Ford Sierra RS Cosworth/RS500

[Haga]

NICE!! Are the wheels mag or ali? And what is the difference between the castings? Looks like really good brake clearance inside that rim.

Alloy....more "meat" on rear of spokes on later ones.

[Rod Grimwood]

That day at the Silverstone TT in 1988:

Is this what you mean "that day at Silverstone TT in 1988:"

[Rod Grimwood]

What happened here, I don't remember this. (yes I know he has crashed, but where, how, who with etc)

I think its a Sierra

Looks pretty messy

[Steve Holmes]

Thats when Dick went Nascar racing. Its either the Calder Thunderdome, or when he ran some selected Nascar events in the US. He was a HUGE hit in the US, because he would talk to tv commentators during the races, something the regular Nascar drivers wouldn't do.

[Rod Grimwood]

Thanks Steve, he was good at publicity alright.

[Malcolm McLeod]

What happened here, I don't remember this. (yes I know he has crashed, but where, how, who with etc)

I think its a Sierra

Looks pretty messy

February 1988 inaugral Calder Park Thunderdome NASCAR meeting. There is a photo of this crash on pages 182-183 in the book "Dick Johnson The real story of a folk hero" that was taken after the first impact, but prior to the one that inflicted the damage to the rear. He didn't finish....
Incidently, the car is a Thunderbird Rod...totally different to a Sierra!!!!!!

[Rod Grimwood]

Could not see the badge Mal, cheers

[John McKechnie]

Could not see the badge Mal, cheers

Thats got to be the absolute BEST reply i have ever come across- take a bow Rod.

[jimdigris]

re the 88 Silverstone TT, one angry man with "egg" on his face (hint hint) stormed down pit row and had a few angry words with the Johnson team (in English, despite him always pretending to the media he didnt speak it) to which a certain Kiwi who was running the Johnson team replied with "no bad feelings Rudi, we will even sell you one of our diffs" (dicky's team had homoligated the harrop developed diff based on the trusty ford 9", which was a heap cheaper and simpler to run than the hi-tech official Ford unit)

[Robert Bailey]

those Moffat cars must still be very strong in the bodies...considering how little they raced.

[Steve Holmes]

How many cars did Moffat buy off Eggenberger? Was it 2?

Also, did Moffat ever actually buy the RS500 he shared with Andy Rouse in the Australian rounds of the WTCC?

[jimdigris]

Pretty sure that the Rouse car returned to the U.K, Moff only leased it. All his future Sierra's were Eggenbergers with the lot. Moff cause quite an eye opener getting an eggenberger car because up until that point Eggenberger had refused to do a "customer car" for anyone, Moff must had has pretty influential connections. Moff must have been jinxed though, Rouse had never had a Getrag break before Bathurst, and the next couple of years his cars were in a position to win Bathurst but each time was struck down with terrible bad luck. Remember the head gasket blowing after the very long period under the safety car when his car was a lap up on everyone including eventual winner Longhurst? I really felt for him that day. And on the 88 race, the result could have been entirely different if only LP had listened to the privateers in practise that the rocker studs were faulty and if only he hadnt given walkinshaw a drive who thrashed it!

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Jim, yes this was my vague recollection of the Moffat/Rouse match up in 1987. The car was supposed to continue on to New Zealand following the two Aussie rounds, but the pin was pulled before this happened.

[jimdigris]

It was a long time ago and my memory is a bit scratchy so Im not 100% on this but Im reasonably confident the car did not go to NZ for the WTTC round at Wellington after Calder, but it did go to Mt Fuji. I cant recall why Rouse didnt go to Wellington, it was the only round of the WTTC he didnt compete in. At Mt Fuji the car was back to the Andy Rouse team, not A. Moffat Enterprises or whatever the name was for the team at Bathurst and Calder. IIRC Rouse came second at Mt Fuji and was only becuse he was punted into a big spin by a brakeless local car which flat spotted his tyres and he had to have an extra pit stop which effectively handed the race to Ludwig/Niedzwiedz. Moff definately was not there, Rouse's co-driver was a local Japanese driver, I cant remember his name. I think I read in Auto Action that the car was sold to a Japanese team after Mt Fuji, but returned to the U.K some time later, I dont know if the deal fell through or not, I seem to recall it was raced in Japan in 89 though but Im not quite sure

[Terry S]

