Stolen cars are big business for criminal gangs today, becoming easier to steal than before, thanks to keyless car technology. Over recent years, Range Rovers have become one of the biggest victims of the crime which made them almost uninsurable in the UK at the time, where the problem was the greatest.

The recent Range Rover security issue harks back to one car’s legacy, which haunted the UK over 30 years ago, when the country was under attack from ram-raids, joyriding and twockers. At the epicenter of this nationwide problem was an 80s sleeper which developed a reputation for being the most legendary getaway car in the UK. But before we get to it, let’s just quickly remind ourselves about what made the late 80s and early 90s a definitive era for high-performance cars in Europe and the UK.

Rise of Turbos and Twockers

During the 1980s (and into the early 1990s), road cars in Europe saw huge technical advances in power delivery to make them faster and more powerful. Often this was derived from motorsport success in Group rallying using turbocharging. Turbo technology from the sport often got transferred into homologated road versions of these cars, which became the ultimate selling tool in the showrooms. This gave the man on the street the opportunity to experience what a rally car for the road was like.

The Vauxhall Nova SR, Ford’s Escort RS Turbo, and the Lotus Carlton are just to name a few. Cars like these had multiple run-ins with the police as they became hot, easy targets for thieves, and their big turbos gave them a speed rush over nearly everything on the road. They became associated with the words ‘joyriding’, ‘twockers’ and ‘grand theft auto’, which became etched into record high insurance premiums and defined part of British culture in the 80s and 90s. However, there was one culprit whose getaway reputation turned the legacy into a national crisis.

Sierra and Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth: Stealing The Streets Of Britain

When the Ford Sierra launched in 1982, it took over from Britain’s love-obsessed Cortina, but its ahead-of-time jelly mold exterior styling caused controversy with customers to the point sales suffered. To get them moving again, Ford of Europe made strategic decisions to regain its positioning in motorsport by entering the Sierra into Group A rallying and touring car racing. By doing so, rules stated 5,000 homologation models needed to be built for civilians. They hoped this would be able to turn the slow-selling Sierra into a winning icon which could sell. The result was a Cosworth-powered Sierra.

Why It Became The UK’s Sleeper Of The 1980s

Ford’s European Head of Motorsport at the time, Stuart Turner approached Ford’s long-running British racing engine partner, Cosworth, to collaborate on the new model’s engine development. What resulted was a turbocharged, 16-valve, twin-cam variant of the standard 2.0-liter Pinto engine. The focus for greater performance was on turbocharging. The turbo itself was a Garrett T3 unit which was mated to a larger intercooler to manage the greater intake of air, so the car could deal with high pressure power boosts. This, teamed with the re-designed cylinder heads, a new 16-valve design, a reworked electronic engine management system, and strengthened components allowed the engine to produce more power and a faster top speed of 150 mph.

Ford Sierra Specs

While the body kit, including the whale-tail rear spoiler on the earlier three-door model, did not approve with Ford’s management or dealers, it was there to dissipate heat from the intercooler but, more importantly, to avoid the aerodynamic lift problems which affected the normal Sierra.

Launched in July 1986, Ford’s new homologation special Sierra went down a storm. The more powerful, RHD UK spec-only RS500 arrived in 1987 with more power, and just as much attitude. But it wasn’t until 1988 that the homologated-special RS Cosworth became a mainstream model with the toned-down, subtly-styled Sapphire sedan variant. Its 150 mph top-speed, power, and subtle, understated body of the Sapphire variant made it the must-have sleeper for buyers. But it wasn’t just buyers who wanted them.

Lack Of Security Boosts Popularity Amongst Thieves

Poor security made the UK’s ultimate 80s sleeper the number one choice for criminals. Thanks to the Sierra’s combination of simple, cheaper lock designs and ignition vulnerabilities, both the locking and ignition system could be hot-wired by a simple screwdriver. The lack of alarms or factory-fitted immobilizers also made them the favorite amongst ram-raiders and joyriders. The problem became so significant, the car soon started to make news headlines.

A Nationwide Problem Which Had To Be Dealt With

Used in a number of getaways, the spate of Sierra RS Cosworth thefts became a nationwide problem, often making headline news as a ‘wanted’ target on programs like BBC’s Crimewatch UK. It was claimed that every Sierra RS Cosworth would be stolen at least once in its lifetime — making them virtually uninsurable, like the Range Rover was more recently. A 1994 episode of BBC’s Crimewatch UK reconstructed thieves using a stolen Sierra Cosworth as their getaway car for a jewelry heist which took place in Stratford-upon-Avon in the same year. But this wasn’t the only case where a Sierra RS Cosworth was used to abscond from the authorities.

The Getaways: The Fast Ford Which Terrorized Britain

The Sierra was well-documented in a number of escapes during the late 80s and early 90s, which turned the nationwide problem into the car which terrorized a whole country.

