Alan's FORD COSWORTH Estate For Sale!

oldtuckunder · April 6, 2019

FORD COSWORTH Estate For Sale!

Super condition, 206BHP 207ftlb Torque 130+MPH

WARNING PROBABLY THE LONGEST CAR ADVERT EVER WRITTEN!

Unfortunately fate/nature? has decided that my left arm has lost its network connection and no-longer wishes to join in with communal activities! and with a very minimal chance that this will change it means I’m going to have to de-car (or dis-auto), including this 2.9 V6 24V Scorpio Cosworth Estate that I spent nearly two years looking for and last year getting right in preparation to be the ultimate competition car , tow vehicle.

Yes the Triumphs are also going to have to go, but have to start somewhere!

Apologies to Sideways for such a large posting for a vehicle that is off at a tangent (even for Sideways)but its an easy place that I can post lots of pictures and words (oh yes lots of words to follow! as Alan tries to extemporise why someone who has almost exclusively been a Classic Triumph Enthusiast for the last 40+ years would want to own his first ever Ford) and that I can hopefully link back to whilst trying to find the right place(s) to advertise it.

OK "This is NOT A Daily Driver Vehicle!" It could be, but I think you might regret it as its a bit special (probably the only! or one of the last two RHD Ghia Cosworth Estates on the road!) .For me it was going to be part of the long term pack. Sure you could park it outside in the elements and thrash it up and down the motorway in the winter and have some fun for a year or so, but it would probably consign it to be another pile of Ford Iron Oxide, requiring more work than sensible to keep it going! just my tuppence worth.

Why did I want a Scorpio Cosworth Estate and spend ages looking for the right one?

To be honest I fell in love with the engine, the fact that it was available wrapped in a high spec practical Estate shell was the catalyst that made me want one.

The 2.9 V6 24 valve Cosworth BOB engine must be one of the ultimate Naturally Aspirated Production Petrol engines produced. Not some super exotic specialist car one, but an engine that took simple N/A Injection and ECU Engine Management melded with some innovative induction management to encapsulate a Quad Cam Cosworth Designed and Built engine to create something with 206BHP, 207ftlb Torque and which at the time of its introduction, Ford claimed that no non-turbo 3 litre could better this high torque.

So yes this engine is a bit special http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/engdata24v.htm.

Having spent a few years trying to get the best out of my own engines I always wanted to have a play at seeing what I could do adapting the techniques of the Cosworth Variable Induction System "VIS" http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/vis.htm on my competition Vitesse(but time has beaten me on that!).

So The Scorpio itself.

The Scorpio was Ford's last attempt at the Executive Car Market in Europe, and to take on the likes of AUDI,BMW and Mercedes, and they threw the Kitchen Sink at it in terms of development and equipment levels for a mass production vehicle in the 1990's. These were not cheap cars, this Cosworth Estate when new would have listed between 25-30K.

The technical and driving reviews were good, but it was slammed for being ugly and bug eyed with its revolutionary polyellipsoid headlamps http://www.fordscorpio.co.uk/headlighttech.htm

so I don't think the car was a success for Ford (although all they ever said publicly was that it met its production targets?), with some 100,000 units produced by Ford Germany between 1994-1998, with some 30,000 RHD models destined for the UK market, where is was the replacement for the aging Granada. after 1998 when it was discontinued (after a final facelift), Ford's executive car market models were made under the Jaguar and Volvo brands it by then owned.

Whilst strange and different in 1995, we now accept that cars will have all sorts of weird shaped moulded headlights. in many ways the Scorpio front has matured into the 21st century and looks way less dated than many of its contempories. but I have to apologise to Scorpio saloon owners the rear styling on them is still a like it or loath it taste wise. For me buying an estate it wasn't an issue, from the the headlights back its an estate, its an estate shape sharing about 90% same styling lines with most other estates, so much so that even today you could swap makers badges on many estates and only the cognoscenti would notice.

This is a very good well handling vehicle to drive, and even by today’s standards quick and refined.

After finishing getting it how I wanted it last summer I did fortunately get to drive on a decent long haul to Germany and back. it cruised effortlessly on the motorways/autobahns at any prevailing speeds, and brought many smile making moments when some hot hatch or BMW/Mercedes tank would be hovering over your rear bumper at congested points (no doubt swearing at an EU hating British driver in some strange unrecognised estate holding them up) only as the traffic cleared for the Cosworth to leave them standing as the speedo rapidly passed 120, and then have them back on your tail when the traffic slowed again, or have them crawl past if the road remained free. this happened several times at one point with someone driving an Audi, who by chance pulled into the same service station as me, and I smiled as I watched as he went back to his car that he walked around the Cosworth twice inspecting it.

So 30,000 RHD UK units imported, split between saloon and estate? unknown, but we do know from registration data that approx 10% had the 2.9 24V Cosworth engine, the rest having 2.0, 2.3 N/A Petrol & Turbo Diesel engines,with a smattering of V6 2.9 12 valve engines that are neither fish nor fowl (and probably why only limited numbers).

Aimed at the management/executive market not surprisingly about 3000 of the Cosworth models were supplied in "Ultima" specification i.e. just about every option going included, and only about 400 in "Ghia" spec.

Which was a bit of a problem for me when I started looking for an estate to buy as I didn't want an Ultima model, I wanted a Ghia! Why? well seemed sensible to me. Ford's luxury spec model always used to be Ghia, and the Scorpio Ghia was likewise similar, heated front/rear screens, acres of leather, full instrumentation, trip computer, air con,hi spec ICE system etc.etc. whereas in the Ultima they also through in an extra goody bag of 1990's electronics.

