On the 25th May 2008, a small but significant event occurred at the SAN in Bern, Switzerland. A Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth was awarded a carte grise by the
inspectors. A small event as it was the handing over of a small piece of paper, but significant because of what it represented. This is the story of how Sierra RS 500
number 337 ended up being the first official and legal RS 500 with a carte grise and Swiss plaques, some 21 years after the car was sold...
My love affair with one of the most select Fords ever made came about through my fascination for all things automotive. Ever since I was a boy, cars have appealed
to me, much of this I expect, has come directly from the influence of my father who competed in motorsports for many years – for the most part as the “works” driver
for British sports car manufacturer TVR. My dad is the guy that drove some of the most awesome sports racing cars seen in the UK including the TVR ‘Evolution S’,
a highly effective track weapon with a 500bhp Terry Hoyle built Cosworth YB engine and the unforgettable TVR Speed Twelve with it’s 7.7 litre 800bhp V12...
But this article is about my RS 500 right…? Well, it all started in early Autumn of 1987 when as a boy of 10 years old, I switched on the television to watch BBC’s
Grandstand sports programme and saw highlights of the 1987 James Hardie 1000 from Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. I was presented with a
motorsports spectacle the likes of which I have never seen since. Dozens and dozens of touring cars charging around Mount Panorama, proper touring cars as
well – rear wheel drive and with more power than grip. There were Holden Commodores, BMW E30 M3s, Alfa 75s and Nissan Skylines driven by the likes of
Peter Brock, Jimmy Richards, Glenn Seton and Allan Moffat.
Then of course, I saw the RS 500s. Newly homologated just weeks before the race, the grid was littered with fabulous Fords from Europe. Swiss tuning wizard
Ruedi Eggenberger fielded three of his works-backed Texaco cars driven by Klaus Ludwig, Steve Soper and Klaus Niedzwiedz, there was the ANZ banking
car driven by the trio of triple British champ Andy Rouse, Allan Moffat and Thierry Tassin, then the Dick Johnson Racing RS 500s with their striking Shell Ultra Hi
livery and the amusingly titled Oxo Supercube Sierras.
Suffice to say the thrilling race stuck with me for a very long time. Indeed, DVDs of all Bathurst 1000 races from 1985 to 1992 sit on the shelves of my toy room here
in canton Vaud along with DVDs of the 1988, 1989 and 1990 British touring car series, Spa 24 hours, Silverstone Tourist Trophy races, Donington 500s etc, but the
1987 Great Race was the one that started the RS 500 obsession
.
Since then, other things took over my attention, namely life including school, university and my career until the summer of 2004 that is. At that time, I elected to take a
sabbatical, do all the stuff I really wanted to do and forget about work. I quit my job and moved from Cheltenham in the middle of England back up to Preston in the
North West where my family are based. I was at this time I learned that a friend of mine, Mark Johnson had bought himself a mint and original Mk3 Escort RS1600i.
Mark sent me pictures of his car, it looked resplendent but to be honest, I just didn’t get it. What was the point…? Only when we met up one sunny weekend in South
Yorkshire and Mark came along in his car did I finally understand what owning an old Ford is about. Not only did the car look stunning, but the pride and enthusiasm
that Mark had really shone through and I found myself getting very excited and nostalgic about an old Escort, something I never thought possible until then…!
On my way home, I chased Mark in his Escort up the A1 in my Civic Type-R, the last image in my head from the day’s events being a massive grin on his face as I
pulled onto the M62 motorway to head West back to Preston. It’s then that I got thinking, I wonder if there’s any RS 500s left…? It was this thought that triggered the
depletion of significant funds but brought more smiles than I can possibly count.
The hunt was on. I scoured the Internet and joined the RS Owners Club. Searching around for the car I wanted wasn’t difficult, but it was time consuming. As already
mentioned, I wasn’t working so was fortunate to have time to devote to finding the right car. Through the RSOC I learned more and more about the cars, good points,
bad points, strong points and weak points. What to look for and what to avoid and how to look after one.
Eventually, after a lot of searching, I saw an advert on the forums for the car that sounded perfect. RS 500 build number 337 in black. 25,800 miles from new and a
multiple concours d’elegance winner. That last statement worried me a little. I wanted a car I could use. I’m not a person that could have an RS 500 in my garage
and just polish it up for people to look at. Oops, too late, I had called the cars owners and was on my way to see it…!
When I got to the house, Lee and Heidi were there with the car ready to display. With no exaggeration, it took my breath away. The car was absolutely immaculate
and looked almost as good as the day it came out of the showroom. Polished to perfection top and bottom, with an as-new interior, this was the first time I had seen
an RS 500 in the flesh for many years. Now, the golden rule is never buy the first one you see. Oops, too late, after a thorough looking over, poring over documentation
and history plus a test drive, I bought it on the spot…
Just a couple of weeks later after a service and fresh MOT (British Government safety test), I sat in the car, waving to tearful (ex) owners and promising to look after her.
I set off back to Preston from Doncaster, some 1.5hrs drive. I can’t describe the experience. Only those that have done this sort of thing can understand the elation.
I had to remind myself that here I was, yes, me, driving on the highway in my very own RS 500. Magical...!
The car has a full history file and has been traced for much of its life by the RSOC. There’s a black hole from a few years back when the car was in a museum in mainland
Europe. I understand it was never displayed, but sat in storage. It subsequently came back into the UK and was treated to a full set of new seals, gaskets and fluids
as part of a major overhaul to make the car roadworthy and reliable.
