Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 | Spotted

40 years since the Cossie's introduction, time to celebrate one of the very best remaining

Is it fair to say that the fast Fords of the early '80s didn’t show off the brand at its best? XR2s and XR3s were popular, no doubt, though somewhat shown up by more sophisticated European opposition. Turbocharging certainly worked wonders for performance, but only served to highlight the innate limitations further.

Certainly the heyday of RS Escorts and Lotus Cortinas seemed a long way in the past, and the soap-shaped Sierra seemed an unlikely performance machine. But Ford had other ideas, and in 1986 - yep, 40 years ago this year - the first Cosworth-badged Ford road car was born. The Sierra (and arguably fast Fords as a whole) would never quite be the same again, thanks to the YB-engined Cossie.

While built ostensibly for Group A homologation purposes, the Sierra became a legend in its own lifetime thanks to its incredible appearance and performance. But this one, as you’ll only be too aware, is no ordinary Cosworth. It’s an RS500, and that’s a different prospect entirely. Just a few months from its introduction, Ford decided that its latest touring car simply wasn’t successful enough, and roped in Tickford once more (having worked together on the turbocharged Capri package) to put some fire into the Sierra’s belly.

The RS500 was the iconic result. While not that much more powerful as a road car, features homologated for the ‘500, like a secondary injection system, turned the racers into absolute monsters. Pre-Skyline GT-R, the Sierra RS500 won just about everything, everywhere: Motorsport Magazine said that it won 84.6 per cent of the race it ever entered, from Germany to New Zealand and Japan to Britain. No matter the opposition, the power of RS500 made it utterly dominant. Combine that with some legendary drivers and memorable liveries and the RS500 went down as one of the touring car heroes.

That the road cars had to look similar to the motorsport machines only furthered the Sierra’s reputation. From a dreary standard car had emerged the road racer everyone wanted to drive (legally or otherwise), and so it was little surprise when the Escort RS Cosworth followed a similar template to the Sierra: big turbo, even bigger whaletail, some great wheels and off you go.

While nobody could afford to insure an RS500 once upon a time, we’ve come a long way since then. As values of the rear-wheel drive fast Ford icons began to pick up 15 years or so ago, the Cossie was right in the mix: the last RS500 made was for sale at £65k in 2012. And 400 comments had plenty to say about that.

This one isn’t that car, though it’s a pretty remarkable RS500 nonetheless. Sold new in 1987, it’s been with the owner who bought it then for its entire life, covering just 15,000 miles in the process. They were all in New Zealand, interestingly, but remember that the RS500 was a UK-only special edition - this will be identical to all the others.

Apart from perhaps being even more pristine. From dealer sticker to engine bay, it’s a sensational example of the fast Ford to rule them all. Short of a GT40, it’s hard to imagine anything with a Blue Oval garnering more affection from fans. Which is handy, because nothing bar a GT40 costs quite so much: this one is for sale at £199,995, and there isn’t an RS500 on PH for less than £125k. So the market is certainly in no doubt about their specialness. Let’s hope this one gets to enjoy life at home for a little while now.

SPECIFICATION | FORD SIERRA RS500 COSWORTH

Engine: 1,994cc, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: 5-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 227@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 204@4,500rpm
MPG: 25
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1987
Recorded mileage: 15,340
Price new: £16,370.40 (this one)
Yours for: £199,995

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Bluehorseshoe

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