If you like this style video, check out my McLaren F1 stories because some of those are crazy. Search ‘Geoff Buys McLaren’ in the search bar. For some reason they haven’t ever really gotten any views but they’re heavily researched and interesting and funny!! 👍👍👍
M982 GAT. I commissioned, designed and developed it and I know everything about it. I personally developed the car with Ford Motorsport and GSE. The car never got crashed in police service nor did it ever get blown up or lose a sump. The under body protection was fitted at new to prevent damage. It was indeed a motorsport shell but I had it built with a sunroof aperture to accept a cassette light bar assembly which was a thing of the day then. I last heard of it by chance from the then owner in about 2008 and he resided in W. Yorks. I recall he was in the RS Owners club. If anyone wants the entire police provenience for this vehicle please feel free to contact me.
I guess you'd then know my uncle, John Wheeler, was chief engineer...went for a drive as a kid in the video clip with either François or Miki Biasion back in 1994 through Woodhill forest in Auckland in New Zealand when they were testing for the WRC rally 1:29 th-cam.com/video/r2lqiZ_TpbE/w-d-xo.html
My uncle Dave made the screws that held the falangie into the upper right hand left support. His wife, auntie Ethel was a weatherman on the radio back when it was in black and white who broadcast through the month on every third Saturday of the week. They had three children, two girls and two boys. Three of the girls went to private school at the local comprehensive and the boys were home schooled and were bullied by the other kids in her class. Both of them are now Doctors at a dental surgery in Birmingham helping the homeless find a dog or a box of jellied eels. They tell me living in the capital is difficult as the bus service is very infrequent they are everywhere and when five come that one has a horse drawn carriage pulled by a bull on its way to be milked by George, my fathers first cousin to his brothers third wife who lived in Scotland near to Portsmouth, he had one of those cars as well as the fifth one ever made which was the twelfth off the production line at Volvo in Germany. I'll email a letter that he typed for me by hand, hope green pen is okay as I can't read yellow writing, I might be an unknown number so I'll leave a message in case you do answer. It will detail everything about the car including the change from four wheels to two wheels which is when it got a new brake lever on the upper bar at the local dealership before being turned around and had two extra wheels fitted onto the left side on the underneath. Together we'll find these buckets on our own and get them found or at the very least located.
@@funkduck1842 Whoever the hell you are... Please, please stick around. I need you to comment on every one of my videos, and this comment is absolutely going in part 2. Thank you for making me spit my tea out this morning....!
I recall getting stopped by one of them from Cheshire police in my MK II escort. Once he realised it was a ‘real’ rally car an interesting discussion of escort evolution ensued. No charges were mentioned nor brought!
It is on TH-cam the video posted years ago. It was being serviced at OMC Ford Chester Rd where they stole it from. Salford lads, it was being hand braked turned with the blues & twos, then got its doors bent back, then set a light
L255 YNL is a Northumbria car. I remember being at Tyne Car Auction on the coast road in Newcastle when several of these were sold by Northumbria Police back in the day. They were plenty of money at the time. Today they were for peanuts. L76 WRG & L475 BRG are also Northumbria cars.
Hi Geoff.. A very interesting video. The escort cosworth for Hull and Humberside certainly saw some action. I was studying in Hull a the time and joyriding was a huge issue for the city. Sadly residents would argue tho that, if anything it increased the volume of joyriders. The criminals wanted that badge of honour. To say that they'd outrun that beast of a car. I remember seeing on a Hull fair night, it was certainly been given the beans over a railway crossing near Walton Street Hull, it as others have mentioned always was followed closely by a BMW. We loved seeing it here in Humberside/Yorkshire. It was also called out to give chase to a work colleague. I was working at a dairy whilst studying, a lovely lad I worked alongside would just save and save to work and tune his Ford Escort RS Turbo.. Then one night in the very sleepy seaside town of Hornsea east yorkshire he decided (yes I like a fool) to see what it could do through the centre of this sleepy, tiny town. After about 45 minutes the cosworth showed up, again with the BMW in tow and proceeded to give chase. The speed is immaterial but it was over 100mph in a residential area. In case you were wondering he was caught, locked up that night and in the end lost his license. However the police giving chase still treated nice and discussed his beautiful RS. They both had a love for cars.. Sadly one went about it the wrong way.. Thanks for the video.. was great to remember and can't wait for the sapphires!!
Geoff buys cars... sometimes. But mostly he just tells us fun stories. Or describes everything that's fucked with transport in our wonderful country. Either way, I'm here for it.
I’ve considered a rebrand as I’ve sort of got all the cars I want now... the 850 TDi was my favourite but I’ve now fallen in love with the gold T5 auto, so these two are staying... what else could a man want?! A 50mpg cruiser and the worlds highest mileage T5...
@@Beauloqs yeah exactly. I’d gotten bored of making the videos before Christmas but this new stuff has reinvigorated me and the channel has grown as a result!
I was a dog handler who rode behind the Humberside Cossie in a Vauxhall Senator dog car. The Cossie had several sets of wheels, including a set of white narrow racing wheels, which gave better grip in the wet. I bet you didn't know we also had plain Cossie in metallic green.
I remember a Blues And Twos episode with Humberside Police where a cossie and a Senator worked together. The cossie was M982 GAT. Mark Shingles was the dog handler in that episode, but I'm guessing you were still Humberside?
@@derekcole5593 Good old RCS... Straight onto your patch followed by "... Four I/C for money laundering. Can we get a local unit to..." Followed swiftly by the simultaneous groans of the IRT sargent, and the only Bobby in CID/Interview Team who hasn't picked up a prisoner that morning 😭
The Sierra RS Cosworth from the legendary BBC documentary X Cars is still alive somewhere apparently. (If you haven’t seen X Cars it’s a must see. Greater Manchester’s car crime squad, basically 25 year old blokes in Cossies with speed exemptions in the mid 90s). It’s on TH-cam.
@@JohnnyPaton some episodes make you guess if it’s staged or not but I don’t think it is. The comedy value in them is class love banter between the guys on it.
@@ThomasEdward old school blokey magic. I’m sure a lot of policing is tough work but theirs was a dream job. Getting up each morning/evening to drive a Cosworth, RS2000 or 220GSi and chasing crims and busting up ringing gangs. Brilliant.
@@JohnnyPaton that’s thing I noticed other day actually after watching them all this time the 220 Rover R8 shape I love me rovers. But they used also Mk3 Astra GSI and GSI Cav’s too! I love ep where there’s flat battery on the RS200 and they all standing around it in the street with the boss looks like Mr Bean.
I bought L475 BRG in 2001 . Gave it a full respray in original diamond white .I also had major electrical problems. Turned out the wires had rubbed through where the main loom passes through the bulkhead . I sold it to Daz . He only kept it about a year then sold it on . He then bought a black one . These are two different cars . L475 BRG was eventually painted imperial blue . It’s still alive in a lads garage after getting stolen then recovered. Hope this helps Dave Gascoigne
I managed to own one back in the day (not X police) but unfortunately I just couldn’t afford it. I lived 3 miles from work and it cost me about £10 a day in fuel to floor it there and back, and you don’t buy a Cosworth to drive slow so sadly we had to part ways. It was like losing a loved one but it just bled my account dry. The Sierra was just as iconic and I actually felt emotional over the torched one. I’d love to own one now I’m older but they were bought to be thrashed so finding a good runner today would be expensive enough to cause problems In my marriage. Lol
Very interesting video, my dad was a WYP officer and was mates with many in "traffic". Round here in more rural West Yorkshire there were no Cossies, however slightly later on they had a Mondeo St200, and if I recall a very rare St200 estate. Over in Leeds, and seen on the TV documentary "The Nick", the area patrols used Mk 5 RS2000s and Astra GSis for pursuits. I do recall as you say Humberside having Cossies, Subarus and Evos as one of the first police documentaries in the vain of todays interceptors etc had them on. An interesting subject. Would love to see your Sapphire Cos "chapter".
