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The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth – A British Hatchback That Dominated Touring Car Racing

The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth was developed to get Ford back to its winning ways in Europe, with long time engineering partners Cosworth doing much of the heavy lifting.

Despite a rocky start and its unusual looks, the Sierra RS Cosworth and its variants would go on to be a dominant force in touring car racing in Europe, Britain, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia, and a successful rally car to boot.

Fast Facts – The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, popularly known as the “Cossie” in the UK, was developed by Ford UK as a spiritual successor to the Mark I and Mark II Ford Escorts which had been so successful in both circuit and rally racing.
The car was developed on the Ford Sierra platform with a significantly modified Ford Pinto engine under the hood developed by Cosworth and capable of 350+ bhp in race trim.
Homologation rules for Group A racing required 5,000 cars be built and sold. The car was launched in 1985 and by 1986 there had been 5,545 made.
The Sierra RS Cosworth would the British Touring Car Championship, Australian Touring Car Championship, Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, Japanese Touring Car Championship, New Zealand Touring Car Championship, and many others – some of them multiple times.

The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth – Britain’s “Cossie”

When Stuart Turner was appointed head of Ford Motorsport in Europe in 1983 his first order of business was returning Ford to the front of the grid. The 1960s had been a time of dominance with the Ford GT40 winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans four years in a row from 1966 to 1969.

This is the turbocharged Ford Cosworth YAA engine, it’s based on the Ford Pinto four-cylinder unit, but it has double overhead cams, 16 valves, and 204 bhp in street trim or 350+ bhp in race trim.

The 1970s had been marked by the continuing successes of the Ford Escorts and the Ford Cosworth DFV Formula 1 engine, still the most successful F1 engine of all time with 10 Formula One Constructors’ Championship wins to its name.

Turner got to talking with Walter Hayes, a long-time Ford man who had been heavily involved in the GT40 and DFV projects and got him onside. With this critical ally by his side he approached engineering firm Cosworth who had already developed the turbocharged YAA engine based on the Ford Pinto four-cylinder unit, but now with double overhead cams, 16 valves, and vastly more performance potential.

This was the perfect engine for the plan Turner was developing, and in a stroke of luck the Ford Sierra was already being powered by the Pinto engine, therefore the new Cosworth version would have no trouble bolting into the engine bay.

A deal was struck for 15,000 engines, even though Ford only needed 5,000, the final specification for the street engine would be 204 hp – a significant figure for a 2.0 liter four-cylinder engine in the mid-1980s.

The interior of the car is largely the same as the original Sierra, with the addition of Recaro seats and small number of other upgrades.

A new bodykit was designed for the Sierra RS Cosworth and to help reduce lift at speed an unusual rear wing was developed by a young designer named Frank Stephenson. Later in his career he would go on to design cars like the new Mini, the McLaren P1, the Ferrari F430, the Maserati MC12, and many others.

The Race Track Successes

Ford’s performance engineers there everything they had into the car, creating a spiritual successor to the Mark I and Mark II Ford Escorts. The wins for the Sierra RS Cosworth would come in thick and fast, including the successes enjoyed by the special edition cars like the Sierra RS500 Cosworth and the Sierra RS Cosworth 4×4.

As a model family these cars would win the Bathurst 1000 twice, the Spa 24 Hours, the Wellington 500, the Guia Race of Macau, the RAC Tourist Trophy and a number of championships including the British Touring Car Championship, the Australian Touring Car Championship, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, the Japanese Touring Car Championship, the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, and others.

The famous rear wing on the car was designed by a young man named Frank Stephenson. He would go onto to design an incredible array of cars from the new Mini to the McLaren P1.

Ultimately the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and the other models in the series remained in production from 1986 until 1992 and there can be no doubt that they achieved the goal set for them by Stuart Turner back in 1983.

The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Shown Here

The car you see here is a 1986 model from the first year of production. Interestingly this car was originally ordered by a member of the British Nobility – the Duke of Bedford.

For reasons that aren’t listed the Duke would never take delivery of the car, it was instead used by Ford UK for for suspension and handling research purposes.

Eventually the car was bought by touring car driver Vince Woodman who used it strictly as a road car. It’s currently showing 97,748 miles on the odometer and it has a grey cloth-trimmed seats with patterned centre sections, electric windows, a set of 15-inch alloy wheels, as well as its original Ford-branded radio/cassette player.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Collecting Cars. It’s being auctioned live at the time of writing.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

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A Jaguar V12 Engine Block Coffee Table

This glass-topped coffee table was built using a cast aluminum alloy Jaguar V12 engine block as its base, and it measures in at 100 cm x 60 cm or 39″ x 24″.

The first Jaguar V12 engine was officially unveiled in a production car in 1971, however its development had actually begun 20 years earlier in 1951. These early designs were created by Jaguar engineer Claude Baily with a view to using the engine in a future 24 Hours of Le Mans race car.

The first V12 designs were planned to be up to 8.0 liters in capacity, they would essentially use two modified top ends from the Jaguar XK straight-six engine in a “V” configuration allowing a red line of up to 8,000 rpm thanks in part to its double overhead cams per bank.

There can be no doubt that this engine would have been formidable even by modern standards, back in the early 1950s it would likely have been unstoppable.

Above Video: In this short film, Jaguar engineers Harry Mundy and Walter Hassan introduce their new V12 and discuss its development process and its engineering merits.

Over the years the design was refined and modified, plans were underway to use it in the ill-fated, mid-engined Jaguar XJ13 Le Mans car but this project was cancelled. In the 1960s Jaguar engineers Harry Mundy and Walter Hassan designed a new version of the engine with a single overhead cam per bank, two valves per cylinder, a swept capacity of 5.3 liters and a more sensible red line of 5,300 rpm.

