Auto Trader

Last Sunday was an important day for two reasons – Lewis Hamilton felt the pain of not finishing on the F1 podium.

But for fans of fast Fords, it was the twentieth anniversary of the awesome Sierra Cosworth RS500.

It was – and still remains – Stuart Milne's favourite car of all time, and undisputed king of the road and touring car race track.

July 22 1987 saw an inconspicuous announcement from Ford.

That A4-sized press release trumpeted the launch of a car which would prove devastating on Europe's race tracks, and would become the most iconic racer of a generation.

To the untrained eye the new car it was just a stickered-up version of the infamous Sierra Cosworth, but Ford aficionados knew better.

At the tip of the New Cossie's 'whale tail' rear wing and you'll see a rubber 'Gurney lip' and a second, smaller wing bolted to the bootlid for extra downforce.

Up front, a tarmac-scrapping extension on the front bumper and extra meshed vents hiding a front-mounted intercooler to feed cold air to the larger turbo.

Spot these and the chances are you're looking at the Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500.

Beneath the skin, there were plenty of changes to the engine block, all of which were developed to allow the RS500 to produce more power for longer – without any embarrassing blow-ups.

This was essential, because the RS500 was built solely to dominate Europe's touring car championships. To make it eligible, Ford had to built – and sell – 500 cars; hence the name.

The first lucky buyers took delivery of their RS's on August 1 1987, after handing over almost £20,000 – a staggering £4,000 more than the standard Cosworth.

Of those – as Ford aficionados will tell you – 392 were Factory Black, 52 were Moonstone Blue (a kind of grey/blue), 52 were Diamond White, with the remaining four being white prototypes.

This matters, because if you're really, really lucky you might get your hands on a Moonstone or white model, which are worth considerably more than the black versions.

But to be honest, I'd settle for one in yellow with pink spots.

Like so many performance projects in the 1970s and 80s, the RS500 programme was a last minute development affair. Touring cars' governing body signed the papers to allow the Ford to compete in its first race just a day before the event.

It proved to be a hit on the track, annihilating the hitherto dominant BMW M3s thanks to the Cossie's 150-200bhp advantage.

The car became synonymous with Brit hero Andy Rouse, who remains one of the most successful tin-top drivers of all time. Other legendary names such as Steve Soper, Klaus Ludwig, Graham Goode and Robb Gravett piloted the Cossie to success at the highest levels.

Sadly, so dominant were the RS500s throughout the late 1980s, race series around the world, began to change their regulations and squeezing out the whale-tailed stunner.

Less than half the original run of RS500s remain in existence today, so you'll need to dig deep if you fancy one. They start around £12,000 for a reasonable model which may need a bit of tidying, rising to more than £25,000 for a mint condition machine.

That's £5,000 more than they cost new, but worth every penny.

L.A.T.W.O.T. Video of the Week

Stunning race footage of 1988's Touring Car giants Andy Rouse and Steve Soper in their 500bhp Cossies.

Auto Trader Links:

More Look at the Wheels on That columns