I remember the Humberside EsCos piling into the railings outside ToysRus in Hull in an attempt to get stopped at the traffic lights, closely followed by a dog section to put cones out
Hi Geoff, I owned L255 YNL 24 years ago, I smashed it into some barriers and sold it with 105,000 miles on for £8000. It now has a completely different engine in as the engine in the photos is from a newer model👍
I almost bought it for £21k back in 2018 but the seller took a slightly higher bid from someone else that never materialised and in the meantime I bought another. I liked the history behind it but it needed a lot of work, wrong head as you say, front wings had been replaced at some point and not done the greatest, a bit of rust and paintwork needed etc and there was talk that it had done 280k miles at that point (or more) as the mileage history on the HPI is scatty in the early days! Still gutted it never came off as I feel the history outweighs all the negatives and it’s good to keep cars with a backstory like these alive for all to see!
@@John_Wood_ like a lot of old RS’s you try finding one, these escorts would of done 150k minimum on 99,999k speedos and nobody has ever sold a 200k mile Cosworth as the cars are worth too much and the type of people buying them are scrupulous about maximising the value
@@jeffheineken6709 unsure mate, the paperwork the seller sent me at the time with the original registration docs shows Northumbria police, Newcastle upon Tyne in June 1994
My dad worked across a few different forces over his career and he told me about a Sierra Saph traffic car that allegedly hit 150mph on a call and due to the wind resistance it ripped the lights clean off the roof 😂 I couldn't tell you any detailed info on it or even if it really happened but it's an interesting story non the less.
I knew a cop who when the local force was looking to replace their current car contract (think it was then Rovers), they had kind of an open event where different manufacturers gave them cars to test (BMW, Volvo, Vauxhall, Rover Ford etc) he and his partner drove them all over a few days (along with other cops from other regions). One of them was the Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, he said it had a sticker on the dash stating that the car was fitted with all round discs brakes with ABS and a warning of its stopping power, so he decided to test that statement. His story was that him and his partner (in the car) had been doing multiple very high speed runs and when he’d got it back up to about 150mph stood as hard as he could on the brakes……it stopped very very well (they were both very impressed), but a couple of miles down the road it started to vibrate a lot, so he stopped the car for a look around it, the brakes didn’t look or smell right. So they radioed in and the Ford team came to them, they had completely buckled all four discs and the Ford team couldn’t understand how that was possible. Next day Ford had changed all the brakes and they were off out in it again but with in half an hour the turbo had blown and the discs buckled again……
Another Sierra Cosworth story (not police related); but my mate at school, his dad owned a Ford Dealership and because of sales figures was given by Ford UK a Sierra Cosworth the original (teardrop, whale tail) in Moonstone Blue, he got it a few days before they went on sale to the public (so was told he can’t drive it until the official release day). His dad appeared at school in it (the day before the official release day)…….My god it was stunning, it was the car equivalent of Bo Derek coming out of the sea in Tarzan the Ape Man (had the same effect 😂). I’ll never forget that day and sitting in it……. My dads mate had a Black one and he lost the back end several times in the wet on round-abouts (they were like the Capri in that sense), I think that’s why Ford switched to the Sapphire and 4x4……
We had the Sierra Sapphire Cosworths as Traffic and Armed Response vehicles in early 90s. The armed ones had the rear seats removed to hold the gun cabinet.
I once chatted with some Humberside offices in an Escort Cosworth back in the day. Their car had white OZ race wheels fitted, and when I asked why they had expensive race wheels fitted they told me it was because they kept smashing the standard ones when they drove up kerbs at speed!
Geoff, I have an idea where the missing cars might be. A lot of older rally cars (ex WRC etc.) end up here in Ireland, people pay the VRT, they are then Irish registered, the RS Cossy is pretty much a rally car, it doesn't take much to race prepare them. Check out the Circuit of Ireland rally maybe.
There were a fair amount of Escort Cosworth rally cars here in Ireland in the late 90's and early 00's some fond memories and noises I'll never forget 😁
I was going to suggest that maybe they'd been exported, as years ago I sold a car to someone from eastern Europe who was living in London and subsequent checks have shown it never to be MOTd, taxed, or sold since (and it wan't by any means a scrapper). I assume they took it home with them.
I went to the factory launch, two days of being wooed by the Ford Blue Oval machine. One memory of Robbie Head beckoning me over and we got in a launch Escort Cosworth and having a rather swift and entertaining run around the Boreham complex. Health and Safety hadn’t come to the fore then, the looks of the staff in the old cows sheds said it all as stones and dust flew ….
I remember the unmarked white sapphire cosworth in Warwickshire around 93/94. I got pulled over loads of the times as I was a spotty teenager on a 50cc motorbike riding late at night on the way home from the pub I used to work at.
Great video. All Escort RS Cosworths were four wheel drive. The were based on the Sierra running gear and chassis. I’m amazed that a total of 7,145 were made at the Karmann plant in Rheine, Germany. I thought the total would have been around 3,000. Looking forward to the video about the Sapphires.
Y255 YNL is on another channel selling at an auction. When I seen it advertised I thought of your channel straight away mate. I've never watched the video yet but I'm going to go watch it now. It says the upload was 3 weeks old so it's still around. Take care mate. Just watched it and it he said it didn't sell but had a buy it now price of £46 000.
I am 70 years old now , but in my early years of transporter driving with mcd , I was given the job of delivering Cornworths and as daft as it seems now they were just another car to me , in fact they were a pain in the arse to deliver to dealers , they were low , and front skirts grounded when unloading them ,
You’re a div for not using a piece of wood to tilt the car over and clear the ramps, if I can do it you could but as you didn’t care it shows what people like you were like
M982GAT was a humberside police car that was built for them by ford as a special. It had Group N rally car suspension wheels and increased engine performance from 225 bhp to 260 bhp. It also had under body protection and a different profile tyres from 45 to 50 profile Michelin tyres. The car was featured in a MAX Power magazine and it also featured in a TV programme called Blues and Twos where is was followed around by the 24v Senator with a dog in the back. The episode of Blues and Twos was on TH-cam a while ago but it’s gone missing. As for the stolen police sapphire Cosworth the video of that being driven around is on TH-cam. If you did do a video on the sapphires it would be a long one as from 1989-1996 they got used a lot especially in areas like Manchester. Also police spec sapphires had no sunroof and especially the 92 facelift cars had special black recaro cloth seats front and rear.
@@shoominati23 it was used quite a lot. As humberside had a huge car crime issue the car was a message that they are taking the problem seriously. The upgrades meant it could drive over speed bumps and follow cars off road without issues.
@@shoominati23 Hi Geoff.. A very interesting video. The escort cosworth for Hull and Humberside certainly saw some action. I was studying in Hull a the time and joyriding was a huge issue for the city. Sadly residents would argue tho that, if anything it increased the volume of joyriders. The criminals wanted that badge of honour. To say that they'd outrun that beast of a car. I remember seeing on a Hull fair night, it was certainly been given the beans over a railway crossing near Walton Street Hull, it as others have mentioned always was followed closely by a BMW. We loved seeing it here in Humberside/Yorkshire. It was also called out to give chase to a work colleague. I was working at a dairy whilst studying a lovely lad I worked alongside would just save and save to work and tune his Ford Escort RS Turbo.. Then one night in the very sleepy seaside town of Hornsea east yorkshire he decided (yes I like a fool) to see what it could do through the centre of this sleepy, tiny town. After about 45 minutes the cosworth showed up, again with the BMW in tow and proceeded to give chase. The speed is immaterial but it was over 100mph in a residential area. In case you were wondering he was caught, locked up that night and lost his license. However the police giving chase still treated nice and discussed his beautiful RS. They both had a love for cars.. Sadly one went about it the right way.. Thanks for the video.. was great to remember and can't wait for the sapphires!!
I’ve spoken to the guy who built all the Cosworths featured by Geoff so far who says the escort Cosworths had Group N brakes too which was abs modules disconnected inside the car, ap racing discs and carbon pads which there are 2 types (colours) and this was to supply a car that would lock the rear brakes up and have other pads that wouldn’t on the rear and they all had AP 600 racing fluid. He was there when Gwyndaf Evans would test the Escort Cosworths with the police officers at a RAF base and at that time Gwyndaf was Ford Motorsport development driver and rally driver who won the 1996 British Rally Championship in Ford Escort RS2000’s
I could be wrong, but I've got a vague memory that the "FL" designation on fords just meant they weren't built any of their standard trim levels. They were special order vehicles, so the police may have ordered a top spec car, with the best running gear, but without leather seats, and with an easy to clean poverty spec carpet. I seem to remember that some of the police Cosworths were ordered with 1" smaller wheels (15" instead of 16") to help prevent rims/tyres getting destroyed from things like hitting speed bumps at 80mph, but I can't recall if this meant they also needed smaller brake discs too.
