Sierra RS500 Cosworth: 'Greatest-ever racing car' reborn after worldwide treasure hunt

Sharing a career-long bond with the RS500, Strachan first got the idea after hearing rumours on the restoration grapevine.

“From an acquaintance of an acquaintance of an acquaintance, we found the initial shell out in Italy,” he says.

Galvanised by the discovery of this untouched original ’80s Sierra 909 bodyshell, the next issue was recalling how to put the rest all together.

“A lot of it’s from memory to be honest – there’s drawings and bits and pieces, original components around,” Strachan explains.

“It was a time in motor sport when 100% records were taken but never kept, they never seemed to be important.

“Andy and I were talking about this the other day, we just considered these cars as tools to do a job. Once that job had been done for that season, if a new car was built then old one went over to a corner of the workshop and eventually got sold to somebody. You’d come into work in the morning and it would be gone.”

Strachan is at pains though to emphasise the authenticity of what his team is producing.

“It’s just nice to keep the spirit all alive really,” he says. “I was lucky enough to be involved with the cars in their heyday, which was a real eye-opener.

“All the different cars of that era had something about them – they were just so spectacular.

“Fire-popping, whizz-banging, hurtling along at a horrendous amount of speed-type period racing. They were great at going in straight lines, maybe not so much going round corners!

“They took a driver to drive as well, there’s no electronics on these things. They took some holding on to, just to keep them on the tarmac.

“I ventured off and tried F3000, but decided that was far too pretentious. Building a race car out of something that’s not supposed to be a race car is a cool concept.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxFjyMUWLF8&ab_channel=RyanCallan

60-time race winner Rouse is also in no doubt of the car’s historical importance and provenance.

“It was a great race car, but the important thing about it was it was affordable as well, that was key to its success,” he says.

“In one of the grands prix in the late ’80s, there were 18 RS500s on the grid. That’s a testament to something that’s a bit of an icon.

“The best racing saloon ever produced, I would say.”

Prices for the continuation Andy Rouse Engineering Ford Sierra RS500 Group A Touring Car start at £185,000. Enquiries can be made at [email protected].