Ford Sierra RS500 BTCC racer reborn with new continuation run

UK-based three-car project will be eligible to enter historic racing events

Three new Ford Sierra RS500 Group A racing cars are to be built to the exact specifications used by Andy Rouse when he dominated the British Touring Car Championship in the 1980s.

Four-time BTCC champion Rouse has sanctioned construction of three continuation cars by Cotswold-based preparation firm CNC Motorsport AWS. The machines will be constructed from original Ford Sierra bodyshells and will carry Andy Rouse Engineering build plates.

The three Sierra RS500s will be built to the exact designs Andy Rouse Engineering developed for the BTCC's Group A rules and will be eligible to compete in historic racing events.

The first version is due to be built next year, using a new shell that has been unused and stored since the 1980s.

Each car will use a freshly built version of the 575bhp Cosworth YB engine, which will be mated to a five-speed Getrag gearbox. Prices start from £185,000, with various options available including spares and custom liveries.

Rouse is best known as a 60-time BTCC race winner and four-time outright champion, but he was also a highly regarded engineer. He established Andy Rouse Engineering in 1981, and won the BTCC title three times in a row from 1983 until 1985, using a different car each year. For 1985 he played a key role in developing the Sierra Cosworth into a machine that dominated Class A, and he won nine of the 12 races that season.

CNC Motorsport AWS was formed by restoration specialist and former Rouse employee Alan Strachan,. In recent years the company has worked on historic-specification Rover SD1s, Sierra RS500s and Merkur R4TIs.