Can’t believe you spoiled someone’s fun in a Dacia Duster! What a classy couple. Only you (and me!) would park next to a steamed up car in an otherwise empty car park. Great video Geoff, roll on the Sapphires!
In the USA, Florida highway patrol commissioned 200 or so V8 Camaros for high speed pursuit. Less than 20 we're able to be auctioned off once they were too old to keep in service.
L475BRG was last issued a v5 in 2004 and colour changed in 2006 and has a plate change marker on it. M969PRM is still white according to the dvla and had a v5 issued in March 2020 no plate change marker. L602UVE no plate changes might be scrapped as it seems to have had a hard life. M982GAT has never had a v5 issued apart from the 1st one but has a plate change marker.
Great video mate, absolutely fascinating. A Cossie has to be at least 50K+ nowadays? You do you remember when Essex cops (i think) used to run Imprezas and Evos in the mid 2000s?
I have an anecdote on this, years ago my father had an American classic car and he knew a man called Richard (Dick) Gibb (RIP) who ran a workshop out of his property north of Morpeth on the A1. I used to go along when my father got work done on his car and quite often a policeman would be there chatting with Mr Gibb. I remember that he had a really tricked out accident investigation van at the time. He told us a story about how he used to drive a police Cosworth 'back in the day' and he was heading for Blyth on the A189 being paced by (I think but I might be wrong) a contemporary Subaru, something clearly 'fast'. He told us some emergency call came out to transport a doctor from somewhere nearby to something awful so he had to (it was either) 'leave for dead' or 'left him standing' the Subaru and stormed off on the call. It was a really entertaining story to listen to and when I pass Dick Gibb's old place I think about it. I live in Northumberland so maybe one of those cars is lurking around here somewhere. Thanks for the video, take care!
I used to work in an office in West Midlands where residential houses had been converted and rear garden car parks were regularly used by the red light district to turn tricks, i often saw steamed up cars, rocking and rolling😜 I remember the cops using ford cossie sierras and escorts and the odd Scooby and evos, my cousin had a sierra cossie nicked once😢 and another relative used to auto grass an evo. I own a 20 year old scooby that’s been my daily drive for 17 years😊
This has to be one of my fav cars EVER but unfortunately for me I could never afford one back in the mid 90’s. But now they are £60k for a tatty one I don’t think I could bring myself to part with that much cash especially now knowing I could be buying an ex-cop car with 15 new engines and 7 turbo replacements 😂🙈 Amazing video though and thanks for the research, must have been time consuming to say the least!
Not a police Cosworth story, but in the early 90s I worked for a large financial company based in Edinburgh. At the time, certain management types could get a company car and seniority dictated the budget - which was the only restriction. One such manager realised that instead a dull 3 series, he could get a Sierra Sapphire Cosworth for the same money, so he did. The problem was, all the company cars were on a corporate insurance policy - everyone over 21 in the company was insured to drive a company car. The insurance premium for the Cosworth cost more than the car did . . . and that was when the rules and limitations came in about what cars managers were allowed to buy.
I guess I got brought to this channel because I have a Cosworth Mercedes. Nevertheless, very interesting to know that these cars with their rally Pedegree got used as police fleet vehicles. We got Ford escorts in the states, but they were a bit of a laugh in comparison to what was available in the same timeline. We didn’t even get the Sierra, we got What was referred to as the Merkur XR4Ti, which came as I believe a 2.3 turbo and a V6 variant. I can’t wait to hear an update on some of these missing vehicles.
Wow Skipton thats just up the road from me! Never knew they ran Cossies there, didn't even know Skipton fell under WYP to be honest.. You live and learn! Plenty of challenging country roads round there to test the road holding to the limit - Not much would have gotten away from a well driven Cossie on those roads. I'm chuffed to see quite a few of them seem to have survived post-police use. I don't think you can get into a Cos for under £40k now, even project/repair one. Looking forward to learning more about the Sapphires, I expect they were used in larger numbers? Nice video very well researched.
Enjoyed that one mate 👍 I remember my mate working at a Ford dealer in Gateshead had a couple of these in for warranty work!! I worked at the same dealership a few years later, we repaired a Sapphire cossy ex police for the sales managers brother!! Had one in the front but repaired no bother!! Can't remember the reg of it now.. But I ended up with the original motor out of it, bought it in bits for next to nothing!! Sold it a few years later for a fifth of what they are now!! 😭😭 Yeah more on the Sapphires if you can 👍
@@GeoffBuysCars Many many years ago... I worked for a place called Dewitts race & Rally.. We Sometimes had to "Fiddle" with the ECU's and give the engine a little tweak on the South Wales Police's Sierra Cosworths.. They were around 400bhp after that.. It was the same tune we used on some Group N cars we built.. Great channel mate... Thanks..
Our county ran mostly Vauxhalls in the 90's. Motorway units had a bunch of Carltons and one GSi. Undercovers ran a couple of red 1.6 Astras, pandas were Fiestas and the vans, Transits. Mostly like the rest of the country now, running Volvos, Fords and BMW's.
From what 1 of Northumbrias now retired inspectors told me, the Cosworths were great cars, but liked to crack engine blocks! They would fly up the A1 at warp speed and high engine temperature, then come to a sudden stop and while parked at the scene and cool down quickly the block would crack, might explain why had so many engines! There was also the story at the time 1 of the brand new fresh from the factory Cosworths, possibly was a Sierra, was stolen off the delivery truck when unloading, never to be seen again, didn't even get as far as being made into a police car!
Out here in New South Wales Australia, back in the late seventies early eighties the highway patrol had 5.8 litre Ford XC Falcon Coupes', when the XD falcon arrived they were only available in a six cylinder model . They had to wait for the XE which were fitted with the same (351 cui) 5.8 engine, to go back to decent cars. They did use Valiant Charges as Highway Cars as well as the Holden Torana 6 cyl, the old chargers were always left idling as they would not fire up again if turned off when hot. A mate of mine who was a high ranking highway officer before his retirement, had an unmarked Falcon Typhoon. Before the 100,000km warranties came in the state government made money on ex government vehicles, they went to auction at 20,000km They had the purchasing power no state taxes (prior to GST). The vehicles are stripped of light sirens radios etc but are left with the additional wiring harness. Now nearly all the highway cars are BMW's leased from BMW and go back to BMW to be disposed of. Not sure what happens to them but they are not available to the public.
We have only one vehicle manufacturer left in Australia, a company called IVECO formerly International Trucks. We have just been sent down the gurgler by different political groups. We had tarifs covering local production but once they were removed the local manufacturers folded. It started with Chrysler being taken over by Mitsubishi, but they were still producing Magnas here in OZ. Then the federal Government gave hundreds of millions of dollars to Holden, who promptly sent the money to the US and then shut down manufacturing here. Then Ford stopped the Falcon and started selling imported Fords, the most popular vehicle in Australia is the Ford Ranger. The whole downfall started with a senator called John Button, his dream was for model sharing. The Falcon ute became a Nissan ute, the Nissan Pintara became a Ford Corsair the Nissan Patrol became a Ford Maverick. The Holden Commodore became a Toyota Lexcen,and so the industry turned to shit!
I never knew the police used the Escort Cosworth, i knew they used the Sierra Cosworth so it would be nice to hear the history of those too. Id put money on these now been either show queens, or mothballed needing restoration, or just mothballed until the money goes up more. I wouldn't mind owning a car with history like that, be a great talking point.
Police Rover SDI 3.5 used to transport donor organs ( Liver Run ) is a interesting story . Humberside Police used a Savage Cortina with a tuned V6 and the reg number had 999 on it .
