Description
Group A saloon car racing rules allowed 500 evolution examples of a car to be built to homologate a more extreme specification; thus between November 13th and 24th 1986 Ford made a batch of 500 Cosworths (four becoming RS 500 development prototypes) and stored them at Dagenham until the RS500's specification was finalised. They were then converted at a frantic pace by Aston Martin Tickford in Bedworth, Coventry, between June 18th and July 28th 1987. The car modelled is number 496 of the 500, one of only 52 in this colour, and was first registered by Ford dealer Bristol Street Motors, Bromley, Greater London on August 21st 1987 to first owner John Van Camp.
It was modified by Power Engineering, Uxbridge, Middlesex, in February 1994 and fitted with Koni suspension, improved brakes, an uprated engine and an ECU remap, which raised its power to 521bhp. This cost £2,848 and afterward the car was featured on the cover of 'Performance Ford'. It was exported to Australia in August 2004 by its seventh owner and had two more custodians in the Southern Hemisphere, one in Adelaide who registered it with the number plate 'RS 500', then another in Perth where it carried the number '521 BHP'. The last Australian owner reinstated the standard suspension, brakes and wheels before it was repatriated in early 2016 by current owner, and fast Ford enthusiast, Ash Khanil, from Berkshire, who reinstated the original registration.
Engine capacity: 1993cc 4il YBD DOHC; Power: 224bhp@6000rpm; Torque: 206lb.ft@4500rpm; Maximum speed: 145mph; 0-60 mph: 6.2 secs; Price, July 1987: £19,950.
