RS500 changes were subtle over the already-outrageous Cosworth additions to the Sierra
Every week, we’re tracking the values of the most popular classic cars on the UK market. Thanks to our friends at Classic Car Weekly, we can focus on one car and compare its values from 2005 to today – and then anticipate where they will be in 2025. This week, we take a look at the Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth, the poster boy of the 1980s go-faster scene. Classic Car Weekly’s editor David Simister tells the market story of this classic’s future growth.
Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth – The current situation
The Sierra RS Cosworth’s climb in values in recent years has been legendary – as has, in latter years, its four-door Sapphire successor in two- and four-wheel drive form – but the one that’s really jumped price-wise is the limited-run RS500 model, with its uprated engine and reworked rear wing among the many improvements aimed at beefing up its giant-killer capabilities.
Had you owned a decent one back in the mid-2000s, you could have sold it for around £12,000-15,000, but you’d be looking at upwards of £40,000 for the same car today, and we’ve seen some going for well over £70,000. Seriously. A true reflection of market forces in action.
Everything you need to go racing
Ford Sierra RS500 values – the onward march
We’re tracking condition 2 examples here, and the difficulty here is that most RS500s are concours, or at least Condition 1 – where the usual value rules don’t apply. The come up at classic car auctions, and many bidders get carried away – so it’s often better to buy one through the Ford RS Owners Club, or in the calmer surroundings of a dealer. They might have a higher sticker price, but it’ll feel like a more rational experience.
Ford Sierra RS500 price tracker
Not only this is a car that a generation of 1980s teenagers – who’ve now grown up and are in a position to buy classics – lusted after, but it’s a limited-run ‘halo’ model, and there are more would-be owners than there are survivors, which pushes prices up. That said, we don’t think in today’s climate it will rocket in value – future price increases will be more modest than the stellar growth they enjoyed in the 2010s.
Below are the typical prices for a Condition 2 example between 2005-2025.
2005 £12,000
2010 £18,000
2015 £36,000
2020 £41,000
2025 £45,000 (anticipated)
The most iconic rear spoiler of them all?
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