I'm so interested in this... An old local guy used to have an imperial Blue cossie and over time got it up in the 500bhp mark and it was unreal how clean but he said with age and the fear of car jackers breaking in he sold it. Also with the price increasing some people may be hesitant on saying. Would be good if all we're found and you could meet them and the cars in person as I think it would make great content with all having back stories etc. Would be even better if the cars and owners we're found but also the officers that drove the specific cars and get their stories. Also got yourself a new subscriber👍
Loved the video Geoff,don't know where you find all the info and pics from,but it's really interesting, I've had two x police cars 1 senator,for 3years,and 1 omega,the senator was only 2years old and an x Thames valley car the best out of the two a 3lt straight 6man trans,it really shifted,thanks for the time you put in making these videos.
There where other forces in the uk who used the cosworth. There would of been a local garage in each force area who would demarque the car and strip it for resale. I know in Merseyside police there where several cosworths in use including a grey one that pulled me over when i was 19. There will be a ton of these in private hands now you will never see again. There are loads in Dubai in ford collections and loads gone over to the states
Yes there was several used in my area too, West Cumbria (Workington/Whitehaven) though from memory the whale tail was omitted being only fitted with the lower boot spoiler.
M982GAT was the humberside police car i believe ( AT Is the hull number plate prefix) i friend of mine who used to work at Hartford moters at grimsby ( which was an RS dealership whare the hull ford dealership wasn't) fitted there cosworth with a Group A sump guard because they kept smashing sumps in mounting kerbs while chasing joyriders around grimsby !!! They also had to disable the car when it came in for any work by takeing the starter moter off because it got seen driving about " on road test " by one of the mechanics with the flashing lights on by the police one day 🤦 after that only the master techs ( which is one of the guys i know) could road test them only with a police officer sat in with them to make sure there wasn't " messing about" 😏
My Dad a seirra sapphire cosworth moonstone blue with leathers and had to go up to Birmingham in it for or a work meeting. He pulled into a multi story carpark and the security at the front shouted to him to go no further. He said to my Dad that gets parked right next to my booth right there, he said if you put that anywhere else it will be gone in 5mins!!!
Interesting stories Geoff , I can remember the Sapphire that was nicked and burnt out In Manchester 😢, I had a Sapphire Cosworth 20 years ago , boy I wish I had it now 😉
M982GAT was a Humberside car which if i remember right was brought in to use because hull had the worst car crime in the Yorkshire area. it was a motorsport car with the oz wheels, it had higher suspension to deal with chasing cars over fields etc and the front splitter was removed as the police realised they were too expensive to replace every time they damaged one. it was in my home town of Doncaster for about a month and we always tried to get pulled by it just so we could get a look around it. i do somewhere have a couple of photos of it and of the saph cossies we had in Doncaster. i also still have the copy of max power that it was featured in, i'll get it out of the cupboard and find the specs of the car for you.
There was a TV programme that followed a police Escort Cosworth that ran with a Vauxhall Senator dog unit as a pair. I think it was Humberside police, but can't be sure.
According to "How many left" there are only 28 Cosworths left actually taxed and on the road with another 100 SORN with only just over 7,000 made in total. That is something like only 2 in every 100 made still in existence. Great fun they may be but they were not built like a Mercedes!
Not quite the escort but I remember when I was first in the police up Guildford way they had a few what looked like sierra sapphire cosworths that were in fact the non turbo 2 litre. Great looking cars.
I’ve got details and pics of 11 Police Escort Cosworth’s and in excess of 40 Sierra Sapphire Cosworth’s. All have pics and I can tell you the registrations some of them are now on. Please get in touch if you’d like any more info. I’ve got too much info to post on here
Your Volvo estate reminded me of another funny story of a mate who was a Volvo salesman back in the day, he sold top of the range T5 estate to a trav-eler type, they returned it 6 weeks later complaining of a noisey back axle. On inspection they had removed the new axle and replaced it with a knackered one of an old model and wanted it repairing under warranty🤦♂️😂😂😂
What a cracking video I remember the Hull one running out of Hessle Police station were it was based with a bmw 3 series. Can we have a video on the Police Vauxhall Omegas at some point please, very underated by people at the time but the traffic guys loved them, (I've owned 6) Kind regards
Many years ago just before the escort Cosworth was developed a nice gentleman and friend of my dad called rod Mansfield came to stay at my parents B & B for a few months. He all ways came in a shiny Sierra Cosworth. One winters day he came in a new shape escort with barely any interior in the vehicle. That evening I needed a lift to the next village about 6 miles down the country lanes and he offered to give me a lift in said escort. When I got in the vehicle he then told me this was a pre production test model vehicle(escort Cosworth) and dont worry about the mess of the wiring loom and non existent dashboard. Omg I have never been so scared as he showed me what this car was capable of on a dark slippery country lane. I will never forget that journey and the fact the he showed me and my father (an ex rally driver) everything.
If like any other force cars of that era they were probably returned to the dealership and then given an extra “no warranty given tag “ and a new id and sold on hence some disappear off radar with a plate change You should see how many owners have the round no warranty tag on slam panel Although these were also given to other problematic cars returned and bought back due to issues
Hi Geoff I’d like to hear about the sapphire cosworth I’m really into these cars. I’d love to have 1 but just crazy prices on these cars. Loved your vid on the escort cosworths though. Stay safe 🤙🏻
Another great video mate! I've not read the 300+ comments so this may have been said already but M969PRM was Cumbria Constabulary, crest on the drivers door gives it away 🙂
Geoff i love stuff like this being a fan of the max power era i see all those cars from back in the day and do reg checks they dont show as written off or scrapped but they are mot expired where are they on this planet nobody knows…. But someone must know!
I worked for a Chrysler Jeep dealership in Warwickshire (mid/late 90s) the local constabulary use to run a Jeep Cherokee 4l, always thought it was an interesting choice, not sure there where many of them about.
Talking of Police Cars, you should do a collab with Ben Pearson, I'm sure he was Traffic Police up that neck of the woods. Lovely cars, great video. Take care, Poo
I've heard some brilliant story's from when aben was a WYP Traffic cop and obviously on channel 5s interceptors. He claims in over 15 years as a Traffic cop for west Yorkshire the Vectra VXR was the best car he drove certainly enjoyed them more than 330 and 530d's
Lancashire police had one based in Preston. A buddy had built a corsa with a calibra turbo swap and his buddy drove the police cossie , they had a race on the dual carriageway out of Preston and the corsa destroyed it once it was in 3rd ..... This was a very long time ago tho.
@@GeoffBuysCars Nothing exciting, was just pulled in the early hours on my way home from a night out. I was in a Renualt 5 'GT Turbo' lookalike. It had a 1.1 engine in it so was never gonna outrun it.
Had the chance to buy a blue one of these at car auction when nobody would touch them due to insurance companies ratcheting up their premiums. Ended up with an XR2i. Bought that for £3500 and sold it 18 months later for £4000. Cosworth went for £5600.
@@GeoffBuysCars I for one would definitely watch a video on the sapphires, not just fords, would be interesting to see any ex police cars surviving, anything with a back story fascinates me.
Ex Police cars used to be common, not RS's but Capri 2.8's, Escorts all in basic trim. ALL had bodged wiring, holes cut out everywhere and worn out carpets on the drivers side. Going back further a zip in the headlining for the the wiring for the lights on top. They used to be pennies to buy. I wouldn't but one today even at the prices they were going for then. Right bodge jobs.
If you like this style video, check out my McLaren F1 stories because some of those are crazy. Search ‘Geoff Buys McLaren’ in the search bar. For some reason they haven’t ever really gotten any views but they’re heavily researched and interesting and funny!! 👍👍👍
Because of the price of Cosworth's and their parts, owners might not be too keen on everyone knowing they own one.
Omg I want to buy one so bad
M982 GAT. I commissioned, designed and developed it and I know everything about it. I personally developed the car with Ford Motorsport and GSE. The car never got crashed in police service nor did it ever get blown up or lose a sump. The under body protection was fitted at new to prevent damage. It was indeed a motorsport shell but I had it built with a sunroof aperture to accept a cassette light bar assembly which was a thing of the day then. I last heard of it by chance from the then owner in about 2008 and he resided in W. Yorks. I recall he was in the RS Owners club. If anyone wants the entire police provenience for this vehicle please feel free to contact me.
