RE: Ford Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth | The Brave Pill
Discussion
I could possibly cross reference this with another thread in general gassing?
It's 1987 and my friend is a junior on a bond desk at a major bank in the city. Talking to one of the traders before the US market opens and they mention they have a 3 door RS Cosworth as their company car.
My friends eyes light up as being car mad and in his early 20's the Cosworth at this point is somewhere near the top of the dream car list.
The chap with the Cosworth, says he is going away for the weekend, would he look after the car for him, it's fine as the company insurance will cover any driver.
At dead on 5pm, the lad leaves the underground car park with a Cosworth for the weekend. In '87 a Cosworth was still a fairly rare sight and not normally driven by 20 something lads.
My friend, somehow returned the car in one piece with just inder 1000 miles covered and now with slicks on the rear. In a pre speed camera era, allegedly it was maxed out and apparently all his mates got to drive it.
I recall all were impressed with the Cosworth. it was the fastest thing we had driven at the time.
A few years ago when they were still relatively cheap, my friend seriously considered buying another. After a brief, sedate (by comparison) test drive, it was decided that some experiences are best kept as memories.
It's 1987 and my friend is a junior on a bond desk at a major bank in the city. Talking to one of the traders before the US market opens and they mention they have a 3 door RS Cosworth as their company car.
My friends eyes light up as being car mad and in his early 20's the Cosworth at this point is somewhere near the top of the dream car list.
The chap with the Cosworth, says he is going away for the weekend, would he look after the car for him, it's fine as the company insurance will cover any driver.
At dead on 5pm, the lad leaves the underground car park with a Cosworth for the weekend. In '87 a Cosworth was still a fairly rare sight and not normally driven by 20 something lads.
My friend, somehow returned the car in one piece with just inder 1000 miles covered and now with slicks on the rear. In a pre speed camera era, allegedly it was maxed out and apparently all his mates got to drive it.
I recall all were impressed with the Cosworth. it was the fastest thing we had driven at the time.
A few years ago when they were still relatively cheap, my friend seriously considered buying another. After a brief, sedate (by comparison) test drive, it was decided that some experiences are best kept as memories.
Edited by clubsport on Sunday 24th November 15:43
more luck than judgment I bet!At a similar age someone threw me the keys to a very high mileage BMW 325 E30 (the owner had racked up something silly like 200K and just traded it in)- So this was a test drive just to see what a high mileage german car felt like.
I came up the hill of the industrial estate with the back end swinging from left to right and whole lot of smoke following me.
First time in a rear wheel drive car
Sorry going totally off thread here..
.. but it was at the same time (late 90's) a H plate 4x4 4 door cosworth was £8995 from a dealer. Just couldnt get the insurance under £1000 + needed various security devices fitted too (which was a fair bit back then).
Who wrote the article?
Also, was Flint Grey available on the 4x4? I thought that was only a 2WD colour.
PistonHeads said:
The under-bonnet view also reveals the familiar presence of the blue aftermarket hoses it seemed every RS that reached the pages of Fast Ford or Max Power magazines used to wear, as well as a substantial strut brace.
Could that not be because they are improvements over standard? It does make me sad that there is often an underlying sense of snobbery against modified cars in articles on this website. Yes, buyers should be cautious when looking at modified examples of any car, but I'm not sure little shots at modified cars are necessary every time the topic comes up. Part of the legend surrounding these cars is just how fast they are when tuned after all.PistonHeads said:
More importantly, it looks pretty much stock, which is more than you can say for many of its siblings and the various visual horrors that were frequently wrought upon them when they were cheap"
Er, these have always been kept virtually standard? I can only remember a tiny handful that received major body modifications over the years. A set of clear indicators and a front splitter is about the most anyone ever did.Also, was Flint Grey available on the 4x4? I thought that was only a 2WD colour.
s m said:
The lhd K reg one is Smokestone Blue rather than imperial blue - that’s the one in the Heritage collection at least
The one Ford own is Pacifica Blue rather than Smokestone. Think it's the only one that was ever made in that colour.RB5_245 said:
£14K for that is more frontal lobotomy than brave pill, it's an objectively awful car, rose tinted specs seem to do a lot for a car's value!
That's how the classic car market works. A Ferrari from the 1950s is objectively awful by modern standards, but that doesn't mean people don't covet them. These were actually well-regarded when new, so hardly an "objectively awful car" anyway, though it is obviously very much of its time.Steamer said:
My thoughts exactly - That could have been really interesting! The owner obviously had loads of knowledge (owned 7 in various states of repair!) .
Looked like he has knowledge about stealing. Perhaps someone will use a slim jim on him. The rear beam bushes look shagged too.Jon_S_Rally said:
Who wrote the article?
Also, was Flint Grey available on the 4x4? I thought that was only a 2WD colour.
The one Ford own is Pacifica Blue rather than Smokestone. Think it's the only one that was ever made in that colour.
It was Mike Duff - hence the comment re the Merc Cosworth ( which I presume he still has )Also, was Flint Grey available on the 4x4? I thought that was only a 2WD colour.
The one Ford own is Pacifica Blue rather than Smokestone. Think it's the only one that was ever made in that colour.
