1988 Rouse Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth 'Group A'

HTP

To be offered by Iconic Auctioneers on Saturday 24th February at the Race Retro event.

Guide Pirce: £240,000 - £280,000

Offered here is one of the two legendary Kaliber 'Group A' Sierra Cosworths built by Andy Rouse Engineering for the 1988 British Touring Car Championship. Chassis #ARE KAL 0988 was built and used during the 1988 season and driven predominately by Guy Edwards to four podium finishes. Throughout the season, the Kaliber Sierras were the cars to beat and, in a golden era, the spectacle of these seriously powerful touring cars belching flames helped define a magnificent chapter of saloon car racing.

At the end of the season, the Andy Rouse Group A Sierras were very much in demand with one car being sold to Peter Brock and #0988 was purchased by Adrian Fu who took it car to the Far East and raced it at Macau and in various rounds of the Asia Pacific Series. #0988 then left Asia bound for Australia where it was entered in the 1992 James Hardie at Bathhurst for drivers Ken Matthews, Rod Jones and Mike Newton. After the race, it remained at the circuit and was displayed in the Bathurst Museum for a while until purchased in 1993 by its previous owner, an accomplished Kiwi racing driver and businessman. After some re-engineering by Peter Brock, he raced the Sierra in the New Zealand Endurance Championship with wins at Timaru International Motor Speedway and Teretonga helping him and co-driver Murray Cleland win the Championship in 1996. Remaining within the same ownership, the car enjoyed a period of retirement until 2016/17 when it was decided that the Sierra should be totally rebuilt and returned to its original UK livery with the possibility of running in Archibald’s Historic car series in NZ, which it later did most successfully.

In period, the car had been continuously developed and evolved with input from Australia's favourite son Peter Brock and all this hard-won know-how was incorporated into the 2017 rebuild. The specification, at the time, included the original Zytec system which benefited from various upgrades, primarily enlarging the fuel delivery capacity. The engine was a new, long-stud, 205 block designed to run with 2.1 bar boost producing around 540bhp with much of the engineering development the responsibility of renowned tuner, Ivan Tighe of Brisbane, with particular attention being paid to cam profiling and reliability. Much of the suspension work was carried out by specialists, Harrop Engineering of Brunswick in Victoria, applying new manufacturing processes to the Peter Brock suspension. The Brock driveshafts which, in the day were recognised as twisting less than any other preparers, were reverse-engineered. Both driveshafts were new and the rear end was rebuilt with new bearings.

In 2018, #ARE KAL 0988 departed Australia, arriving in the UK and was subsequently sold by Silverstone Auctions in July 2019.

Its new owner, an established Touring Car Team owner, has invested considerably in the car since then, including an expensive Harvey Gibbs engine rebuild, and we are awaiting details of the car’s current specification, recent test results and eligibility.