Can you email me? Geoffbuyscars@gmail.com 😊
I guess you'd then know my uncle, John Wheeler, was chief engineer...went for a drive as a kid in the video clip with either François or Miki Biasion back in 1994 through Woodhill forest in Auckland in New Zealand when they were testing for the WRC rally
1:29 th-cam.com/video/r2lqiZ_TpbE/w-d-xo.html
My uncle Dave made the screws that held the falangie into the upper right hand left support. His wife, auntie Ethel was a weatherman on the radio back when it was in black and white who broadcast through the month on every third Saturday of the week. They had three children, two girls and two boys. Three of the girls went to private school at the local comprehensive and the boys were home schooled and were bullied by the other kids in her class. Both of them are now Doctors at a dental surgery in Birmingham helping the homeless find a dog or a box of jellied eels. They tell me living in the capital is difficult as the bus service is very infrequent they are everywhere and when five come that one has a horse drawn carriage pulled by a bull on its way to be milked by George, my fathers first cousin to his brothers third wife who lived in Scotland near to Portsmouth, he had one of those cars as well as the fifth one ever made which was the twelfth off the production line at Volvo in Germany. I'll email a letter that he typed for me by hand, hope green pen is okay as I can't read yellow writing, I might be an unknown number so I'll leave a message in case you do answer. It will detail everything about the car including the change from four wheels to two wheels which is when it got a new brake lever on the upper bar at the local dealership before being turned around and had two extra wheels fitted onto the left side on the underneath. Together we'll find these buckets on our own and get them found or at the very least located.
@@funkduck1842 Whoever the hell you are... Please, please stick around. I need you to comment on every one of my videos, and this comment is absolutely going in part 2. Thank you for making me spit my tea out this morning....!
@@funkduck1842 ha ha brilliant! I get the gag I really do !pmsl👏👏👏😂😂😂
I recall getting stopped by one of them from Cheshire police in my MK II escort. Once he realised it was a ‘real’ rally car an interesting discussion of escort evolution ensued. No charges were mentioned nor brought!
I would love to see a follow-up video on the Sapphire Cosworth police cars
Yes please
It is on TH-cam the video posted years ago.
It was being serviced at OMC Ford Chester Rd where they stole it from. Salford lads, it was being hand braked turned with the blues & twos, then got its doors bent back, then set a light
Right then, I guess that’s next!
I owned one.
I own one, now a race car
I find all this “lets try and find information on old cars and play detective” absolutely great to watch!
Well then I shall do some more! Check out my video buying cars from 2006, in my uploads
L255 YNL is a Northumbria car. I remember being at Tyne Car Auction on the coast road in Newcastle when several of these were sold by Northumbria Police back in the day. They were plenty of money at the time. Today they were for peanuts. L76 WRG & L475 BRG are also Northumbria cars.
Hi Geoff.. A very interesting video. The escort cosworth for Hull and Humberside certainly saw some action. I was studying in Hull a the time and joyriding was a huge issue for the city. Sadly residents would argue tho that, if anything it increased the volume of joyriders. The criminals wanted that badge of honour. To say that they'd outrun that beast of a car. I remember seeing on a Hull fair night, it was certainly been given the beans over a railway crossing near Walton Street Hull, it as others have mentioned always was followed closely by a BMW. We loved seeing it here in Humberside/Yorkshire.
It was also called out to give chase to a work colleague. I was working at a dairy whilst studying, a lovely lad I worked alongside would just save and save to work and tune his Ford Escort RS Turbo.. Then one night in the very sleepy seaside town of Hornsea east yorkshire he decided (yes I like a fool) to see what it could do through the centre of this sleepy, tiny town. After about 45 minutes the cosworth showed up, again with the BMW in tow and proceeded to give chase. The speed is immaterial but it was over 100mph in a residential area. In case you were wondering he was caught, locked up that night and in the end lost his license. However the police giving chase still treated nice and discussed his beautiful RS. They both had a love for cars.. Sadly one went about it the wrong way..
Thanks for the video.. was great to remember and can't wait for the sapphires!!
It wasn't followed by a bmw, it was always in tandem with a vauxhall senator.
@@simonmcmaster8949
A dog carrying Senator no less 😉
Geoff buys cars... sometimes. But mostly he just tells us fun stories. Or describes everything that's fucked with transport in our wonderful country. Either way, I'm here for it.
I’ve considered a rebrand as I’ve sort of got all the cars I want now... the 850 TDi was my favourite but I’ve now fallen in love with the gold T5 auto, so these two are staying... what else could a man want?! A 50mpg cruiser and the worlds highest mileage T5...
@@Beauloqs yeah exactly. I’d gotten bored of making the videos before Christmas but this new stuff has reinvigorated me and the channel has grown as a result!
Same
I was a dog handler who rode behind the Humberside Cossie in a Vauxhall Senator dog car. The Cossie had several sets of wheels, including a set of white narrow racing wheels, which gave better grip in the wet.
I bet you didn't know we also had plain Cossie in metallic green.
Ah no I didn’t know that.... do you know the plate though?!
Were you on blues and twos?
I remember a Blues And Twos episode with Humberside Police where a cossie and a Senator worked together. The cossie was M982 GAT. Mark Shingles was the dog handler in that episode, but I'm guessing you were still Humberside?
@@JimLem I was too ugly. We took it in turns to ride with the superstars.
@@derekcole5593
Good old RCS... Straight onto your patch followed by "... Four I/C for money laundering. Can we get a local unit to..."
Followed swiftly by the simultaneous groans of the IRT sargent, and the only Bobby in CID/Interview Team who hasn't picked up a prisoner that morning 😭
The Sierra RS Cosworth from the legendary BBC documentary X Cars is still alive somewhere apparently. (If you haven’t seen X Cars it’s a must see. Greater Manchester’s car crime squad, basically 25 year old blokes in Cossies with speed exemptions in the mid 90s). It’s on TH-cam.
Best series ever! Me and my cameraman oways watch it.
@@ThomasEdward how good is it eh! You’d think it was a scripted drama it’s so good. Someone needs to make it into a TV drama
@@JohnnyPaton some episodes make you guess if it’s staged or not but I don’t think it is. The comedy value in them is class love banter between the guys on it.
@@ThomasEdward old school blokey magic. I’m sure a lot of policing is tough work but theirs was a dream job. Getting up each morning/evening to drive a Cosworth, RS2000 or 220GSi and chasing crims and busting up ringing gangs. Brilliant.
@@JohnnyPaton that’s thing I noticed other day actually after watching them all this time the 220 Rover R8 shape I love me rovers. But they used also Mk3 Astra GSI and GSI Cav’s too!
I love ep where there’s flat battery on the RS200 and they all standing around it in the street with the boss looks like Mr Bean.
The GAT car is a Humberside number plate, remember seeing it regularly around Hull and Beverley area on its patrols.
I bought L475 BRG in 2001 . Gave it a full respray in original diamond white .I also had major electrical problems. Turned out the wires had rubbed through where the main loom passes through the bulkhead . I sold it to Daz . He only kept it about a year then sold it on . He then bought a black one . These are two different cars . L475 BRG was eventually painted imperial blue . It’s still alive in a lads garage after getting stolen then recovered. Hope this helps
Dave Gascoigne
Thanks so much for clarifying :) any photos of when you had it? Do feel free to email me geoffbuyscars@gmail.com
Sent on Facebook for you
Edit . The guy who said it’s in his mates garage has checked and it’s a different reg . I’ve done an Hpi today and it’s recorded as still stolen .
@@bamcossi Damn so do we think BRG disappeared when it was stolen in 2006?
@@GeoffBuysCars it was reported stolen November 2005
I managed to own one back in the day (not X police) but unfortunately I just couldn’t afford it. I lived 3 miles from work and it cost me about £10 a day in fuel to floor it there and back, and you don’t buy a Cosworth to drive slow so sadly we had to part ways. It was like losing a loved one but it just bled my account dry. The Sierra was just as iconic and I actually felt emotional over the torched one. I’d love to own one now I’m older but they were bought to be thrashed so finding a good runner today would be expensive enough to cause problems In my marriage. Lol
Very interesting video, my dad was a WYP officer and was mates with many in "traffic". Round here in more rural West Yorkshire there were no Cossies, however slightly later on they had a Mondeo St200, and if I recall a very rare St200 estate. Over in Leeds, and seen on the TV documentary "The Nick", the area patrols used Mk 5 RS2000s and Astra GSis for pursuits. I do recall as you say Humberside having Cossies, Subarus and Evos as one of the first police documentaries in the vain of todays interceptors etc had them on. An interesting subject. Would love to see your Sapphire Cos "chapter".
