Roy William’s 529bhp Sierra shows why
RS500s shouldn’t only be standard-spec museum pieces.
Twenty-five years. Two and-a-half decades.
One thousand, three hundred and four weeks. That’s a long time to own a car.
But to spend a quarter of a century living with one of the world’s great
motoring legends, now that’s something to be admired.
Ford’s
European performance division is teasing the Focus RS500, a high-po variant of
the already-fast Focus RS
Take Roy Williams and his gorgeous RS500 as
the perfect example. They’re not just attached, they’re inseparable. Roy
wouldn’t so much as dream of parting with the car, and he’ll never leave it
anywhere unattended. What’s more, he’s sticking up two fingers to investors who
say Cossies should be cosseted and kept stock – he’s still improving his Sierra
to proper RS500 potential, and still using it hard. And it’s all the better for
it.
“I don’t see the point in putting it back
to standard,” says Roy. “I’ve got all the original bits and bobs, but it’s not
going into a museum or a collection. As my son says, the car is mine – and I am
the car.”
Roy’s relationship with his RS500 began in
the 1980s, when he was already a firm fan of fast Fords. After a succession of
Lotus Cortinas (Roy still owns a Mk2 Lotus. Plus several 1600Es, a GT and
several other two door Cortinas), Roy had bagged himself a white three-door
Cosworth. He remembers, “I’d always liked twin-cam engines, but the Sierra was
something else. It had a lovely feel.
Within a year he’d spotted this RS500 for
sale, and it turned out Roy knew the owner. So on 20 January 1989, Roy handed
over one 16,000-mile three door plus one fat cheque, and returned home the
proud owner of an immaculate RS500 with only 7,000 miles on the clock.
The
only real difference to the engine bay was the air cleaner mounted on top of
the engine. The interior was almost identical to a GT. The Mk2 did exactly what
Ford wanted, it was far more reliable whilst still quick enough to be used in
competition, until it was replaced by the Escort Twin Cam.
“Coming from my Lotus Cortina days, I knew
the RS500 was the one to have. I could tell the car would do things,” he says.
Fierce 500
Roy also reckoned it was an improvement on
the regular Cossie, especially since he’d had a stage one chip and Mongoose
exhaust slapped on. “Suddenly it started breathing and came alive.”
“I wrote a letter to the technical section
of Cars and Car Conversions magazine, asking about improving the suspension,
and I won a set of Bilstein springs and shocks. I stuck them on and it made a
phenomenal difference.”
Roy continued hooning around in his RS500
throughout the 1990s, driving it as an everyday motor even while working as a
builder. It wasn’t unusual for the Sierra’s useful boot to be packed with bags
of cement, yet Roy’s work-hard-play-hard approach meant the Cossie was always
kept clean and polished. Today the cabin is still original and immaculate (and
uncracked), and none of the external body panels have been replaced.
The
centre console is distinguished by the car’s individually-numbered metal
plaque, and by a unique carbon-effect finish to the bezel which carries a
distinctive RS pattern.
“I didn’t fully appreciate the car, but I
always hung onto it. Even when I was living in a caravan after getting
divorced, I had the RS500 parked outside!” he smiles.
By 2003, the Sierra had covered 49,000
miles and was starting to look tatty around the oily bits. Roy decided to try a
few upgrades and a quick tidy-up, which quickly snowballed into a complete
rebuild. “I’d done Cortinas in the distant past, and I realised how unique the
RS500 was, so I fancied getting it back to good condition,” he adds.
Shelling Out
Helped by his mate Dave, Roy stripped the
Sierra to a bare shell and took it to be sprayed. Thankfully rust-free, there
was nevertheless a slight setback… “I wanted it clean and smooth underneath,”
sighs Roy. “I didn’t ask for it to be stone-chipped – they had to spend five
weeks getting it all off with chemicals and a hot air gun.”
Roy’s initial plan had been to drop in a
400bhp 4x4 YB; instead it was flogged, allowing him to focus on the Sierra’s
original block and head. Joe Stevens of Bluesprint Motorsport took over the
engine modifications, briefed to produce big power. “I knew I could trust Joe
to build a decent engine, so I left him to it,” he says.
