Three-quarters front view of a 1989, FIA Ford Sierra RS500 - Ex-Andy Rouse (#0189), on sale in the Iconic Auction at the 2023 Silverstone Festival
Andy Rouse’s 'missing' 1989 BTCC car has been discovered, 100% authenticated by the great man himself and returned to its fabulous best. #0189 was driven and prepared by Andy Rouse during the entire 1989 British Touring Car Championship, achieving six wins, six poles, and four fastest laps resulting in third overall in the Championship and first in Class A. At the end of the season, the car was shipped to Macau in company with Tim Harvey’s similar car (also run by Andy Rouse Engineering) to participate in the 'Group A’ Saloon Car race which traditionally supported the Macau GP. Despite an early lead, a failed left front shock absorber allowed Tim past for the win, with Andy a distant second, but at least it was a first and second for the team. After the race, the car was sold to a Japanese team who used it for six races in 1990 and one in 1991 wearing the Power Craft livery that you can see in some of the pictures. However, the era of the Nissan GTR was about to commence, rendering the RS500 a bit less competitive so, after its one outing in 1991, the car was ‘retired’ and presumably sold privately in Japan, quietly disappearing for almost 30 years. We pick up the story from a couple of years ago. Our vendor, who has raced successfully for years, had always wanted to own a Sierra Cosworth race car having spent much of his youth watching well known drivers such as Andy Rouse and Steve Soper compete at Brands Hatch and other circuits. One day he heard about a Sierra that had recently come to these shores from Japan and was available to purchase so he went to see it. As it fitted the bill, he subsequently acquired it and then set about getting the car ready for the occasional track use to experience what his heroes did in the late 1980s. After starting work on the car, various ‘ARE’ - labelled (Andy Rouse Engineering) parts started to be found which naturally raised his curiosity.
Size: 5261px × 3597px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -quarters, 1989, 2023, andy, auction, british, car, championship, championships, classic, colours, cosworth, cup, edwards, engineering, european, festival, ford, front, group, guy, historic, iconic, kaliber, race, racing, rouse, rs500, rs500s, saloon, sierra, silverstone, sold, touring, view, winner, £370500