It would be this Hassan and Mundy V12 that would be fitted to the Jaguar E-Type Series III which was released in 1971. This engine would prove remarkably versatile, and with a series of upgrades it stayed in production with Jaguar until 1997 – a 26 year production life.

This Jaguar V12 block-based coffee table is due to be offered by Bonhams on the 14th of December in the Winter Automobilia Online Auction with a price guide of $1,190 – $1,590 USD.

If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

This is the Jaguar XJ13, it was intended to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sadly it would never race due to rule changes. Later in 1971 the prototype was brought out for a publicity shoot for the launch of the new Jaguar E-Type V12. The XJ13 suffered a tire puncture at speed, wrecking the car and nearly killing famed Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis.

Images courtesy of Bonhams + Jaguar Heritage

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For Sale: A Unique Aston Martin DB2/4 Carrera Panamericana Race Car

This Aston Martin DB2/4 has been modified to compete in vintage motorsport, specifically the famous 2,000 mile Carrera Panamericana, it also set a new DB2 lap record at the Lime Rock Park circuit in Connecticut.

In the early 1990s this car was rebuilt for racing by Automotive Restorations in Stratford, Connecticut. In 1992 it took part in the Carrera Panamericana rally where it placed 5th in a field of dozens of cars.

Fast Facts – The Aston Martin DB2/4

The updated styling of the Aston Martin DB2/4 was penned by draftsman John Turner, who was 17 at the time.
The DB2/4 was released in 1953 as a successor to the DB2 and sold until 1957 when it was replaced by the DB Mark III.
The DB2/4 is powered by the Lagonda DOHC straight-six engine which had originally been designed by W.O. Bentley. It has a displacement of 2.6 – 2.9 liters and produces up to 140 hp in its original form.
The car you see here is a highly modified DB2/4, it’s now fitted with a 3.0 liter Vantage-specification DBA engine from the Mark III DB2 producing 200 hp.

The Aston Martin + David Brown

When it was released in 1953 the Aston Martin DB2/4 was just the second production car to be offered by Aston under the still-new ownership of David Brown. Brown had been born into a wealthy industrialist family and had shown remarkably engineering acumen from a young age.

Aston Martin DB2:4 Carrera Panamerica Race Car 19

This car is now powered by a 200 bhp 3.0 liter Vantage-specification DBA engine with forged alloy pistons, Carillo connecting rods, and triple-Weber carburetors.

He learned to drive at just 11 years old and at 17 in 1921 he started work as an apprentice at David Brown & Sons, one of the family businesses. In his early 20s Brown designed his own car, including an advanced straight-eight DOHC engine. he kept the project top secret and used the company’s foundry to cast the block and machine the other components.

By 1933 he had so distinguished himself that he took over as Managing Director, a position from which he significantly expanded and grew the businesses. In 1946 Brown saw an advertisement in The Times offering the sale of a “High Class Motor Business” for £30,000.

Intrigued he contacted them and discovered it was for the sale of Aston Martin, he acquired the company for £20,500 and immediately set to work turning its fortunes around.

Under David Brown’s ownership Aston Martin would rise to become a major global sports and luxury car builder, and they famously won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959 with Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori at the wheel of an Aston Martin DBR1/300.

Aston Martin DB2:4 Carrera Panamerica Race Car 8

The interior has been equipped for racing, with OMP race seats, a full roll cage,, an OMP steering wheel, and a custom dashboard with all the gauges you need.

All Astons from this time and many up to the current day still carry his “DB” initials in their model name as a mark of respect for the work he did saving the company.

The Aston Martin DB2/4

The Aston Martin DB2/4 was somewhat based on the DB2 that had come before it, the styling of the body had been penned by 17 year old draftsman John Turner.

The car was originally powered by the Lagonda DOHC straight-six engine with a 2.6 liter displacement and 125 hp, this was upgraded to 2.9 liters and 140 hp in later Drophead versions of the model.

The DB2/4 was a genuine 120 mph car, an impressive speed for the era, and thanks to its luxuriously appointed interior it was one of the finest grand touring cars available anywhere in the world.

Over the course of the 1953 to 1957 production run Aston would build 764 examples of the DB2/4 over two generations – Mark I and Mark II. There would also be Fixedhead coupes and Drophead convertibles offered, with a small number of coachbuilt cars created by the likes of Bertone and Vignale.

Aston Martin DB2:4 Carrera Panamerica Race Car 3

The car now rides on modified original suspension and it’s equipped with larger DB4-style disc brake calipers and a dual master cylinder.

The Aston Martin DB2/4 Carrera Panamericana Race Car

The car you see here has been comprehensively rebuilt for vintage racing, it competed in the 1992 Carrera Panamericana rally where it finished fifth out of a field of dozens of cars.

During the rebuild the car was given an uprated Vantage-specification DBA engine built by Steel Wings, with forged alloy pistons, Carillo connecting rods, triple-Weber carburetors, and custom headers.

The chassis was reinforced with braced front suspension spring towers, tougher pickup points and uprated drivetrain mountings. The suspension retained its original design, it was given a more robust anti-roll bar, uprated dampers, additional negative camber, reinforced rear trailing arms and uprated bushes.

Inside the car you’ll find a full roll cage, OMP seats, Schroth six-point harnesses, and it has a single-panel alloy dashboard with lightweight instrumentation and heater delete.

The car is now finished in Wimbledon White paintwork with dark blue stripes and racing decals. The comprehensive history file includes approximately $120,000 worth of upgrades and maintenance over the years.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Collecting Cars.