Now I don't mind sorting mechanical issues, but electronics I like to keep as simple as possible. and a bit of research on the excellent WWW.FORDSCORPIO.CO.UK website and forums seemed to indicate that problem areas included the extra complication of climate control over air conditioning, I personally have only needed hot air in the winter and cool in the summer, so give me simpler AC any time. why have a sun roof, that is likely to eventually leek, if it fails will fail open, and has drain ducts that will block and then run into the interior. if it isn’t a convertible then windows and AC works for me. throw in a few more motors and relays and extra ecu to fail making the seat go up, down, sideways when you get in, auto dipping rear view mirror that fail and drip chemicals over the dash, and the "Ghia" spec looked a better long term maintenance proposition to me!

So I started my search for a good Scorpio Cosworth Ghia Estate! and was finding none. A limited number of Ultima saloons, in various engine specs, very few Estates at all, Cosworths going for Spares or repair, where the value was all in the Cosworth Engine(as I was to discover that most had been removed and transplanted into then re-badged Sierra Cosworths, Transit Service Barges, or any other sports/performance car originally fitted with an Essex or Colone Ford V6, where it would drop straight in. But not a sniff of a 2.9 Cosworth Ghia Estate in any sensible condition. I knew from the Scorpio Forum that by 2016 any Scorpio was getting a rare sight on the road,but a small but dedicated group of enthusiasts for the model had assembled a vast array of how to do/repair information over the last 20 years, backed by what must be the most complete set of manufacturers technical data ever published, donated by Ford Europe and hosted on the fordscorpio.co.uk website. it was this wealth of data that reassured me that planning on owning/maintaining/keeping a Scorpio was a tractable proposition.

Then the perfect 1998 late production one turned up! and I missed it by a week! It had been advertised and sold before I was even aware of it! right model, great looking condition, 3 owners from new, the last between 2002-2015, who had collected a full history folder of everything that had been spent/done on the car over that period, detailing every MOT, service, repair that had been carried out. This Estate had been loved and had a lot! of money spent on it to keep it in good condition, with right mileage for a vehicle that had been used but not abused. And I missed it!

Roll forward to 2017 and it appears again! two more owners, an extra 4k miles no mention of history (but I knew it was the same vehicle) No hesitation, just BUY IT NOW!,go and collect and find that fortunately the history file I had feared lost was still with it! (just occasionally you get lucky)Drives home faultlessly as I get to find out what the engine I had wanted was really like,and that it was up to expectation! Back at the Ranch, What Now? Around to friends garage (who by chance had been a a Ford Dealer mechanic in period for the Scorpio so knew everything to look for) and we go through it from end to end. The odd tired bush, suspect wheel bearing, the odd oil leak, a couple of pipes in the not urgent but better replaced category, the odd dead bulb, but it was good, and any chassis/body/MOT work detailed in the history folder had been done well. Interior was just about immaculate and would require little more than a minor valet. Body-wise it had the odd little stone chip, sticky door handle, a few minor plastic cracks, signs that previous repairs to rear wheel arches would need looking at again, and a couple of rust holes in the two outer sills. But on the whole the car was in really good condition, and wasn't going to take much to get it back into great condition.

So no rush to put it into service, so potter at sorting some of the minor things and giving it a full engine service, clean. Collect a few parts as if its staying may as well treat it to new discs, pads, the odd new pipe and hose whilst doing wheel bearings.

Whilst pondering the couple of rust holes in the sills and what to do? Ford's from this period are not renowned for being the best corrosion resistant pieces of automotive engineering, and the sills are a known and well documented weakness on the Scorpio, so I must admit I was a bit hesitant to dive in and see if what was there was hiding an internal horror story. I knew from the history folder that it had had sill repair work in 2010/11 but it was a bit unclear (apart from what I would consider expensive)what had been done? patched and sprayed?, new sills(but if so not detectable)? But I knew if it was going to stay we were going to have to find out. So track down a new pair of sills, and Summer 2018 a window arrives that is designated "Sort the Scorpio"All the mechanical stuff was going to be fairly straight forward(copious documentation and other owners experiences to leverage. But I’ll admit it was with a bit of trepidation that we put it on the ramps and started cutting off the old outer sills. It actually turned out to be job where we turned a mole hill into a mountain(as the pictures show), everything inside (apart from a bit of surface rust was rock solid and perfect, still in paint and rust protection. Could have just applied a couple of patches to the outer sills, sprayed in some rust preventer,blown the sills over and it would have been good for years. But by this time we have no choice, so mega clean, rust protection and new sills it is (looked after this Scorpio will now be as solid at 40 years old as it was at 20. As sills are going to have to be sprayed, may as well get in and sort the bubbles on the rear wheel arches and cut a bit of new metal in, signs here that it had as per history folder received attention in the past, but all fairly good, and this time done for longevity. Few touched up stone chips to bonnet,Paint to sills, arches and odd bumper blemish and she now looks very smart. On the road. sort the odd warning light, manage a good long road trip, and before end of competition season get to use as intended a couple of times as the tow car, in which it lived up to expectation, this car can haul ass.

BUT NOW I HAVE TO FIND IT A NEW HOME!

So if your slightly weird like me, like a nice engine, need a cavernous Estate, want something quick, rare and certainly appreciating (but for which spares are still readily available)this might be what your looking for? as I say "Quick as an E-Type, Rarer than a Type 42 Bugatti"

Test Drive or any inspection welcome.

Looking for £4250 (which I think is cheap) but if I like you may consider sensible offers.

Give me a call if interested, Alan 01684 593460

vehicle is in Worcestershire- and is collection only!