1987 Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth

Number 470 of 500 with 66,222 verifiable miles In the rarest RS500 Moonstone Blue colour Genuine and unmolested condition An opportunity to own a legendary RS500 at a more accessible price Original books and invoices The original Ford 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. It was introduced as a means of homologating the Sierra for 'Group A' Touring Car racing, with a requirement that 5,000 cars were built and sold. Launched for sale in July 1986, and based on the three-door Sierra body-shell, it was designed by Ford's Special Vehicle Engineering (SVE) and was powered by a Cosworth-designed 2.0-litre turbo engine of now legendary repute. At this time, the Sierra Cosworth was a new kind of performance car - a 'blue-collar hero' able to humble true sports cars! In total 5,545 cars were produced - of which 500 were sent to Aston Martin Tickford for conversion to the Sierra 'RS500 Cosworth'. If the RS Cosworth was a homologation car, the RS500 was an evolution special. Once Ford had built the requisite 5,000 RS Cosworths, Group A rules allowed an upgraded 'evolution' model to be launched. This could carry changes focused on improving its racing potential, provided Ford sold 10% of the original number as road cars, hence the 500. The RS500 was announced in July 1987 and had a mechanically uprated Cosworth engine (more similar to the one to be used in competition), with power boosted to 224bhp, upgraded brakes, modified bodywork and the cachÚ of being hand-assembled - the RS500 really is the ultimate 1980's Fast Ford! Indeed, during the model's 30th anniversary year in 2017, the RS500 was named the 'Ultimate Cosworth' by one of the UK's biggest one-make car shows. The car presented here is a 1987 Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth, build number 470 (out of 500). It is one of the rarest RS500s produced being in Moonstone Blue (392 cars were Black, 56 were Diamond White and 52 were Moonstone Blue). This striking car is recorded as having had just 3 former keepers and has a fully traceable mileage history. There are a handful of RS500s that have, quite remarkably, only accrued less than 20,000 miles in the last 31 years - with these examples justifiably achieving often in excess of ú100,000 - whilst this car has been driven more often, having now covered 67,222 miles, this still only equates to just over 2,000 miles per year! It drives and presents like a car with less than half this mileage. The car was supplied new through 'OMC Ford' in Macclesfield on the 15th August 1987 and was retained/owned by the dealership initially. It was serviced by their workshops up until July 1988 at 5,407 miles. Following this time, it is thought the car was bought by an enthusiast who owned it up until approximately 2010, and in the latter time only used it sparingly. During his ownership, it benefited from regular servicing, with corresponding service stamps in the book, up until 40,200 miles at which point it was stored well and serviced by the owner himself. In 2010, well-known RS specialists 'Graham Goode Racing' was offering the car for sale on a forum after an RS Owners Club National Day. It was advertised for sale properly in October 2011, being offered for sale by the second owner (an acquaintance of the first private long-term owner), with the advert quoting this first owner as saying ''at no point in the car's history has it been chipped, lowered, had the boost wound-up or indeed undergone alteration of any description. Aside from a recently rebuilt differential and a rather expensive glass-out repaint, the car has had no work carried out other than that required for routine servicing.'' The car was subsequently sold in February 2012 and has since formed part of a small private collection. The mileage in February 2013 was recorded as being 67,039. The car was subsequently offered for sale in 2015 by KGF Cars of Peterborough, who have a reputation for selling very good quality modern-classic cars, with the mileage then being 67,054. They ensured the car was in fine health, treating it to a comprehensive service (including cam-belt) and the fitting of some original components with RS specialist Harvey Gibbs of 'Supreme Car Services' of Peterborough, costing over ú3,000. KGF also stated in their advert that an independent report was commissioned by the previous owner of the car by valuation experts Julian Shoolheifer Ltd. which was carried out on 28th October 2014. The car comes with all its original handbooks (including service booklet and the all-important RS500 Cosworth supplement), previous MoT Certificates and invoices for work carried out. This is a very good example of the legendary RS500 which is featured with images on the www.rs500cosworth.com website and is highly rated by marque specialist Paul Linfoot. This is a real opportunity to become a member of an exclusive club of RS500 owners at what is a very attractive guide price.