nice one" zone for a decade at least (with odd spikes for unusually tidy or rare examples of course)

I couldn't get £4k for my very good condition, 300 plus bhp G reg sapph in 2006, the market wasn't that good then, most were being broken for spares as they were worth more in parts.

I'd love another, but the M5 would have to go, and tbh I would probably be too worried about it breaking.

[j90gta]

stavers said:

LanceRS said:

There is nothing that I can think of, that for the money, that will do the same.

Well - except a Renault 21 Turbo Quadra which costs a hell of a lot less than this but doesn't have the brand appeal. True - I have never owned a Cosworth but I do love my 21 Quadra. It surprises people even more because the Sierra Costworth is reasonably well known but with ~100 Quadras ever imported (according to howmanyleft) it was never a common site.

I am sure that a tuned Cosworth can outrun a Qudra but both would give the driver plenty of fun

I'm sure that at the time a standard Renault 21 turbo was supposed to be quicker from 30-70 than a Testarossa.

[abarber]

As special as an E30 M3 and then some!

I remember the Fast Lane recording by Mark Hales too many moons ago! It was as great on track as it was on the road, even as standard.

[richard300]

j90gta said:

stavers said:

LanceRS said:

There is nothing that I can think of, that for the money, that will do the same.

Well - except a Renault 21 Turbo Quadra which costs a hell of a lot less than this but doesn't have the brand appeal. True - I have never owned a Cosworth but I do love my 21 Quadra. It surprises people even more because the Sierra Costworth is reasonably well known but with ~100 Quadras ever imported (according to howmanyleft) it was never a common site.

I am sure that a tuned Cosworth can outrun a Qudra but both would give the driver plenty of fun

I'm sure that at the time a standard Renault 21 turbo was supposed to be quicker from 30-70 than a Testarossa.

I don't know about that - but 'back in the day' I had two (identical) Saab 9000CDE Carlsson's and they were billed as being faster from 50-75 than a Testarossa/911 Carrera 4 and a 2wd Diablo

I also remember about 12 years ago I had a lightly tuned EVO V GSR (about 320bhp) and my friend had a 2wd Sapphire Cosworth - The thing constantly needed money spent on it until one day he bit the bullet and dropped £11,000 IIRC on a 600bhp conversion and how frustrated he would be that whilst the arse end of his car was squatting on the floor and his tyres were spinning violently - I was gone!!! BUT as something to have in the garage and covet I would love a Sierra Cosworth.

Edited by richard300 on Thursday 23 October 14:22

[anonymous-user]

I can remember taking one for a test drive from my local Ford dealer and being left completely cold by it. Can't understand why even now.

[Toby C]

j90gta said:

stavers said:

LanceRS said:

There is nothing that I can think of, that for the money, that will do the same.

Well - except a Renault 21 Turbo Quadra which costs a hell of a lot less than this but doesn't have the brand appeal. True - I have never owned a Cosworth but I do love my 21 Quadra. It surprises people even more because the Sierra Costworth is reasonably well known but with ~100 Quadras ever imported (according to howmanyleft) it was never a common site.

I am sure that a tuned Cosworth can outrun a Qudra but both would give the driver plenty of fun

I'm sure that at the time a standard Renault 21 turbo was supposed to be quicker from 30-70 than a Testarossa.

I think that was also said about the Cosworth. But only if it was in second, because it was also said that it would be outgunned by a generic family hatchback attempting 50-70 in fifth.

[TWPC]

Dad bought an XR4x4 in 1985. I wanted him to take it over to Turbo Technics to let them work their magic. Never happened.

I loved this Sapphire and all the raves in the car press; when it was launched it felt like the 'official' Turbo Technics XR4x4. At the time I had just passed my test and was in Aunt Lucy's old Simca 1100...

This remains a scratch never itched.

[TWPC]

Toby C said:

j90gta said:

stavers said:

LanceRS said:

There is nothing that I can think of, that for the money, that will do the same.

Well - except a Renault 21 Turbo Quadra which costs a hell of a lot less than this but doesn't have the brand appeal. True - I have never owned a Cosworth but I do love my 21 Quadra. It surprises people even more because the Sierra Costworth is reasonably well known but with ~100 Quadras ever imported (according to howmanyleft) it was never a common site.