It was a long time ago and my memory is a bit scratchy so Im not 100% on this but Im reasonably confident the car did not go to NZ for the WTTC round at Wellington after Calder, but it did go to Mt Fuji. I cant recall why Rouse didnt go to Wellington, it was the only round of the WTTC he didnt compete in. At Mt Fuji the car was back to the Andy Rouse team, not A. Moffat Enterprises or whatever the name was for the team at Bathurst and Calder. IIRC Rouse came second at Mt Fuji and was only becuse he was punted into a big spin by a brakeless local car which flat spotted his tyres and he had to have an extra pit stop which effectively handed the race to Ludwig/Niedzwiedz. Moff definately was not there, Rouse's co-driver was a local Japanese driver, I cant remember his name. I think I read in Auto Action that the car was sold to a Japanese team after Mt Fuji, but returned to the U.K some time later, I dont know if the deal fell through or not, I seem to recall it was raced in Japan in 89 though but Im not quite sure

To complete the loop on Moffat and Sierras, fed up with Rouse after 1987, in 1988 he managed to buy an Eggenberger Sierra. Rumoured to have cost AUD 300,000, a heck of a lot of money for the time.
He did not take it to Mt Fuji that year, but did in 1989 when teamed with Klaus Niedzwiedz he won the race. This turned out to be his last race as he quietly retired. A great honour to win your last race. The race was 2 days after his fiftieth birthday.
For further info Google Allan Moffat and open the Wikipedia site.

For a very interesting comment on Andy Rouse I quote from Mick Webb who was Moffat's chief mechanic at the time:
"I was sent to England to do the deal with Rouse. I got a hell of a shock when I arrived at his workshop in Warwickshire. Anyone who has been on a tour of our top V8 teams will know how clinical the workshops are. Even in those days we tried to keep Moffat's workshop as clinical as we could, but Andy's workshop was the complete opposite. I remember walking into the workshop and thinking I have never seen so much garbage in my life. I had been to Heidelberg Motor Wreckers (Melbourne) before and I think Heidelberg Motor Wreckers was tidier. There were so many car parts - engines, gearboxes, you name it - spread all over this little four or five car garage. There was absolute shit everywhere and I thought "What have I done?"
I remember getting on the phone to Moffat that night saying "I think we have made a mistake".
At Bathurst it would have been a successful campaign if the car had been more reliable. We later learnt that the gearbox was an old unit, and there were a few other faulty things so the car wasn't up to the job"

It's very interesting to get an honest alternative view on things.

[Steve Holmes]

Hey Terry, thats a great quote from Mick Webb! Very interesting. In hindsight, Rouse did come good in 1988, and beyond, and he enjoyed a very popular victory at the Silverstone TT in 1988 when he finally beat the Eggenberger cars, by being both fast and reliable.

[Steve Holmes]

It was a long time ago and my memory is a bit scratchy so Im not 100% on this but Im reasonably confident the car did not go to NZ for the WTTC round at Wellington after Calder, but it did go to Mt Fuji. I cant recall why Rouse didnt go to Wellington, it was the only round of the WTTC he didnt compete in. At Mt Fuji the car was back to the Andy Rouse team, not A. Moffat Enterprises or whatever the name was for the team at Bathurst and Calder. IIRC Rouse came second at Mt Fuji and was only becuse he was punted into a big spin by a brakeless local car which flat spotted his tyres and he had to have an extra pit stop which effectively handed the race to Ludwig/Niedzwiedz. Moff definately was not there, Rouse's co-driver was a local Japanese driver, I cant remember his name. I think I read in Auto Action that the car was sold to a Japanese team after Mt Fuji, but returned to the U.K some time later, I dont know if the deal fell through or not, I seem to recall it was raced in Japan in 89 though but Im not quite sure

Yes thats right Jim, no Rouse/Moffat for Wellington. Looking back at the end of the season on his 1987 experience with Rouse, you could see why Moffat moved mountains to buy an Eggenberger car in 1988. Of the Asia/Pacific WTCC races, the two Eggenberger cars finished 1st and 2nd at Bathurst (later dq), 1st and 12th at Calder, 1st and 3rd at Wellington, 1st and 5th at Fuji. Meanwhile, the Rouse car failed to reach the finish in either Aussie race, didn't appear at Wellington, and finished 2nd at Fuji. To be fair, the Rouse car was FAST, but unreliable.

[Milan Fistonic]

Looking for something else and came across this shot of the Peanut Slab Sierra at Pukekohe.

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[RSZWEI]

Here are some more RS500 photos. Again, none are mine - I've just found them on the net over the years and saved them - Sharing them because they're great shots of awesome cars.

The REAL 1987 Bathurst Winner - taken at the WTCC round at the Calder Park Thunderdome;

The real cheats you mean?
The Europeans werent very good at playing with a straight bat in the 1987 WTCC were they? Light weight M3's, dodgey fuel and wheel arches on the Cosworths . . .

[Steve Holmes]

The general consensus within the various factory camps seemed to be that if everyone was cheating, nobody was gaining an advantage. It was really only the Bathurst WTCC race which really brought it to a head.