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Who loves the old 1988 - 1990 Touring Cars? Specifically... the RS500s?
We were recently chosen by a long-standing customer to undertake the recommissioning of his Gp.A Sierra RS500.
The car was originally built by Andy Rouse Engineering in 1988 and was driven in the iconic Kaliber livery by Andy himself to first place in 10 of the 11 scoring rounds of the BTCC that year, making it the most successful RS500 Andy drove (and arguably ever built).
The car was then sold to legendary Australian touring car driver Peter Brock where it was transformed into the Mobil livery that remains on the car today. Brocky drove the car himself throughout the 1989 ATCC, with it also being shared with Andrew Miedecke and Brad Jones for the 1989 endurance events. Brocky drove the car for the last time at the 1990 season finale Adelaide GP support race before it was stored for many years and subsequently sold.
Critically, this car retains its original Andy Rouse Engineering engine that was fitted to it in period, making it one of the very few Gp.A RS500s around today having its original engine fitted.
The work undertaken by us involved a full workshop assessment, defect rectification and setup, followed by live ECU calibration on our Dyno Dynamics rolling road.
The car will not be raced, so the target was not the in-period 560+bhp, but to achieve good power whilst running sensible boost to preserve this historic engine and maximise usability and reliability…
Pictures of this amazing piece of motorsport history will follow in the comments.
Its some car...
Her history really seems to increase your interest in the car, I guess due to so many years of watching this very car dominate the touring car championship.
She is without a doubt the only car to ever truly get under my skin and make me want to go and buy another one.
I actually said goodnight to the damn thing one evening, and took this pic of her after a hard days boost!
Last edited by Evolution Stu; 28 June 2018 at 01:07 PM.
Andy Rouse was a local legend where I grew up.
Started in jalopy racing then formula ford then onto saloon racing.
He had a mate who had a big winged Ford Anglia my all time favourite car, pale green with a 1650 engine.
Is this the car that sold recently as a friend of mine was looking into buying it but just missed out
The owner has had this for quite some time now so I suspect not.
These historic things are popping up for sale quite regular now due to the house money prices they are attracting, with some of the really popular cars pulling well in excess of £250'000!!
Not even going to be raced at Goodwood? Shame if not!
It will probably be there on track doing the hill with everyone but he doesn't want to be "competitive" (currently at least) and the car is far far too valuable to be devalued by a historic racing prang as so many end up being.
Essentially though, if he did get into racing again then this engine would likely come out for storage and a new one to current power levels built and installed. This race winning historic engine adds a ton of value to the car so can't be damaged, hence us calling time at a nice safe 430bhp and 7600 rpm. (These ran 8400rpm and 560+ back in their race days)
This fella doesn't really get enjoyment from racing them competitively, he gets his enjoyment from letting people look / poke / sit in their childhood legends.
These historic things are popping up for sale quite regular now due to the house money prices they are attracting, with some of the really popular cars pulling well in excess of £250'000!!
Great bit of history but think I'd spend my £250k on a lambo and a ferrari with the change. lol
28 June 2018, 12:52 PM
Who loves the old 1988 - 1990 Touring Cars? Specifically... the RS500s?
