All the way back to black Model Ts, plenty of notable Fords have been offered in just one colour. Or not very many at all. The first Focus RS was Imperial Blue only, the second one only offered three colours, the three-door Sierra Cosworth was similar and so on. Bucking the trend somewhat was the Escort RS Cosworth, to this day perhaps the most famous Cossie-badged road car around. Maybe even the best-known Ford Escort, too, but we’ll leave that debate for another day…
Across its five years on sale and assorted special editions, buyers were offered red, black, white, grey, a trio of blues, Mallard Green and the superb Jewel Violet. Not all were offered all at the same time, but it remained a surprisingly broad palette from Ford given its history. Special editions (some offered in the UK, some not) included the Wolf Edition, Martini Racing Edition, Arrows F1 Escort and Monte Carlo, though none are as rare as this one: the only RHD Zinc Yellow Escort RS Cosworth ever made. Fast Ford fans, form an orderly queue.
Supplied new towards the end of the production run in 1995, this RS has been the property of Cosworth for almost 30 years. In case it wasn’t historically significant enough already. It’s now being sold for the very time since being supplied new by Ward of Wellingborough nearly three decades ago. The advert says this was the only right-hand drive Zinc Yellow one made, ordered through Ford’s Special Vehicle Operations. Given how close the relationship was back in the early '90s, presumably Cosworth was free to choose whichever colour it wanted for its very special Escort.
It’s not clear exactly how the Cossie has been used, though presumably as values started to rise in the past decade or so - and its special status became even more so - it will have been driven less. The odometer is showing almost 30,000 miles, so it won’t have been static all its life. That being said, it presents almost like a museum exhibit, with the original dealer stick and tax disc holder still present. The Zinc Yellow paint has lost none of its impact and the interior looks… well, it looks like the very bland kind of interior Ford specialised in back then. Albeit a beautifully preserved, very original one, complete with cassette player, sunroof and leather Recaros.
As a late Cossie, this is a small turbo model, typically regarded as the best of the breed. (It’s actually one of very few that got the later Mk6 font on the boot. Very odd to see an ‘Escort RS’ badge like that.) Whether a new owner will want to drive their Cossie much remains to be seen. It’s obviously accrued some miles in its time, but likely when homologation specials weren’t quite so revered - or valuable. The list price in 1994 was £22,050 (it’s not clear what was paid for the special order paint), which is £45k in today’s money. Yet of the nine currently on PH, there’s not a single Escort RS Cosworth for sale at less than £75,995. Both the Jewel Violet Monte Carlos are in six figures.
The Zinc Yellow car is POA; arguably its unique status makes it hard to value. A comparable Cossie in terms of age and mileage is for sale at £85k, so best consider that the start point. Add to that the Cosworth link and the colour and it’s a full house for fast Ford collectors - who’ll surely be willing to pay for the privilege. If recent results like the £600k RS500 and the Princess Diana Escort are anything to go by, there’s clearly still a lot of demand for the most special example. And a one-off Escort RS owned by Cosworth themselves certainly qualifies on that score.
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