AN ‘INCREDIBLY rare’ Ford Sierra Cosworth with one very careful owner is up for sale for an eye-watering fee.
The classic ‘80s motor has done just 9,180 miles and was one of only 52 RS500s made in the rarest Moonstone Blue colour.
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It was first registered in 1987 after the owner bought it for £20,249.55 – plus another £332.48 for an alarm.
It has a top speed of 153mph but the retired engineer, from Shrewsbury, hardly ever took it out on the roads and has now decided to sell it due to ailing health.
It is on sale at KGF Classic Cars, in Peterborough for an eye-popping £350,000, and will be the second most expensive Cosworth ever sold – the world record was set last year at auction when one went for £596,250.
KGF managing director Karl Fasulo said: “Unlike most Cosworths this one remains completely factory standard.
“It is the same today as the day when it left the factory.
“It has only ever had one owner, is completely original and has a full documented history.
“It is an incredibly rare model. Many have been modified and have passed through numerous owners and have often been improved to make them appear pristine and new.
“But very few have survived the test of time with none of that refurbishment.
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“The owner purchased the vehicle as new and retained all of the original documentation.
“He was a true enthusiast and custodian of the vehicle.
“The car was never shown as he was quite a private individual and didn’t really want the world to know he had it.
“It really is a special car.”
The owner looked after the car so well that he even moved it into temperature–controlled storage when his house was being renovated a few years ago to make sure it didn’t get dirty or damaged.
The Sierra Cosworth was developed for Touring Car racing and improvements were later added for a new model, the RS500.
Exactly 500 were sold in 1987 with all of them originally intended to be black, although 56 were eventually painted Diamond White and 52 Moonstone Blue
The legendary motor eventually became one of the most successful saloon racing cars of all time.
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Last year, a Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 sold at auction for nearly £600,000 at auction – smashing all estimates and setting a new world record in the process.
Back in 1987 an original model would have set you back around £20,000, but another RS500 recently went for £135,700 in 2022 – and prices have been rising steadily since.
THE COSWORTH – ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
In the mid 1980s, asked to produce a ‘fast’ car, Ford made 5,500 RS Cosworths, based on the bodyshell of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Sierras sold round Britain every year.
Once Ford had built the requisite 5,000 Cossies, the racing world’s Group A rules allowed an upgraded ‘evolution’ model, for an extra 500 cars, to be launched – the RS500.
It was introduced as a means of homologating the Sierra for the ‘Group A’ Touring Car Championship.
Two hundred of the RS500s were set aside for racing, the remaining 300 turbo-charged cars were sold for use on Britain’s roads.
Some were written off in crashes, but it’s estimated that of the original 500, over 400 still survive, many in the hands of canny collectors as far away as Australia.
The original Sierra RS Cosworth was the first Ford to wear the Cosworth badge and was presented to the public at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1985.
Of the 5,500 built, the 500 ‘specials’ were sent to Aston Martin Tickford for conversion to become the Sierra RS500 Cosworth.
It was designed by Ford’s Special Vehicle Engineering (SVE) and had a specially-built 2.0-litre turbo-charged Cosworth engine producing 224bhp, which could be upped to 400bhp when modified for competition.
They featured numerous aerodynamic enhancements, cutting edge at the time, that have become a thing of legend among collectors.
That includes the 30mm lip spoiler applied to the tailgate to increase downforce, sweeping front splitter, and larger cooling ducts for both the brakes and the engine intercooler.
The cars were exclusively available through 90 nominated RS specialist dealers and went on sale in Britain on August 1, 1987 at a price of £19,950.
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