I am sure that a tuned Cosworth can outrun a Qudra but both would give the driver plenty of fun

I'm sure that at the time a standard Renault 21 turbo was supposed to be quicker from 30-70 than a Testarossa.

I think that was also said about the Cosworth. But only if it was in second, because it was also said that it would be outgunned by a generic family hatchback attempting 50-70 in fifth.

Wasn't the 21 one of the only ordinary cars manufactured with two different lengths of wheelbase? I seem to remember the smaller engined models had a transverse engine and a longer wheelbase than the larger engined ones, whose engines were longitudinal.

Didn't the Quadra have the bigger engine hanging out the front like an Audi Quattro and the shorter wheelbase?

[FilH]

Always wanted a moonstone Sapphire, but not having a garage for over 10yrs stopped me getting one.

Then I moved a few years ago and a few months later this now lives in the garage!



previous owner had for 10yrs with a folder of history 2" thick. Yes it's far from standard, but had a lot of great mods, suspension, wheels, big AP brakes, oh and a well built 400bhp engine.

future plans are a semi straight cut gear box.

[gremlin666]

Had one mid-'90s for a short while, great fun! (And it didn't get nicked thank ****!)
I never knew the 4WD cars had nearly 20 more BHP! Thought they were all around the 200 mark as standard. Learn something every day! Well in my case you do!

That 'L' reg is a rarity!

Funny how things move on though. I remember how amazing it seemed at the time, squeezing 200+ hp out of a 2-litre. Of course now you can get a 2-litre DIESEL that isn't far short lol.

Don't know whether I'd want to drive one now. At the time it seemed like 911 performance from a Sierra. (The standard rep-mobiles of the time were still knocking out 75-90 bhp! Imagine that!)
Not sure I'd want that memory ruined by getting behind the wheel now, and discovering that it wasn't much different to the current stock of hot hatches, or even worse, some diesels! 'Never meet your heroes' so they say......... well not 20 years past their sell by date anyway. Although 6 seconds to 60 is still pretty good!

Happy memories!

[toohuge]

My dad had a black cosworth.... It was awesome. At school, it was cool to say your dad had the fastest car

It was the first family car that I fell in love with and when he sold it (I was 7 iirc) I cried and wouldn't talk to my dad for days

[Steven_RW]

richard300 said:

...dropped £11,000 IIRC on a 600bhp conversion and how frustrated he would be that whilst the arse end of his car was squatting on the floor and his tyres were spinning violently - I was gone!!! BUT as something to have in the garage and covet I would love a Sierra Cosworth.

Edited by richard300 on Thursday 23 October 14:22

IMO Cosworth isn't always about utilising it's power perfectly. Half the fun is the lag followed by the insane burnout and the flailing arms trying to catch whatever situation it throws you into. I owned a TME evo 6 and whilst more lag free and much better at deploying it's power missed the total madness of a proper fast cossie. Plus once rolling the lighter cossie usually flatened my Evo (I had 320bhp in the evo).

Ace cars and what legends are made of. Cosworth paranoia about it breaking was amusing too...

Rgds,
Steven_RW

[405dogvan]

TheAngryDog said:

405dogvan said:

The 'appreciating asset' thing probably isn't true - Cossies stopped being cheap a long time ago now - they've been in the "£6k for a tatty one and £15K+ for a nice one" zone for a decade at least (with odd spikes for unusually tidy or rare examples of course)

I couldn't get £4k for my very good condition, 300 plus bhp G reg sapph in 2006, the market wasn't that good then, most were being broken for spares as they were worth more in parts.

I'd love another, but the M5 would have to go, and tbh I would probably be too worried about it breaking.

I think the market has shrunk to the point very few are really 'worth more in parts' - which is means the only parts which will appear come from cars which go bang perhaps.

It's also a slow market - it can take months or even years to sell a nice car because, as I said, most people who want one have owned or still own it ;0

[P-Jay]

They really were the coolest thing to spot on the road when we were kids - sadly my overriding memory of them now is grainy CCTV footage of them being reversed into a Dixons shop window or the like.