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Price opinion from advertisements and recorded sales. Not an inspection or a certified valuation.
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Reference photograph of a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Three-door
Valuation · Ford · Mk1 · 1986-87

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Three-door

2.0L turbo four (Cosworth YB) · 150 kW / 276 Nm · 5sp manual · RWD
CONSIDERRated within the over $100k band · 61 of 104 at this money
Model value
$105,000
Must gain each year to break even
+6.6%
The projection does not clear it, and nor does most of the library.
CarQuant score
59/100
Scored against the over $100k band, not the whole library
Evidence grade
Thin
One to three recorded Australian sales
$105,000
$83,710 lowhigh $144,933
Calibrated to a thin record
Two three-door results, $80,000 and $117,260 in 2023, plus a restored car at $116,800 in 2021

Looking at a Sierra RS Cosworth for sale?

Put in the asking price and the odometer reading. You will see what this model should make at that reading.

Should make, typical example
$105,000
At about 40,000 km. Enter an asking price to compare.

Odometer only. Colour, options, history, condition and the photographs move it further, and that is what the report reads.

A person reads the advertisement and its photographs. Usually back within 48 hours. Read a real listing report

Price history

Today $105,000 · modelled median at five years $110,342
Solid line: the value this library has carriedDashed from 2026: modelled · even money $96,334 to $128,537
The green band is the even-money range and the one to plan on: half of outcomes land inside it. The pale band behind it bounds eight in ten ($83,710 to $144,933). The path is this model's own: it starts along the momentum of its recorded history and bends toward its projected median as the horizon lengthens, so no two cars share a future curve.

The verdict

A defensible case with reservations. Scores 59/100, ranking 61 of 104 in the over $100k band. Demand durability is the strongest input, ownership economics the weakest.
Running it costs about $6,660 a year (6.3% of value), which is what the economics score measures. All in, including the projected value change, it is $6,732 a year.
The model's five year median is $110,342, a +5.1% move, with the tenth percentile at $83,710.
Value calibrated to a thin record. Treat the level as provisional.
Evidence
Thin2 recorded sales
Off its peak
-14%
Value band
wide
At least one recorded transaction plus a source. Direction is sound, the exact level less so.
Scored against every recent Australian sale this library holds, half its values land within 11.2 per cent of the price paid and the rest miss by more, in either direction. Projections are therefore damped toward flat in proportion to how little is known, and the plausible band is never narrower than the error the model is known to make.
Short term (1-5 years)$6,732 a year all in, +5.1% median value move
Long term (10-15 years)Scarcity case already formed
Negotiate from$105,000

Recorded sales

Every recorded observation, and when
6 rows on record
$128k$101k$74k
202120222023202420252026
the value this record published, year by yearnow $105ksoldcontext, excluded3 rows sit off this scale. Open the list below to see them.
Every row, with its price and note (6) ↓
Library value against the sold record
2 sales · median $98,400
Value $105,000
$80,000$116,800
Aug 2024Collecting Cars$220,500Context, excluded
SOLD but excluded from this record. 6 Aug 2024, Warwick QLD, 54,593 miles, RS500 COSWORTH NUMBER 213 OF 500 - a different model. UK-market, first registered Aug 1987, fifteen years with the seller, mileage verifiable against MOT records. Aftermarket intake and fuel pressure regulator; cracked dashboard
Jun 2023Collecting Cars$80,000Sold
SOLD. 16 Jun 2023, Maleny QLD, five-digit odometer reading 2,898km which the seller takes as 102,898km. 1987 UK car, with the seller since Apr 2019 and driven about 800km in four years. RS500-specification front and rear lips fitted, turbocharger rebuilt by Rose Rage, HPC-coated manifolds, clutch 2015. Long disclosed defect list including bonnet and door dents, rear spoiler stress cracks and faded rear bumper paint. Normalises to about $88,300 at 40,000km
May 2023Collecting Cars$61,000Context, excluded
SOLD but excluded from this record. 8 May 2023, Helensvale QLD, 114,585 miles, SIERRA RS COSWORTH 4X4 (Sapphire) - a different model and the cheap one. Smokestone, believed the only Australian car in the colour, fifteen dated services from 1,525 miles in 1992, and the UK MOT record shows about 1,000 miles covered between 2006 and 2021
Apr 2023Collecting Cars$256,500Context, excluded
SOLD but excluded from this record. 27 Apr 2023, Helensvale QLD, 50,355 miles, RS500 COSWORTH - a different and far dearer model, Tickford-converted for Group A homologation, 500 built. Concours winner in the UK as E500 SOE with plaques supplied, believed original paint, eighteen dated services from a 1987 PDI. The Australian record for the badge
Mar 2023Collecting Cars$117,260Context, excluded
SOLD, and excluded from this record rather than merely kept out of the fit. 2 Mar 2023, Helensvale QLD, 36,000km approx and NOT WARRANTED. 1986 three-door rebuilt as an RS500 tribute: new 200 block by Harvey Gibbs at Supreme Car Services, Nick Waples head, Garrett GT3076, Pectel T2 management, Quaife semi-straight-cut gearbox and ATB differential, AP front brakes, bare-metal respray, genuine RS500 bumper, spoilers and carbon parts. Claimed 560hp on the bench
Feb 2021Shannons$116,800Sold
Restored three-door at the Summer timed auction - the only Australian transaction on record
2 completed Australian sales of 6 rows. Rows marked asking, no sale, or context are shown for honesty but do not count toward the evidence grade: an ask is not a transaction, a pass-in is a refusal, and a provenance or overseas result does not price the ordinary local car. The badge on every row is computed by the same rule as the grade, so the two cannot drift apart.

