This Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 just sold for nearly £600,000

A world record? You bet. The previous highest-priced Sierra Cosworth RS500 was £135,700, achieved last year. So the sale at the Race Retro Show at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire on Saturday 25^th February made mincemeat of that, to general astonishment throughout the auction world.

The hammer fell at £530,000 (£596,250 after fees), elevating the ultimate 1980s fast Ford and blue-collar hero to the ranks of blue-chip supercars and exotic limited-editions. Six hundred thou is what you might pay for a Ferrari Daytona, Aston Martin DB5 or Porsche Carrera RS 2.7.

The winning bidder at the Silverstone Auctions sale obviously had eyes only for the Blue Ovalled and bewinged black beauty. More than 5000 Sierra RS Cosworths were made, to homologate the car for Group A racing, while an additional 500 of the three-door bodyshell were despatched to Tickford for upgrading to RS500 spec. This evolution model was given a rebuild by hand and upgrading of the Cosworth 2.0-litre turbo motor to 227PS (169kW). The car in the sale is one of the 500.

Why the best of its type? Apart from its low mileage and the obvious care lavished upon it, the car is said to boast a “forensic attention to originality”. The car even comes with a stock of the now-rare original filters and a spare set of correctly date-stamped Dunlop D40s so it can retain its originality in the future.

The sale marks an extraordinary new high point for collectible Fords, with the auction house saying that “Fast Fords seemingly know no bounds in their desirability.”