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    • Back in the day, Ex-Owners Group

        Ford And Cosworth Together Have Been Synonymous With Success Since 1959, When The 105E Ford Anglia Engine Was Tuned For The Formula Junior Racing. Just Eight Years After This Point, The Ford Cosworth DFV Made Its World Debut In The Dutch Grand Prix, Where The Three Litre V8 Powered Jim Clark And His Lotus 49 To Victory. This Infamous Engine Design Then Went On To Win No Less Than 155 World Championship Races, Thus Making The Partnership Between Both Ford And Cosworth Rather Special For The History Books. In The March Of 1987, Aston Martin Tickford Was Signed For The Job Of Converting Just 500 Cars And In July 1987 The Car Was Announced To The World And Was Homologated In The August Of 1987. Exactly 500 Of These Improved Powered Cars Had Been Offered, With All Units Offered Purely As Right Hand Drive Versions Destined For The UK.
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    • The Life of RS500 Number 148

      “There’s nothing you can do about it, I’m just letting you know, I’m selling (the car you love, which I’ve just put back on the road) the Cosworth to buy an RS500”

      I’m sure there’s many girlfriends and wives who could sit and find solidarity to those immortal words or at least ones very similar to it!

      It was around 2002 and the opportunity to get my hands on a RS500 presented itself.

      I was already the proud owner of a Sapphire Cosworth but the poster was always the 500.

      What was even better about this one, it was cheap…the reason… it was crash damaged BUT (I can hear the rehearsed lines to my girlfriend) I know this car, I know the owner, I’ve seen his attention to detail, how he builds engines, this will go back on the road better than it was before the crash, it’ll be an investment.

      I believed most of that.

      I just wanted the poster.

      To be my daily driver.

      So I shook his hand, sold my car and bought a slightly damaged, black Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500, with my friend and now previous owner tasked with getting her back on the road…but life had some plans it needed to see through first!

      There’s been twists and turns along the way, hold ups, house moves, business failures, children, thefts and frustrations left, right and centre, always at the right time to prevent progress and challenge friendships, relationships and the homestead.

      The car has moved and sat and moved and sat and so on.

      I’ve had numerous knocks on the door from people wanting to take it off my hands, despite the decision to buy this car feeling like, or at least was, one of my only life regrets, it just never really felt like an option for me.

      I’m not mechanically minded, i’ve scoured the internet for parts and paid the extortionate Classic Ford tax, my ability to take it further has always been restricted plus i’ve given myself other reasons or excuses too, no garage, no shed, no time bla bla bla.

      There are many Ford enthusiasts that love a car to be pure but since the crash damage, this was never going to be concourse and I had no interest in that, these cars were designed to be driven, blue collar style, and if things break in my eyes why not replace them with better components…it’s a no-brainer.

      I’d got pretty cold with these hopeful opportunistic cheeky monkeys!

      Having so many people knock at my door with the hope of grabbing themselves a bargain, I imagine thinking “surely this idiot doesn’t know what he’s got!?”

      Enter Ian/Sarthe Cars.

      Now not a complete stranger per se but a brother to one of my wife’s friends, the initial Chinese whispers I’d get would be along the lines of “…his brother works in making old cars better…” yes dear, that’s nice.

      No idea how much time passed but curiosity and his persistence got the better of me, ok, he can have my details.

      And a well presented proposal arrived via email…oh!? this might just be something different, let’s at least have a chat, and perhaps my life regret might just turn out to be a great decision after all…

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