I remember the Humberside EsCos piling into the railings outside ToysRus in Hull in an attempt to get stopped at the traffic lights, closely followed by a dog section to put cones out
The team at UK Salvage rebuilds have good knowledge of these models. Rob knows his way around them. We enjoy your videos and sense of humour.
Hi Geoff,
I owned L255 YNL 24 years ago, I smashed it into some barriers and sold it with 105,000 miles on for £8000. It now has a completely different engine in as the engine in the photos is from a newer model👍
Must have moon mileage at this stage.
I almost bought it for £21k back in 2018 but the seller took a slightly higher bid from someone else that never materialised and in the meantime I bought another. I liked the history behind it but it needed a lot of work, wrong head as you say, front wings had been replaced at some point and not done the greatest, a bit of rust and paintwork needed etc and there was talk that it had done 280k miles at that point (or more) as the mileage history on the HPI is scatty in the early days! Still gutted it never came off as I feel the history outweighs all the negatives and it’s good to keep cars with a backstory like these alive for all to see!
@@dangerousdave00 Did this car start it’s Police career in Hull?
@@John_Wood_ like a lot of old RS’s you try finding one, these escorts would of done 150k minimum on 99,999k speedos and nobody has ever sold a 200k mile Cosworth as the cars are worth too much and the type of people buying them are scrupulous about maximising the value
@@jeffheineken6709 unsure mate, the paperwork the seller sent me at the time with the original registration docs shows Northumbria police, Newcastle upon Tyne in June 1994
My dad worked across a few different forces over his career and he told me about a Sierra Saph traffic car that allegedly hit 150mph on a call and due to the wind resistance it ripped the lights clean off the roof 😂 I couldn't tell you any detailed info on it or even if it really happened but it's an interesting story non the less.
little tip, never do 150 mph with the windows down or crack a window at that speed.
Love that it might make the next video!
I knew a cop who when the local force was looking to replace their current car contract (think it was then Rovers), they had kind of an open event where different manufacturers gave them cars to test (BMW, Volvo, Vauxhall, Rover Ford etc) he and his partner drove them all over a few days (along with other cops from other regions). One of them was the Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, he said it had a sticker on the dash stating that the car was fitted with all round discs brakes with ABS and a warning of its stopping power, so he decided to test that statement.
His story was that him and his partner (in the car) had been doing multiple very high speed runs and when he’d got it back up to about 150mph stood as hard as he could on the brakes……it stopped very very well (they were both very impressed), but a couple of miles down the road it started to vibrate a lot, so he stopped the car for a look around it, the brakes didn’t look or smell right. So they radioed in and the Ford team came to them, they had completely buckled all four discs and the Ford team couldn’t understand how that was possible.
Next day Ford had changed all the brakes and they were off out in it again but with in half an hour the turbo had blown and the discs buckled again……
@@jno5 that’s an amazing story!!
Another Sierra Cosworth story (not police related); but my mate at school, his dad owned a Ford Dealership and because of sales figures was given by Ford UK a Sierra Cosworth the original (teardrop, whale tail) in Moonstone Blue, he got it a few days before they went on sale to the public (so was told he can’t drive it until the official release day).
His dad appeared at school in it (the day before the official release day)…….My god it was stunning, it was the car equivalent of Bo Derek coming out of the sea in Tarzan the Ape Man (had the same effect 😂). I’ll never forget that day and sitting in it…….
My dads mate had a Black one and he lost the back end several times in the wet on round-abouts (they were like the Capri in that sense), I think that’s why Ford switched to the Sapphire and 4x4……
We had the Sierra Sapphire Cosworths as Traffic and Armed Response vehicles in early 90s. The armed ones had the rear seats removed to hold the gun cabinet.
Amazing, pop me an email if you have any stories or photos :)
We had the lotus carltons for ram raids x
I once chatted with some Humberside offices in an Escort Cosworth back in the day. Their car had white OZ race wheels fitted, and when I asked why they had expensive race wheels fitted they told me it was because they kept smashing the standard ones when they drove up kerbs at speed!
Geoff, I have an idea where the missing cars might be. A lot of older rally cars (ex WRC etc.) end up here in Ireland, people pay the VRT, they are then Irish registered, the RS Cossy is pretty much a rally car, it doesn't take much to race prepare them. Check out the Circuit of Ireland rally maybe.
This is a great shout, because the cars would have been abused high mileage cars with little value so they’d have gone exactly where you say
Better than fed to the crusher
There were a fair amount of Escort Cosworth rally cars here in Ireland in the late 90's and early 00's some fond memories and noises I'll never forget 😁
“Doesn’t take much to prepare them”, Sure you can prepare one in 20 minutes and get change from £100 (or is that €) … 😂😂😂 dummy!
I was going to suggest that maybe they'd been exported, as years ago I sold a car to someone from eastern Europe who was living in London and subsequent checks have shown it never to be MOTd, taxed, or sold since (and it wan't by any means a scrapper). I assume they took it home with them.
I went to the factory launch, two days of being wooed by the Ford Blue Oval machine. One memory of Robbie Head beckoning me over and we got in a launch Escort Cosworth and having a rather swift and entertaining run around the Boreham complex. Health and Safety hadn’t come to the fore then, the looks of the staff in the old cows sheds said it all as stones and dust flew ….
I remember the unmarked white sapphire cosworth in Warwickshire around 93/94. I got pulled over loads of the times as I was a spotty teenager on a 50cc motorbike riding late at night on the way home from the pub I used to work at.
Surprised the Cossie could keep up with you...
Please dig into other cars! I absolutely love these videos so much!
Thanks man! Check out my McLaren video series, it’s very similar but they never really got watched despite all the work I put into them
Great video. All Escort RS Cosworths were four wheel drive. The were based on the Sierra running gear and chassis. I’m amazed that a total of 7,145 were made at the Karmann plant in Rheine, Germany. I thought the total would have been around 3,000. Looking forward to the video about the Sapphires.
all escort cosworths are 4x4,based on sierra platform ,was longer wheelbase and length than std escort.il second that
Y255 YNL is on another channel selling at an auction. When I seen it advertised I thought of your channel straight away mate. I've never watched the video yet but I'm going to go watch it now. It says the upload was 3 weeks old so it's still around. Take care mate. Just watched it and it he said it didn't sell but had a buy it now price of £46 000.
I am 70 years old now , but in my early years of transporter driving with mcd , I was given the job of delivering Cornworths and as daft as it seems now they were just another car to me , in fact they were a pain in the arse to deliver to dealers , they were low , and front skirts grounded when unloading them ,
You’re a div for not using a piece of wood to tilt the car over and clear the ramps, if I can do it you could but as you didn’t care it shows what people like you were like
M982GAT was a humberside police car that was built for them by ford as a special. It had Group N rally car suspension wheels and increased engine performance from 225 bhp to 260 bhp. It also had under body protection and a different profile tyres from 45 to 50 profile Michelin tyres.
The car was featured in a MAX Power magazine and it also featured in a TV programme called Blues and Twos where is was followed around by the 24v Senator with a dog in the back.
The episode of Blues and Twos was on TH-cam a while ago but it’s gone missing.
As for the stolen police sapphire Cosworth the video of that being driven around is on TH-cam. If you did do a video on the sapphires it would be a long one as from 1989-1996 they got used a lot especially in areas like Manchester. Also police spec sapphires had no sunroof and especially the 92 facelift cars had special black recaro cloth seats front and rear.
Great comment thank you!!
Sounds like it was built as a PR exercise, to take to car shows and fetes etc, and may not have been actually used as a patrol car.
@@shoominati23 it was used quite a lot. As humberside had a huge car crime issue the car was a message that they are taking the problem seriously. The upgrades meant it could drive over speed bumps and follow cars off road without issues.
@@shoominati23 Hi Geoff.. A very interesting video. The escort cosworth for Hull and Humberside certainly saw some action. I was studying in Hull a the time and joyriding was a huge issue for the city. Sadly residents would argue tho that, if anything it increased the volume of joyriders. The criminals wanted that badge of honour. To say that they'd outrun that beast of a car. I remember seeing on a Hull fair night, it was certainly been given the beans over a railway crossing near Walton Street Hull, it as others have mentioned always was followed closely by a BMW. We loved seeing it here in Humberside/Yorkshire.
