Sapphire Cosworth 4WD vs 2WD Differences Part 1

I thought I would start listing the differences between the 2wd and 4wd Sapphire Cosworths, this information is based on what I know and some forum information.

The main forums I use are located here on my other blog page refer to link below:

http://ford-topia.blogspot.com.au/p/car-shows.html

I have owned a few 2wd Sapphire Cosworths and when purchasing parts from overseas especially from the U.K. its good to know the difference, and also what is not original or has been modified to your car. There is also quite a few people that have done a conversion from 4wd to 2wd for example and wish to retain the 4wd body and they might find this useful as well.

If you find anything else that I have missed please leave a comment or email me.

Starting with the years of production, the 2wd Sapphire Cosworths were produced from 1988-1989 and the 4x4 Sapphire Cosworths January 1990 till the end 1992.
The Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 4WD was produced on G to K-registration plates in the UK.
The Sapphire Cosworth was discontinued to make way for Fords new Mondeo. Ford's alliance with Cosworth continued however with the Mark 5 Escort RS Cosworth.

Prices

In New Zealand, the prices between the 2wd and the 4wd are currently close.
In general the cheap 2wd ones are being wrecked and parted out. I have seen a lot sold as parts in the previous 5-10 years to re-power 3 door sierra cosworth's and also Mark 1 and 2 escorts and kit cars etc.

Lately in last few years they have started to be more desirable, especially for original car or ones with only minimal tasteful modifications. I would say the current prices would be for a 2wd and 4wd

Sapphire Cosworth in New Zealand:
(2015)

Poor to Average: 6000-10,000 NZD
Good solid usable condition: 10-15,000 NZD
Excellent concourse condition or highly modified: 15,000-20,000 NZD

Trademe would be most common website for purchasing
http://www.trademe.co.nz/

Sapphire Cosworth in UK:
(2015)

Poor to Average: 4000-6000 Pounds
Good solid usable condition: 8000-9000 Pounds
Excellent concourse condition or highly modified: 15000+ Pounds

Sapphire Cosworth in Australia:
(2015)

There are very few Sapphire cosworths in Australia, I have been living over here for the last 7 years and they rarely come up for sale. Due to the import laws 1989 is the cutoff, if you have a look at my previous blogs on Sydney All Ford Day Etc you will see the regulars.

http://ford-topia.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/2014-all-ford-day-eastern-creek-corrupt.html

There is a company that can assist in bringing in UK cars to Australia called 'Chalker'
http://www.chalker.com.au/compliancing-%20pre%201989.htm

I am not sure what the market value would be on a 2wd Sapphire, as they rarely come up but my recommendation would be $20,000 for a excellent condition car, This coincidentally was advertised today it is a good example but slightly overpriced, in my opinion.

I have previously written up my interpretation of the buyers guide for a Sapphire Cosworth refer to this link:
http://ford-topia.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/buyers-guide-ford-sierra-sapphire.html

How Many Left Website

At the time of writing this blog according to the "how many left" database there are 376 sapphire cosworth's in the U.K. that are taxed and on the road or on SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) similar to registration on hold / exempt in New Zealand

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=sapphire+cosworth

For an extensive parts list and description refer to my next blog post located here:
http://ford-topia.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/sapphire-cosworth-4wd-vs-2wd_31.html
(Still working on it will be live shortly)

Bathurst Motor Festival 2015

On Saturday the 4th April I decided to make a last minute journey out to Bathurst to the 'Bathurst Motor Festival' It was held over Saturday and Sunday of the Easter weekend in New South Wales and it cost a note donation to get in. All the money raised went to Legacy charity.



The weather was absolutely dreadful. I went on the Saturday only. We left Sydney early Saturday morning and drove directly to the track we arrived around lunch time had a walk around the pit area and watched most of the afternoon racing from the rooftop viewing area above the pits.



With the weather being heavy rain crowds were at a minimum, there was plenty of room to get a good view, queues to bathrooms and food facilities were non-existent. You could have camped there if you wished as well.

http://bathurstmotorfestival.com.au/event-info/race-track-map


The main reason I wanted to go was because the Heritage touring car class of about 40 cars, was racing throughout the weekend as well as the Group N historic touring cars.

The Heritage Touring Cars did 3, 25-minute races across the Easter weekend and in particular for the Heritage touring cars there was a strong field of sierra cosworth's and the R30 / 31 and R32 skylines, including Jim Richards famous red R32.

Within the sierra field there was one of the Dick Johnson's famous Shell Ford Sierras that has had a recent restoration.

Victorian driver Chris Stillwell recently purchased the Ford Sierra RS500 its the first time in 2 decades that the car has raced.

It was the last of six Sierras built by Dick Johnson’s Queensland-based team, Stillwell’s car competed at Bathurst in the hands of Dick Johnson and co-driver John Bowe in 1990 and 1991.

