Summary:
The Cosworth name will forever be linked with fast cars, especially Fords. This article remembers the Sierra, Sapphire and Escort RS Cosworths; some of the most ballistic vehicles ever created by the company.

Details or Sample:
The Cosworth name has been synonymous with racing engines since its creation back in 1958 and the company has powered various cars to victory in almost every motorsport category in the world, including Formula One. But it isn"t just with motorsport that the Cosworth brand has been inextricably linked to throughout its years; it is to the Ford Motor Company too.

Forgiving the occasional flirtations with companies such as Mercedes and Opel, it was with Ford that they created three of the most memorable and at the time, desirable cars to emerge wearing the blue oval. In 1982 Ford released the Sierra, an aerodynamic marvel that looked like nothing else on the road. Due to the Sierra"s challenging looks and availability as only a hatch or estate, it didn"t sell as well as Ford hoped and was joined just five years later by the Ford Sierra Sapphire saloon car.

Regardless of its aero achievements and Ford"s misjudgment of the market, the Sierra was nothing special. The sporty XR4i version, which used the same 2.8i Cologne V6 engine as the Ford Capri, was an improvement and a rare sight when it was launched, let alone today; but it didn"t catch on in the same way as the hot versions of the Fiesta and Escort. It took some geniuses from Ford"s Special Vehicle Engineering department and Cosworth to create something truly memorable out of the Sierra.

In 1986, after a half-decade"s worth of development, the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth was released onto an unsuspecting public. Ford was never one to use the RS name lightly, but if any car was deserving of the name, this was it. It used a 2.0 16v engine with a Garret T.03b turbocharger and produced 204bhp, did 0-60 in 6.2 seconds and almost cracked 150mph! All this from the factory and in 1986! Aside from the ballistic engine and an almost entirely different chassis and running gear, the Sierra also gained an RS body kit and a massive rear spoiler, universally known as a "whale tail".

The Cosworth made quite an impression, in fact, if four-wheeled speed machines were of interest, spotting one on the road was an event on a par with seeing any Italian exotica roll past. Years before any heavyweight Japanese machinery came on to the scene, entire companies were formed around extracting even more power from the Sierra"s four cylinder turbo engine. The sound of fat exhausts and dump-valves echoed around the streets of the UK in earnest for the first time and if you saw one of these beasts in your rear-view mirror; you moved over.

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Written by: Andy Boxall
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