It was also called out to give chase to a work colleague. I was working at a dairy whilst studying a lovely lad I worked alongside would just save and save to work and tune his Ford Escort RS Turbo.. Then one night in the very sleepy seaside town of Hornsea east yorkshire he decided (yes I like a fool) to see what it could do through the centre of this sleepy, tiny town. After about 45 minutes the cosworth showed up, again with the BMW in tow and proceeded to give chase. The speed is immaterial but it was over 100mph in a residential area. In case you were wondering he was caught, locked up that night and lost his license. However the police giving chase still treated nice and discussed his beautiful RS. They both had a love for cars.. Sadly one went about it the right way..
Thanks for the video.. was great to remember and can't wait for the sapphires!!
I’ve spoken to the guy who built all the Cosworths featured by Geoff so far who says the escort Cosworths had Group N brakes too which was abs modules disconnected inside the car, ap racing discs and carbon pads which there are 2 types (colours) and this was to supply a car that would lock the rear brakes up and have other pads that wouldn’t on the rear and they all had AP 600 racing fluid.
He was there when Gwyndaf Evans would test the Escort Cosworths with the police officers at a RAF base and at that time Gwyndaf was Ford Motorsport development driver and rally driver who won the 1996 British Rally Championship in Ford Escort RS2000’s
I could be wrong, but I've got a vague memory that the "FL" designation on fords just meant they weren't built any of their standard trim levels. They were special order vehicles, so the police may have ordered a top spec car, with the best running gear, but without leather seats, and with an easy to clean poverty spec carpet.
I seem to remember that some of the police Cosworths were ordered with 1" smaller wheels (15" instead of 16") to help prevent rims/tyres getting destroyed from things like hitting speed bumps at 80mph, but I can't recall if this meant they also needed smaller brake discs too.
I had a '69 El Camino that had 6 engines including the original, I thought that may be some kind of record, 9 takes the cake.
Can’t believe you spoiled someone’s fun in a Dacia Duster! What a classy couple. Only you (and me!) would park next to a steamed up car in an otherwise empty car park. Great video Geoff, roll on the Sapphires!
I think they were ‘between seasons’ 😂😂
In the USA, Florida highway patrol commissioned 200 or so V8 Camaros for high speed pursuit. Less than 20 we're able to be auctioned off once they were too old to keep in service.
L475BRG was last issued a v5 in 2004 and colour changed in 2006 and has a plate change marker on it. M969PRM is still white according to the dvla and had a v5 issued in March 2020 no plate change marker. L602UVE no plate changes might be scrapped as it seems to have had a hard life. M982GAT has never had a v5 issued apart from the 1st one but has a plate change marker.
Great video mate, absolutely fascinating. A Cossie has to be at least 50K+ nowadays? You do you remember when Essex cops (i think) used to run Imprezas and Evos in the mid 2000s?
I have an anecdote on this, years ago my father had an American classic car and he knew a man called Richard (Dick) Gibb (RIP) who ran a workshop out of his property north of Morpeth on the A1. I used to go along when my father got work done on his car and quite often a policeman would be there chatting with Mr Gibb. I remember that he had a really tricked out accident investigation van at the time. He told us a story about how he used to drive a police Cosworth 'back in the day' and he was heading for Blyth on the A189 being paced by (I think but I might be wrong) a contemporary Subaru, something clearly 'fast'. He told us some emergency call came out to transport a doctor from somewhere nearby to something awful so he had to (it was either) 'leave for dead' or 'left him standing' the Subaru and stormed off on the call. It was a really entertaining story to listen to and when I pass Dick Gibb's old place I think about it. I live in Northumberland so maybe one of those cars is lurking around here somewhere. Thanks for the video, take care!
I used to work in an office in West Midlands where residential houses had been converted and rear garden car parks were regularly used by the red light district to turn tricks, i often saw steamed up cars, rocking and rolling😜 I remember the cops using ford cossie sierras and escorts and the odd Scooby and evos, my cousin had a sierra cossie nicked once😢 and another relative used to auto grass an evo. I own a 20 year old scooby that’s been my daily drive for 17 years😊
2:30 Omg those rally rims looks so nice!
This has to be one of my fav cars EVER but unfortunately for me I could never afford one back in the mid 90’s. But now they are £60k for a tatty one I don’t think I could bring myself to part with that much cash especially now knowing I could be buying an ex-cop car with 15 new engines and 7 turbo replacements 😂🙈
Amazing video though and thanks for the research, must have been time consuming to say the least!
Not a police Cosworth story, but in the early 90s I worked for a large financial company based in Edinburgh. At the time, certain management types could get a company car and seniority dictated the budget - which was the only restriction. One such manager realised that instead a dull 3 series, he could get a Sierra Sapphire Cosworth for the same money, so he did. The problem was, all the company cars were on a corporate insurance policy - everyone over 21 in the company was insured to drive a company car. The insurance premium for the Cosworth cost more than the car did . . . and that was when the rules and limitations came in about what cars managers were allowed to buy.
This is a great video. Epic content mate
Thanks so much! I enjoy putting these together so hit me with subject ideas
Love the story about the Sapphire being stolen out the police garage. Would be great to hear more.
I guess I got brought to this channel because I have a Cosworth Mercedes. Nevertheless, very interesting to know that these cars with their rally Pedegree got used as police fleet vehicles. We got Ford escorts in the states, but they were a bit of a laugh in comparison to what was available in the same timeline. We didn’t even get the Sierra, we got What was referred to as the Merkur XR4Ti, which came as I believe a 2.3 turbo and a V6 variant. I can’t wait to hear an update on some of these missing vehicles.
I’ve had some brilliant emails, I’ll get a video out next week :)
I think FL means it's full leather Lux spec, I maybe wrong but I believe the Lux spec had non leather versions aswell
Wow Skipton thats just up the road from me! Never knew they ran Cossies there, didn't even know Skipton fell under WYP to be honest.. You live and learn! Plenty of challenging country roads round there to test the road holding to the limit - Not much would have gotten away from a well driven Cossie on those roads. I'm chuffed to see quite a few of them seem to have survived post-police use. I don't think you can get into a Cos for under £40k now, even project/repair one. Looking forward to learning more about the Sapphires, I expect they were used in larger numbers? Nice video very well researched.
I worked at a Ford RS Dealer in Guildford in the 90s and owned one, worked on them there was a special eds known as the Monty "Monte Carlo"
I lived near Skipton at the time and can remember that Cossie regularly parked on the roundabout at the end of the A629.
I also used to see it near threshfield and grassington area around 94-97 era
Amazing video! Good history with all of them! Would love to see you talk about the Sierras as well 🙂
I served my apprenticeship at ford when police had the sapphire cosworth and the escort was just coming out. Happy Times.
Enjoyed that one mate 👍 I remember my mate working at a Ford dealer in Gateshead had a couple of these in for warranty work!! I worked at the same dealership a few years later, we repaired a Sapphire cossy ex police for the sales managers brother!! Had one in the front but repaired no bother!! Can't remember the reg of it now.. But I ended up with the original motor out of it, bought it in bits for next to nothing!! Sold it a few years later for a fifth of what they are now!! 😭😭 Yeah more on the Sapphires if you can 👍
It’s these sorts of comments I’m hoping for, to fill the gaps in! There are a lot more Saphs than escorts but I’ve started the research
@@GeoffBuysCars Many many years ago... I worked for a place called Dewitts race & Rally.. We Sometimes had to "Fiddle" with the ECU's and give the engine a little tweak on the South Wales Police's Sierra Cosworths.. They were around 400bhp after that.. It was the same tune we used on some Group N cars we built..
Great channel mate... Thanks..
M969PRM was. Cumbria police traffic car used in west Cumbria they only ever had one that I seen back in the day.
It's how the engine is mounted and where in the car. FL means front mounted- longitudinal and a T for transverse🙂
Our county ran mostly Vauxhalls in the 90's. Motorway units had a bunch of Carltons and one GSi. Undercovers ran a couple of red 1.6 Astras, pandas were Fiestas and the vans, Transits.
