REVIEW
Sierra Cossie makes a mint at NEC auction
The Classic Motor Show is the indispensable end-of-year outing for every UK enthusiast. If you’ve never been, why not!? It’s rightly considered the close-of-season highlight, with the NEC’s huge halls crammed with around 3000 classic cars. A feast for the senses and a great way for roughly 300 car clubs and nearly 70,000 members of the public to get together.
One of the highlights this year – and every year – for many (myself included) was Silverstone Auctions’ paddock. I wandered around, catalogue in hand, window shopping and helplessly trying to do man maths – often coming up short. One machine that made me plead for that lottery win, was this 1986 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth.
A car that’s graced more teenage boys’ bedroom walls than Samantha Fox and Kelly Brook combined, the Cossie is the default fast Ford fancier’s fetish. With good reason, too – it’s one of the most successful touring cars in history, a real David among motorsport Goliaths. In an era when you could still pop to your local dealership to bag a slice of motor sport magic, the Cossie was king.
Finished in probably the most desirable colour (Moonstone Blue) with a Recaro-equipped cabin that looked showroom fresh, its odometer trip of just 8795 was merely the icing on this car’s cake. How its two former keepers managed to resist adding more adrenaline-filled miles to its odo, we’re not sure – Iwouldn’t be able to. The Cossie has to be driven to be truly appreciated; its bountifully-boosted four-cylinder’s character sums up the era of its construction – all or nothing. A rampant rush of momentum summarises a Cossie at full chat – it never gets boring and quite quickly becomes addictive.
While many motor sport specials from this era favour a fin-ebalanced approach, the Sierra is a bit of a brute – and all the better for it.
Oh, I hear you ask – how far short was I from owning this one? Only by about £100k – it turned out to be a record-breaker, selling for a whopping £132,750. I’m scratching a card as we speak.