The benefit of having a concours condition car is that it’s almost too good to use. This is ideal for me because it means the limited time I spend in the car always
feels special, which is exactly what I want it to feel. It means it only gets driven on nice days and because of that it’s always in immaculate condition and hopefully,
a credit to the marque. Such is the stature of the RS 500 and the Sierra Cosworth in general that almost every time I take the car out for a drive, someone will approach
me and comment on the car and to date, I have had nothing but positive remarks.
The bit that cements the legend of the car for me is when two of my young cousins saw the car and knew exactly what it was. These guys are not big car or
motorsports fans but they knew what a Sierra RS Cosworth is and what it meant. Okay, they didn’t know what the RS 500 bit was about but, and it’s a big but –
both these guys weren’t even born when the RS 500 was made…! The fact that the legend has passed from one generation to another simply highlights what an awesome
piece these cars are.
The car thus spent it’s first two years with me residing in the luxurious surroundings of the leafy Northern England countryside in an air-conditioned garage. It was pampered
with Zymöl cleaning products and lived under a custom fitted fleece cover.
But you bought the car to drive, right…? Definitely…! Since purchasing the car, I’ve driven almost 5,000 miles around the UK and Europe, entered into the 25th Anniversary
RS Owners Club National Day concours (and got a lovely crystal trophy), met a number of like-minded RS enthusiasts and had more smiles per mile than ever before.
When I do drive the car, it does get driven too.
Time moved on and in the summer of 2007 my girlfriend Debbie and I emigrated to the coast of Lac Leman in Suisse Romande. Life was changing considerably.
We left Debbie’s car - a BMW Z4 2.2 roadster – in the UK and drove to Switzerland in my wonderful Civic Type-R. But what of my poor RS 500...? “Sarah the Sierra” was
stuck in her garage in the UK, but do not worry. Plans had been hatched to bring the car to Switzerland...
Since Debbie and I decided to move to Switzerland I had been in contact with numerous people who helped define the plot to get the car legally registered in our new country
of residence. In the end, it was almost an obvious choice. Those works Texaco RS 500s from the 1987 Bathurst 1000 were run by Eggenberger Motorsport – who better to
look after my car than the man who arguably invented the RS 500...? I spoke with Rene, Lothar and Ruedi at Egmo and they were thrilled that they would get to work on a
genuine RS 500. Could they get the car imported with a legal carte grise...? I heard horror stories of removing the rear wing and adding a catalyser, all of which made me think
I would leave the car in the UK.
Egmo were convinced it was possible without this, so in November 2007, I drove back 1,200km to my home in the UK in the CTR and returned the next day in the RS 500...!
The car had recently had a live mapping from the ECU gurus at Motorsport Developments in Blackpool. The car was driving absolutely superbly. I elected to make progress
through France and was cruising at 1.6 kiloleptons with the turbocharger just ready to boost. A tiny squeeze of the throttle and the big T04 spun up propelling the car forward on a
huge wave of torque. Lifting off is just as spectacular. The old-tech Weber Marelli ECU allowing big over-fuelling on lift-off which results in a sheet of flame licking up the back
of the car. You can imagine this looked spectacular in the dark and stopped a guy from tailgating me near Riems, presumably as he thought I was going to set fire to the front
of his van...!!!
The sheer speed at which the car accelerates beyond 150km/h is mind boggling. Until you drive one, nothing quite prepares you for just how much turbo lag there is, nor
how the power is delivered on boost. Highly tuned smaller turbo cars just don’t deliver the power in the same way as the RS 500’s T04 equipped YBD. There’s in fact
a video on YouTube of my car accelerating in 5th gear from 145km/h to 230km/h in just 10 seconds. It was still accelerating like a rocket when I lifted off. Not bad for a 21
year old Ford hatchback...!
After a weekend where I had driven no less than 2,400km in 20 hours, I was almost back in Suisse Romande with my car when the toughest part of the journey hit. Travelling up
into the Jura Mountains, it got colder and colder. The road became damp. The ice warner illuminated in green and then a few kilometres later, it turned red warning me
that the temperatures had dropped and ice was practically a certainty.
Here I was, so close to home after an easy journey faced with difficulty. It was the middle of the night and I was driving a 340bhp 1200kg car driving the rear wheels with
skinny Goodyear Eagles, an appetite for delivering utterly savage power on boost and no traction control...! On several occasions, the car came on boost and the rear tyres
lit up with the car dancing and drifting on the ice. Possibly the most nerve-wracking drive I have ever made. But, we made it and the car and I arrived safely in Switzerland...!
Eggenberger were as good as their word and after a lot of hard work and a lot of expense, the car was officially awarded it’s carte grise and Vaudoise plaques the day
before the Ford show at Hoch Ybrig.
The car is (as far as I and other have been able to ascertain), the only genuine Sierra RS 500 Cosworth ever registered for road use in Switzerland. If you know different,
I would love to see the other cars...!
So there you have it. This is how Sierra RS 500 Cosworth number 337 is now resident in Suisse Romande.
Finally it would be remiss of me not to thank certain individuals for their support and expertise in helping me get the car into Switzerland. Ford fan and fellow Tickford special
owner (he has an FRP) Nick Schumann was a massive help and goldmine of information in all aspects of the import and legalisation. Laurent Zehnder gave very good advice
when I first got the car to CH. Darren Barber, a fellow RS 500 owner in the UK gave a lot of time and support in providing official Ford and FIA homologation papers for the car,
and of course Rene Herren, Lothar Rothenheber and the legend himself, Mr Ruedi Eggenberger at Eggenberger Motorsport for putting the car on the road.