Dick Johnson drove it in the 1992 Australian Touring Car Championship before it also took part in the infamous wet 1992 Bathurst 1000 raced by Terry Shiel and Greg Crick and driven in practice by a

very young Cameron McConville.

The car was sold to Western Australia when Australian touring car racing went back to a Holden versus Ford V8 format for the 1993 season.

RS500 engine notice the unique fuel regulator and twin row of injectors that are only in the RS500's. It is also running adjustable cam wheels and brace which are not standard features.

This is the ex-Colin Bond RS500 Sierra Cosworth in Caltex livery, it is currently owned by Rod and Craig Markland.

And there was a recent segment that aired on 'CarTorque' which is an  Australian TV show, where the take the car through its paces.

The racecar was built up by Colin Bond in 1992 for the Tooheys 1000 at Bathurst. Open-wheeler driver John Smith joined Bond as co-driver for Bathurst with the car adopting Bond’s familiar #8 The cosworth only lasted seven laps in the race when the oil pressure dropped and  they had to head to the pits. It was pushed into the garage for repair and the Sierra was put to one side

Holden sandman panel vans and a falcon panelvan as well.

Back of the race pits and you can get an idea of the amount of people camping and cars preparing to race despite the dreadful weather.

XF Ford Falcon

Holdern Torana

Notchback Ford Mustang and 2 door mark 1 ford escort

This looked like a Holden Commodore VK possibly from the silhouette, with a massive rear under car diffuser

Mk1 GT Ford Cortina 4 door

Alfa Romeo GTV

Lamborghini

Ferrari

Lotus Cortina MK1

Datsun 1600

Mk1 Pre facelift ford capri with the ultimate in car transport, the car sat above and below. This was B-double sized trailer.

Sierra Cosworth

1979 Porsche 911 3.0s

Ford Escort Mk2 RS2000 2 door

Toyota AE86

The ford sierra cosworths in there pits

Perkins Holden Commodore

R30 and R31 Nissan Skylines

Rear of the Dick Johnson Ford Sierra Cosworth

Corvette race car

Lineup of the earlier ford falcon AU's and Holdern Commodore class

Heritage touring class in holding pen pior to racing and lining up in the pits prior to starting

Mazda rx7 in the Heritage class

Bond / Smith  Sierra Cosworth RS500

Jim Richards BMW 320 touring car and mk1 ford escort heading into the pits

One of the other Sierra's and skylines in full flight over the starting line

A few more race shots of the RS2000 ford escort and Colin Bond Sierra Cosworth RS500

Perkins Holden Commodore VL SS Group A SV 

VC Holden Commodore closely followed by mk1 ford escort 2 door and another of the sierra Cosworth RS500's

I am not 100% sure if this was the Robbie Francevic Volvo. which he drove in his 1986 championship-winning season. But the Volvo 240 was known as the "Flying Brick" or as Dick Johnson dubbed it, ‘The Swedish Valiant’ due to its boxy’ shape. They had a four-cylinder, 2.1-litre turbocharged engine.

The 240T was the first turbocharged car and the first-ever Swedish car to win the ATCC,  if it was the same car as what Robbie Francevic drove it was also the first car that John Bowe made his championship debut in.

The 240T raced in New Zealand and Oz from 1985-86.

I took this photo to point out the quick release single hub nuts for the air guns on the wheels and also the air jacks poking through behind the wheel.

This is another video of the Colin Bond Sierra Cosworth from within the car on the day.

FJ20 Nissan Skyline

Crazy bunch of banana's race tuned length extractors on the twin cam turbo engine

Mach 1 fastback mustang and Ford Falcon XYGT

Mk1 Ford Cortina Lotus in full flight

For accomodation we stayed at Blayney just between Orange and Bathurst, and also spent the morning in historic town of Millthorpe

The accomodation was basic but very cheap and a pleasant drive just out of Bathurst.
http://blayneyleumeahmotel.com/

We had also previousl;y stayed at Millthorpe which is 3.5 hours from Sydney and Canberra, 30 minutes from Bathurst and 20 minutes from Orange which makes an ideal weekend getaway. 

http://www.cheneyvale.com.au/

I spotted this immaculate BSA motorbike in Millthorpe because of its ideal roads and picturesque location its an ideal stop for riders and I saw a few groups during the day.

We stopped and had a look at Yuranighs Aboriginal Grave (Historic Site) on the way as well.

It had traditional carvings and a brief story on the history of the local.

From Orange we continued onto Mudgee and stoped for lunch at a craft beer pub and had a look through the township

For us this completed a loop from Sydney to Bathurst to Blayney to Millthorpe through Orange then Mudgee back to Sydney

The scenery on the way back was stunning as the sun set

Rolling hills on way from Orange to Mudgee

Overall the Bathurst Motor Festival was a great weekend dampened by the weather but definitely worth a look for the Historic and Heritage class cars series.