They did do Flint Grey as a colour on the 4wd
Plus you are right of course, last one off the line was Pacifica blue - last rhd one was Mallard Green. That went for £35k about 4 years back
rallycross said:
aaron_2000 said:
Were they soft on the back end? They always seem to drag their arses under load
not so much soft more the design of the rear suspension/rear axle design, and then of course being run with 50% or more power than they left the factory with, my ones use to wear the inside of the rear tyres out in a just a few thousand miles. There were upgrades available to get round this but not cheap though (6 deg rear beam).Plus a lot of old ones have a knackered diff mount that exacerbates the movement as the weight transfers
The original spring rates were actually higher on the 4dr 2wd vs the 3dr 2wd but the damper rates were softer on bump but stiffer in rebound when in Mordor.
They had pretty good traction with standard power if the suspension is in good shape but that sort of suspension setup and design tends to lead to camber change under squat/weight transfer
rallycross said:
blade7 said:
f1nn said:
You could pick up and early 2wd Sapphire For around £3k in around 91/92, such was the effect of crippling insurance premiums.
A good 3dr was £12-14k in 1990. I paid between £400-600 insurance from 1990-2003.I remember having four to look at that day, I had the copy of the Autotrader on my lap, and non of the cars he had circled were more than £4K.
This was in the North East, were the odds on a Cosworth being in the same place in the morning that you left it the night before were remote. The insurance premiums reflected this.
Edited by f1nn on Sunday 24th November 18:34
I passed my test 8 years ago to the day and spent hours upon hours trying to insure an 'interesting' car.
At one point it was between an Accord Type R, a Cav 4x4 and a Sapphire Cos.
I believe the Accord was most expensive to insure, followed by the Sierra and then the Cav. Job situation changed and I couldn't afford to buy any of them despite them all being around the £3-£4k mark at the time.
I remember pestering my Dad about them, he always tried to steer me from the Sapphire. He's had some interesting cars in his time but the Cosworth has always eluded him. He came into quite a bit of money around the mid 00's and nearly bought his mates ex-Malcolm Wilson (aren't they all?) 3 door, but his mate wouldn't budge at £5k and Dad refused to pay 'that much' for a Sierra - he sold a MK2 RS2000 for £4k around a year later that has since been in magazines and exchanged hands for around 5x that several times - and around 3 years later he nearly bought a 2wd Sapphire.
The Sapphire had been well looked after, was running a sensible amount of power (around 280bhp iirc.) and was a clean car. His mate whom he wished to purchase it from asked if my Dad could hold off for a weekend, he was going to see family in midlands and didn't have anything else. Dad by this point had a fleet of around 20 cars so was fine with that, until about 18 hours later when he received a call saying that the car had blown up...
At one point it was between an Accord Type R, a Cav 4x4 and a Sapphire Cos.
I believe the Accord was most expensive to insure, followed by the Sierra and then the Cav. Job situation changed and I couldn't afford to buy any of them despite them all being around the £3-£4k mark at the time.
I remember pestering my Dad about them, he always tried to steer me from the Sapphire. He's had some interesting cars in his time but the Cosworth has always eluded him. He came into quite a bit of money around the mid 00's and nearly bought his mates ex-Malcolm Wilson (aren't they all?) 3 door, but his mate wouldn't budge at £5k and Dad refused to pay 'that much' for a Sierra - he sold a MK2 RS2000 for £4k around a year later that has since been in magazines and exchanged hands for around 5x that several times - and around 3 years later he nearly bought a 2wd Sapphire.
The Sapphire had been well looked after, was running a sensible amount of power (around 280bhp iirc.) and was a clean car. His mate whom he wished to purchase it from asked if my Dad could hold off for a weekend, he was going to see family in midlands and didn't have anything else. Dad by this point had a fleet of around 20 cars so was fine with that, until about 18 hours later when he received a call saying that the car had blown up...
cerb4.5lee said:
I always had a soft spot for Crystal Blue, but I'm not sure if that colour was available on the 4wd models.
It wasn't, you could only get moonstone on the 4 wheel drive ones. Crystal blue was a rare colour, no idea why as it was the best looking colour in my opinion. I went to look at a Crystal blue one but it was very tatty so I walked away.555 Paul said:
cerb4.5lee said:
I always had a soft spot for Crystal Blue, but I'm not sure if that colour was available on the 4wd models.
It wasn't, you could only get moonstone on the 4 wheel drive ones. Crystal blue was a rare colour, no idea why as it was the best looking colour in my opinion. I went to look at a Crystal blue one but it was very tatty so I walked away.I always loved that colour and I used to be chuffed whenever I saw one in that colour at Ford Fair/RS National Days.
Late 89 I went to work in Germany attached with the armed forces, I was entitled to the discounts and tax exemptions that the forces received when serving abroad.
At a forces motorshow I was offered a new 2wd Sapphire Cosworth for £10300 , the insurance would have been several thousands extra so that killed that dream .
At a forces motorshow I was offered a new 2wd Sapphire Cosworth for £10300 , the insurance would have been several thousands extra so that killed that dream .
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