Getaway 1: Unigate Depot

In 1993, a Cosworth was involved in an armed robbery in Poole, in Dorset. This time, a black four-door 4×4 Sapphire along with another Ford was stolen from a main dealer. Although the whereabouts of the second Ford weren’t documented, the black 4×4 Cosworth was later used to ram-raid a Unigate depot, before fleeing. Police tried to apprehend the stolen car, but failed due to the threat of the occupants’ firearms. The stolen Sierra was in the thieves’ possession for a month and was on false plates.

Getaway 2: Autocar’s Long-Term Test Car Stolen Twice

British publication Autocar’s long-term test car was stolen, which was later found and recovered by the police, who held onto it to trap the thieves who nicked it when they returned. But unfortunately, before they could do so, it was stolen by a different group. Let’s just say the car was too hot to handle.

Getaway 3: Metro Centre Gateshead

Back in 1991, during the peak of the ram-raiding, thieves targeted the Metro Centre in Gateshead using another stolen Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth to smash through the fire exits — targeting a high-end jeweler, making off with £100,000 in goods. Yet again, the number plates were obscured to prevent CCTV and the authorities from tracing the car’s identity.

Getaway 4: Curry’s in Wiltshire

One instance in 1992, saw the Sierra’s pace keep up with a 911. A grey 911 was stolen on April 20 from Fulham in London, along with a Sierra RS Cosworth two days later in Harrow, North West London. Both cars were used in a getaway from a Curry’s store in Wiltshire, making off with £100,000 in videos and camcorders. They reached speeds of up to 150 mph, turning Britain’s highways into race circuits, before being abandoned in Bristol. To prevent being pursued by the police, the gang slashed the tires of 12 police cars at the local station.

Getaway 5: Only Rosso Red Theft

Built for the Duke of Bedford by Ford’s Special Engineering Team in 1986, this only Rosso Red, three-door RS Cosworth later found home with successful touring car driver Vince Woodman who was also the owner of the VMW Motors Ford dealership in South Glocestershire near Bristol at the time. One day, while it was sitting on the dealer’s forecourt with the keys left in the car’s ignition, the Sierra was stolen from the premises. But it was soon recovered after Vince gave chase in a customer’s car.

Because the number of Cosworth thefts was spiraling out of control, and the car became a nationwide problem (in the wrong hands), the UK’s police forces had to do something to deal with the situation.

Police Response: Buy Their Own To Keep Up With Them

Northumbria Police decided to invest in their own Sapphire RS Cosworth to join their fleet of fast-response police pursuit intercept vehicles so they could tackle the rampant wave of crime in the region. But even this couldn’t stop the epidemic of stolen Sierra Cosworths. In 1993, two men by the name of Paul Oliver and Ian Howard snatched the constabulary’s £21,000 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth from the force’s compound in Newcastle. They managed to evade capture using the car’s in-built radio scanner to dodge the police.

Now, you could call these petty, low-level crimes, but the Sierra’s notorious reputation in the underhand world earned it a place in the top-tier level of British criminality, often becoming associated with gangland culture in the country.

A Member Of The Underworld’s Infamous Elite

The Sierra’s reputation with drug gangs in the 80s / 90s became as famous as the Range Rover’s were back then and currently is today. During the investigation of the famed Essex Boy Rettendon murders in 1995, it was alleged rival gang members Jack Whomes and Michael Steele who were accused of killing the notorious drug dealers Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craige Rolfe, were involved in an international cannabis smuggling operation, where testimonies revealed a Sierra RS Cosworth formed part of their criminal enterprise, but this has not been verified.

Also, on New Year’s Eve in 1993, British mobster and boxer-turned-bouncer Viv Graham was shot three times inches away from his maroon four-door Sapphire RS Cosworth. The exact events of the shooting involving the Sierra are unclear. Some sources revealed Viv was shot while getting into the car, while others revealed the Sierra’s window was smashed in to make the gangster hesitate or to activate the car’s alarm drawing him in to the secluded spot in which it was parked for an ambush. What is clear, though, is the Sierra belonged to Viv who was shot dead, and the car was present at the murder scene. This case came two years after another incident in 1991, when Cheetham Hill gang member Anthony Johnson was murdered in his white Ford Sierra RS Cosworth in Manchester.

The Sierra’s strong association with criminal gangs gave it a notorious reputation which has been remembered for the wrong reasons. But it’s for these reasons, along with its supercar performance, that has made this 80s sleeper, the most legendary getaway car ever. Even more significant than Vauxhall’s Lotus Carlton which earned a similar reputation during the 90s.

Sources: BBC, Crimewatch UK – Andy Gibson, Crime Pulse, Evans Halshaw, GOV UK, Hagerty, JLR