► Three examples to be built by CNC Motorsport AWS
► Sanctioned by four-time BTCC champ Andy Rouse
► Prices start from £185,000
The Cotswolds-based, touring car preparation specialist CNC Motorsport AWS says it will build three continuation models of the Ford Sierra RS500 Group A car that earned 40 wins in the British Touring Car Championship after its arrival in 1987.
The new models will be built to 1990 specification, as outlined by Andy Rouse Engineering; the company established by the four-time BTCC champion who worked with Ford to develop the original car.
Each version will use a freshly built, 575bhp Cosworth YB engine with input from the original builder Vic Drake, with other features ranging from a Getrag five-speed gearbox to a nine-inch viscous differential.
Only 500 examples of the Sierra RS500 were built, with the homologated version getting a larger turbocharger and intercooler, a second fuel rail, different injectors, a rear spoiler and front splitter, plus a new cooling system. Brake cooling was improved with the removal of the fog lamps.
'Demand for competitive Group A machines is rising, enabling access to some of the best motorsport events around the globe for correct cars,' explained Alan Strachan, the founder of CNC Motorsport AWS. 'RS500s are great fun to drive, relatively easy to maintain and considerably more affordable to run than Super Touring cars. RS500s are also a great draw for the fans that fondly remember these fire-breathing monsters. The cars will be all signed off by Andy [Rouse], just as we did in period, with the provenance that can only come from the man who engineered and drove the cars to such success.'
All three continuation cars will carry an ARE build plate, with HTP papers, fuel cell and roll cage certificates making them eligible for events like the Silverstone Classic and Historic Touring Car Championship.
'The RS500 was lots of fun and of all the cars I raced, the Kaliber RS500 is the one I wish I still had today,' said Andy Rouse. 'When Alan told me he had acquired a brand new bodyshell, we came up with the idea to build correct continuation cars just as we did in our Binley workshop. Having seen Alan develop his own engineering business, he was the only person I trusted to build cars that would carry the ARE build plate.'
The bodyshell of the first continuation chassis is a completely unused '909' Motorsport shell that's been carefully restored to its original condition. The build is set for completion early next year.
Prices start from £185,000, with options for spares packages and liveries to replace the stock white scheme.