Score breakdown

Against the over $100k band median
104 cars in band · ink tick marks the median
Ownership economics30% of total
45/100-24
Scarcity25% of total
58/100-7
Demand durability20% of total
88/100+10
Liquidity15% of total
46/100+14
Risk resilience10% of total
60/100+26
Sub-scores run 0-100 before weighting; the weighted total is 59/100. Medians are computed live from the 104 cars currently in the over $100k band, so this picture moves when the library does.
The working behind each factor: baseline and drivers ↓
Ownership economics30% weight
45/100
Baseline52 pts
− 6.3% of value a year to run-7 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)45 pts
Scarcity25% weight
58/100
Baseline34 pts
+ 5,545 built but a few dozen here, mostly modified+24 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)58 pts
Demand durability20% weight
88/100
Baseline50 pts
+ Won Bathurst twice against cars this library prices higher+28 pts
+ Group A theme rising across the whole market+10 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)88 pts
Liquidity15% weight
46/100
Baseline16 pts
+ 70 days on market+24 pts
+ UK results set expectations local supply cannot meet+6 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)46 pts
Risk resilience10% weight
60/100
Baseline82 pts
− The most modified engine of its era - unmolested cars are rare-14 pts
− Import verification against UK history-8 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)60 pts
Model output, not advice or a valuation. Verify independently before acting.

What it costs to own · about 2,500 km a year

Annual cost of access, excl. fuel
$6,660a year
Share of value per year
6.3%
Scheduled servicing$1,40021%
Tyres, annualised$80012%
Registration and CTP$76011%
Insurance$1,80027%
Sinking fund (failure table)$1,90029%
All-in annualised (a different number)
Purchase (model value plus duty)$109,200
Running costs × 5 years$33,300
Median exit, net of selling cost$108,842
All-in annualised over 5 years$6,732/yr
Share of value per year6.4%
Cost of access is what the car costs to run. All-in annualised adds depreciation, duty and selling costs across a five year hold. They answer different questions and are labelled separately for that reason.
Break-even appreciation, 5 year hold
6.6%a year, only to get the money back
This library projects
+1.0%a year
The projection falls 5.6 points a year short of the hurdle. On these assumptions this car is a cost, not an asset, which can be an entirely rational thing to buy but should be bought knowing it.
Purchase$105,000
Stamp duty$4,200
Running costs x 5 years$33,300
Selling cost at exit, 1.4% of the salescales with price
Sale price needed at +5 years$144,565
Storage
Bought at
No forecast is used to compute the hurdle. It is the purchase, the duty, any premium and 5 years of running cost, grossed up for the cost of selling and spread back over the hold. The projection it is measured against is the weakest number in this product and is drawn that way in the chart above. Transport, finance and any restoration spend sit outside it.

Specification

Engine2.0L turbo four (Cosworth YB)
Power / torque150 kW / 276 Nm
0-100 km/h6.5 s
Transmission5sp manual
DriveRWD
Kerb weight1,220 kg
Built worldwide5,545
Delivered to AustraliaNone. Every car here is an import
Effective AU survivors60 (imported)
Australian sales / year1
Typical days on market70 days
Launch price$45,000

What moves the price on this model

Colour hierarchy
Moonstone Blue+4%
Diamond White+3%
Black+3%
Options
Unmodified YB with original Garrett T3+12%
Documented UK history from new+8%
Original whale-tail and body kit+6%
Odometer sensitivity±1.5% per 10,000 km vs 40,000 km
Applied on top of these

Condition, history, originality, ownership, delivery and modification multipliers apply to every car in the library. They are applied automatically when an advertisement is analysed, and the schedule is set out once, on the analyser page.

