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Jeremy Clarkson once described it as ‘the ultimate hot hatch’ and ‘one of my all-time favourite cars’. If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for us.

He was talking about the Escort RS Cosworth – more specifically his Cosworth, which has appeared for sale on Auto Trader. It also happens to be Stuart Milne's choice for the number one automotive hooligan.

In the early nineties I had my interest in fast Fords awoken viciously and loudly by a schoolmate's brother who owned the fastest car I'd been in at the time.

It was a Sierra XR4i which he had fiddled about with under the bonnet for even more sportscar-bothering ability.

And – as was customary at the time – it had a plastic man stuck to the back window which would drop its trousers and moon other road users.

It, and the car's performance upset a lot of people, including the police who would often pull him over for a variety of misdemeanours.

But the spoilers and performance weren't enough for me when I discovered the Sierra Cosworth – still my favourite car of all time.

And then came the Escort Cosworth, which had all the drama of the Sierra, less of the size and more of the attitude.

Believe it or not, the Escort Cosworth shared its floorpan with the larger Sierra; and despite looking like a standard 'Scort with a bodykit, the rear quarters were stretched to fit the Sierra's underpinnings.

Under the bonnet sat the same engine as fitted to the Cossie powered Sierra Sapphire, which produced 227bhp. Not a lot by today's standards, but the Cossie weighed nearly 600kg less than the similarly-powered Focus RS.

That meant some hair-raising performance – 0-60mph in 5.9 seconds and a v-max of 140mph.

The power was harnessed through a manual box and transferred to the tarmac through all four wheels.

No advanced active four wheel drive here – just as nature intended.

Of course, the most striking thing about the Cossie was its looks. Despite being offered in a range of unassuming paint colours – like Jezza's dark 'Mallard' green car – it had all the subtly of ram raiding a police station.

It packed a massive rear wing (apart from cars sold in Switzerland, where transport bosses ruled the spoiler illegal), the likes of which hadn't been seen since the original Sierra Cosworth, pumped-up wheel arches, bonnet vents and beefy front and rear bumpers.

The Cossie burst on to the world's rally stages in 1993, and continued where the staggering RS200 had left off, winning five world championship rounds in its first season and bagging the runners-up spot on four occasions.

French ace Francois Delecour won the prestigious Monte Carlo rally in 1994, while Finnish legend Tommi Makinen smashed the opposition in the fearsome 1,000 Lakes rally on his home turf.

Like previous models, it was a superb rally competitor and helped the Escort to become the world's most successful, taking 46 world class and world championship rallys.

Sadly, it was the last hot Escort. It bowed out in 1996, at the same time as the lukewarm RS2000 and it wasn't until 2001 its successor – the Focus RS – broke cover.

And as good as it was, the Focus just didn't capture my heart or imagination like the whale tailed Cossie did.

So what'll one set you back these days, 15 years after it went on sale? Clarkson's old Cossie is advertised for a shade under £17,000 – just £6,000 less than it cost new.

But other cars, without the celebrity connections can be had for around £10k, rising to around £20k for the very best low mileage examples.

 

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

Textbook 1990s promo video from Ford – race suits, Brian May soundtrack and a bloke giving the Cossie a big thumbs-up at the end.

 

Auto Trader links

Top Gear star Jeremy Clarkson's Ford for sale
Top Gear stars' cars
The incredible Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500
Look at the Wheels on That: Escort RS Turbo
Look at the Wheels on That: Ford Sierra RS Cosworth
Look at the Wheels on That: Ford RS200
Look at the Wheels on That: Escort Mexico

Celebrity owned cars on Auto Trader