1988 Ford Sapphire Cosworth - Willhire 25-Hour Winning

Built at a time when Ford Motorsport actively backed top-tier saloon car racing, this 1988 Ford Sapphire RS Cosworth was prepared by Roger Dowson Engineering for the 1989 Uniroyal Tyres Production Saloon Championship. Commissioned directly by Ford, it was driven by Mark Hales, with Swedish ex-Formula 1 driver, FIA Truck Racing Champion and ABBA drummer, Slim Borgudd as co-driver at the Willhire 25 Hour.

That year’s Willhire event was extended to 25 hours to mark the company’s anniversary, with the Sapphire going head to head against a Castrol-liveried Sierra driven by Keith Odor and Barrie Williams. After 25 gruelling hours of battle, it took overall victory in what was the longest closed-circuit endurance race in the world. Hales and Borgudd would go on to win the 1989 Uniroyal Tyres Production Saloon Car Class Championship, securing the car’s place in British saloon racing history.

Following its competitive debut, the Sapphire was retained by Firestone for promotional use and featured prominently in period advertising and literature. It was sold to Alex Sidwell in 1992, who raced it extensively across Europe until 2004. During this period, the original bolt-in cage was replaced with a fully welded FIA-specification roll cage.

The car has covered just 100 miles since the YB 200 engine was fully rebuilt by Julian Godfrey Engineering, using an ex-WRC cylinder head, RS500 manifold and green injectors, producing an estimated 460bhp. Fuel and ignition are managed by a Pectel T6 ECU. The gearbox was rebuilt by Competition Transmission Services and remains to correct period specification, mated to a proven and durable drivetrain. Braking is handled by AP 6-pot calipers, with Quantum adjustable front coil-overs and Leda rear dampers, supported by a 'Group A' adjustable anti-roll bar, rose-jointed front control arms and compression struts.

The car joined the current owner’s Collection in 2010 and has seen only occasional use since, including an outing at Cholmondeley in 2012.

It comes with a comprehensive file including period photographs, receipts, the original Willhire competitor’s badge, period race reports, a DVD of the race, magazines, programmes and correspondence, along with the original engine build sheet. Also included are a set of slick-shod wheels with bolts, fuel churn and stand, 25-hour Hella lamps and brackets, two sets of springs of differing rates, four spare front discs and a TCS windowed sump baffle.

Remarkably for a car with such rich competition history, it is also road-registered. Now returned to its original livery, this rare example represents an unrepeatable opportunity to acquire a ready to race, front-running, historically significant Cosworth, eligible for a wide range of historic saloon car events.