Projected value in five years

Projected value at five years
$110,342
+5.1% on today
The model's figure. Today it is $105,000.
Even odds it lands between $96,334 and $128,537.
$83,710 lowhigh $144,933
The shaded range is even money and 33% wide; the outer figures bound eight outcomes in ten. Band width follows the evidence - a model with a tight measured record carries a tight band.
A weaker five year outlook than 52% of the library.
-26.6% weakest projected move in the librarystrongest +73.1%
Five-year cost of ownership
Value change alone: +$5,342 across five years.
Running costs over the same period: $33,300.
Duty and expected selling costs: $5,700.
Net cost of five years of ownership: $33,660, or $6,732 a year.
The projected value rise offsets part of the running cost. It does not make the car free to own.

The case for and against

The case for

The Bathurst winner of 1988 and 1989 at half the money of the Walkinshaw it beat, with the Group A re-rating this library documents happening around it.

The case against

One five-year-old sale carries the record, unmodified YBs are genuinely scarce after four decades of tuning culture, and UK asking prices imported with the cars set expectations Australian buyers have not yet paid.

Known faults and risks

Risk 1Modified engines presented as original
Risk 2Import history verification
Risk 3A single dated sale as the record
YB head gasket and turbo$7,500
Rail and arch rust$10,000
RS interior trim scarcity$4,000

Similar cars, and what they cost to run

Evidence behind this valueThin · 2 recorded sales
Carried value
$105,000
Historical price
2016 · $60,0002026 · $105,000
Thin
At least one recorded transaction plus a source. Direction is sound, the exact level less so.
Five Australian Sierra results arrive at once and only two of them are this car

That is the first thing to say, because the badge covers four quite different objects and the prices run from $61,000 to $256,500.

Read the rest of the evidence notes (6 more)
This record is the three-door RS Cosworth

Its evidence: $80,000 at Maleny QLD on 16 June 2023, a 1987 UK car, five-digit odometer reading 2,898 which the seller takes as 102,898 kilometres, RS500-specification front and rear lips fitted, rebuilt turbocharger, and a long disclosed defect list - dents in the bonnet and both doors, stress cracks in the rear spoiler supports, faded paint on the rear bumper, a dead stereo. At 102,898 kilometres against the 40,000 expected here it normalises to about $88,300. The second is $117,260 at Helensvale QLD on 2 March 2023, and it is

Counted but kept out of any fit

A 1986 car rebuilt as an RS500 tribute with a new 200 block, Nick Waples head, Garrett GT3076, Pectel management, Quaife gearbox and differential and AP brakes, making a claimed 560 horsepower. Its 36,000-kilometre reading is not warranted and means nothing on a car rebuilt to that depth.

The value moves $130,000 to $105,000,

Between a restored car at $116,800 in February 2021 and a cosmetically tired one at $88,300 normalised in June 2023 - which is a condition spread, not a market move.

The RS500 is a different model and it is worth two and a half times as much

$256,500 in April 2023 for a concours-winning, essentially original car at 50,355 miles, and $220,500 in August 2024 for number 213 of 500 at 54,593 miles. Both are excluded from this record and

Both argue for an RS500 entry of its own

Two Australian transactions is more evidence than most records in this library carry, and it is currently sitting in the wrong entry doing nothing.

The Sapphire 4X4 is a different model again and it is the cheap one

$61,000 in May 2023 for a 114,585-mile Smokestone car with a full stamped book - roughly a quarter of an RS500 and 31 per cent under the tired three-door. Four bodies, one badge, and a four-fold price range across them.

This page prices the model.
The report prices the car in the advertisement.

Send the link. A person reads the advertisement and its photographs and sends back what that Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Three-door is worth, what to offer and when to walk away, with five years of costs at the distance you drive.

Read a real listing report

The evidence on this model is thin and the report says so on its cover. Read a complete one on a real car first. Seventeen sections, no account, nothing to pay.

This model, today$105,000
Half of sales are further out than$11,738
The report$249
47×
the price of the report: what half of real sales of this model sit further from this page's number than, on this car
Watch this model
Told when the next one is called.

One line of email when this desk publishes a call on a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Three-door, or records a new Australian sale of one. Nothing else, no schedule, and on a quiet model you may hear nothing for months, which is itself worth knowing about a car you are chasing.

Free. One address, one model, and no account.
Sierra RS Cosworth for sale?Priced by a person, $249