FORD SIERRA SAPPHIRE RS COSWORTH

"It's not for the inexperienced, but oh, how it rewards skilful, fluent, driving". That is how Ford promoted the new Sapphire RS Cosworth on its launch in 1988 – "Developed on the track, there's little to touch it on the road".

Ford's original high-performance Sierra was the XR4i, which debuted in 1983 to the delight of ambitious sales reps and anyone who liked to create a stir when arriving at the Harvester Inn. Two years later, the Geneva Motor Show paid host to the RS Cosworth, with production commencing in the summer of 1986. and the 30th of July 1987 saw the introduction of the very exclusive RS500.

And in January 1988, Ford unveiled the Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth, which used the four-door saloon bodyshell introduced in the previous year. Power was from a 204 bhp DHOC 1,993cc engine with a Garrett AiResearch T3 turbocharger combined with a close-ratio Borg-Warner five-speed gearbox. The result was 0-60 mph in 6.1 seconds and a top speed of 150 mph.

British sales commenced on the 8th of February. The launch advertisement claimed the Sapphire RS Cosworth had "Grown Out Of Racing", with power that was "not so much raw as refined". Unlike the RS500, it was a full production model, although the sales copy emphasised it was " a direct descend of the famous Winged Racer – The World Touring Car Champion". Ford further tempted prospective customers with "Compliant suspension, for sure-footed handling. And, of course, those wonderful anti-lock brakes".

The RS Cosworth's price was £19,000, with a choice of white, metallic blue and metallic grey paint finishes. A Ford spokesman told the press its image greatly differed from the RS500:

The average buyer will be earning more than £30,000 a year, will be in a managerial and professional position and – most important of all – will not be at the far end of a long chain of decision makers. There's a great spread of rivals for this car. The BMW 325i and Mercedes 190/200 are the obvious ones, but we think our potential buyers would also consider the Maserati BiTurbo and the Porsche 924/944.

When Autocar compared the RS Cosworth with the BMW M3 and the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16, they complained: "there can be no denying the ordinariness of the car in some areas. It still looks like a rep's car and has a cabin design unexceptional in the extreme". But:

Against this is a range of attributes that make the Sierra RS Cosworth the best car in the group. With the best performance, driving position, seats, brakes, ergonomics, steering and grip, plus sportily failsafe handling and the least road noise of the bunch. it could not be any other way. Plus it seats four adults in a way the others cannot and costs upwards of £4000 less. The best sports saloon in the business is British.

Meanwhile. a similarly impressed Motor Sport found that:

Fitting the Cosworth running gear into a Sapphire Ghia shell has transformed the character of the car: improved rigidity from the three-box shape, plus last year's other mainstream Sierra improvements such as larger windows and better sealing and insulation go together with refinements to the suspension to make a much more relaxing car which is virtually as responsive on the road.

In January 1990, Ford launched the replacement Sapphire RS Cosworth 4×4, which remained in production until December 1992. Today, any example of the Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth is guaranteed to turn heads. As Ford once boasted, "Drive it accordingly. Everything is on your side".