Mostly like the rest of the country now, running Volvos, Fords and BMW's.
From what 1 of Northumbrias now retired inspectors told me, the Cosworths were great cars, but liked to crack engine blocks! They would fly up the A1 at warp speed and high engine temperature, then come to a sudden stop and while parked at the scene and cool down quickly the block would crack, might explain why had so many engines! There was also the story at the time 1 of the brand new fresh from the factory Cosworths, possibly was a Sierra, was stolen off the delivery truck when unloading, never to be seen again, didn't even get as far as being made into a police car!
Brilliant comment
I’m an old girl and I found that very ingesting…the history of the police car was great!
Out here in New South Wales Australia, back in the late seventies early eighties the highway patrol had 5.8 litre Ford XC Falcon Coupes', when the XD falcon arrived they were only available in a six cylinder model . They had to wait for the XE which were fitted with the same (351 cui) 5.8 engine, to go back to decent cars. They did use Valiant Charges as Highway Cars as well as the Holden Torana 6 cyl, the old chargers were always left idling as they would not fire up again if turned off when hot. A mate of mine who was a high ranking highway officer before his retirement, had an unmarked Falcon Typhoon. Before the 100,000km warranties came in the state government made money on ex government vehicles, they went to auction at 20,000km They had the purchasing power no state taxes (prior to GST). The vehicles are stripped of light sirens radios etc but are left with the additional wiring harness. Now nearly all the highway cars are BMW's leased from BMW and go back to BMW to be disposed of. Not sure what happens to them but they are not available to the public.
Surely Aussie cops should be driving Aussie cars? We have the same problem here
We have only one vehicle manufacturer left in Australia, a company called IVECO formerly International Trucks. We have just been sent down the gurgler by different political groups. We had tarifs covering local production but once they were removed the local manufacturers folded. It started with Chrysler being taken over by Mitsubishi, but they were still producing Magnas here in OZ. Then the federal Government gave hundreds of millions of dollars to Holden, who promptly sent the money to the US and then shut down manufacturing here. Then Ford stopped the Falcon and started selling imported Fords, the most popular vehicle in Australia is the Ford Ranger. The whole downfall started with a senator called John Button, his dream was for model sharing. The Falcon ute became a Nissan ute, the Nissan Pintara became a Ford Corsair the Nissan Patrol became a Ford Maverick. The Holden Commodore became a Toyota Lexcen,and so the industry turned to shit!
I never knew the police used the Escort Cosworth, i knew they used the Sierra Cosworth so it would be nice to hear the history of those too. Id put money on these now been either show queens, or mothballed needing restoration, or just mothballed until the money goes up more. I wouldn't mind owning a car with history like that, be a great talking point.
Y255YNL was my allocated Ford Escort Cosworth in North Tyneside , Northumbria . I retired while it was still in service .
Feel free to email me some stories :) geoffbuyscars@gmail.com
Police Rover SDI 3.5 used to transport donor organs ( Liver Run ) is a interesting story .
Humberside Police used a Savage Cortina with a tuned V6 and the reg number had 999 on it .
If I recall, the Cavalier Turbo were used by the traffic police as well. I owned a Cavvy T
Me too. It was fast
I'm so interested in this... An old local guy used to have an imperial Blue cossie and over time got it up in the 500bhp mark and it was unreal how clean but he said with age and the fear of car jackers breaking in he sold it. Also with the price increasing some people may be hesitant on saying. Would be good if all we're found and you could meet them and the cars in person as I think it would make great content with all having back stories etc. Would be even better if the cars and owners we're found but also the officers that drove the specific cars and get their stories. Also got yourself a new subscriber👍
Welcome! There’s a Part 2 coming later this week!
Loved the video Geoff,don't know where you find all the info and pics from,but it's really interesting, I've had two x police cars 1 senator,for 3years,and 1 omega,the senator was only 2years old and an x Thames valley car the best out of the two a 3lt straight 6man trans,it really shifted,thanks for the time you put in making these videos.
Great that some are still around i do like these video,s and the research you do to find out as much as possible .
Another great vid bud
Laughed at the closing comment
A video with a happy ending 😂
We had two at brigham dhq,west Cumbria…one with the large wing and one without
I believe M969PRM was the second one….cheers….Al
There where other forces in the uk who used the cosworth. There would of been a local garage in each force area who would demarque the car and strip it for resale. I know in Merseyside police there where several cosworths in use including a grey one that pulled me over when i was 19. There will be a ton of these in private hands now you will never see again. There are loads in Dubai in ford collections and loads gone over to the states
Great comment.
Yes there was several used in my area too, West Cumbria (Workington/Whitehaven) though from memory the whale tail was omitted being only fitted with the lower boot spoiler.
M982 GAT is now on J1 KOS
L76 WRG Scrapped 19/6/06
BRG is on the original plate
LNW is still on the original plate
GBC, excellent video, I’ve seen the L255YNL for sale.. a snip at just £67,495… I might have to pass on it this time😂.
Yes seems a lot of money but it’ll be interesting if it goes in the auction!
yikes, I'll stick to my chevys. I could build 3 or 4 really nice cars for that.
If that’s 67 large mines 100 grand as no way a thrashed abused copper rs is worth more than a proper low miler
M982GAT was the humberside police car i believe ( AT Is the hull number plate prefix) i friend of mine who used to work at Hartford moters at grimsby ( which was an RS dealership whare the hull ford dealership wasn't) fitted there cosworth with a Group A sump guard because they kept smashing sumps in mounting kerbs while chasing joyriders around grimsby !!! They also had to disable the car when it came in for any work by takeing the starter moter off because it got seen driving about " on road test " by one of the mechanics with the flashing lights on by the police one day 🤦 after that only the master techs ( which is one of the guys i know) could road test them only with a police officer sat in with them to make sure there wasn't " messing about" 😏
Wow. Original Polizia owner with scale model. LUX model with disconnected sunroof. Beautiful story.
My Dad a seirra sapphire cosworth moonstone blue with leathers and had to go up to Birmingham in it for or a work meeting. He pulled into a multi story carpark and the security at the front shouted to him to go no further. He said to my Dad that gets parked right next to my booth right there, he said if you put that anywhere else it will be gone in 5mins!!!
Interesting stories Geoff , I can remember the Sapphire that was nicked and burnt out In Manchester 😢, I had a Sapphire Cosworth 20 years ago , boy I wish I had it now 😉
There’s a old 91 or 92 video on TH-cam of a police cossy in manny getting ragged around then torched
YOU MEAN THIS 1 IN SALFORD HE WALKED IN AS A COP AND THEY GIVE IT HIM th-cam.com/video/JNcHay9wwAM/w-d-xo.html
Had an E plater myself back in 97
Daz 4485 is a northern ireland reg, we have 3 letters followed by 4 numbers as standard reg, unless its a personal plate.
This is an excellent video and love the topic. More of this please. New to your channel, sorry for being late to the party!
Never even sat in one, but always loved the styling, living near Newcastle in the 90’s I certainly remember seeing them albeit rare.
M982GAT was a Humberside car which if i remember right was brought in to use because hull had the worst car crime in the Yorkshire area. it was a motorsport car with the oz wheels, it had higher suspension to deal with chasing cars over fields etc and the front splitter was removed as the police realised they were too expensive to replace every time they damaged one. it was in my home town of Doncaster for about a month and we always tried to get pulled by it just so we could get a look around it. i do somewhere have a couple of photos of it and of the saph cossies we had in Doncaster. i also still have the copy of max power that it was featured in, i'll get it out of the cupboard and find the specs of the car for you.
If you can dig those photos out that'd be fantastic! geoffbuyscars@gmail.com
@@GeoffBuysCars i'll see what i can do but the pics could be anywhere. if i can dig them out i'll send them over to you. cheers Geoff
There was a TV programme that followed a police Escort Cosworth that ran with a Vauxhall Senator dog unit as a pair. I think it was Humberside police, but can't be sure.
Well done Geoff. Good work. 👌🏽
According to "How many left" there are only 28 Cosworths left actually taxed and on the road with another 100 SORN with only just over 7,000 made in total.
That is something like only 2 in every 100 made still in existence.
Great fun they may be but they were not built like a Mercedes!
Wow are the numbers that low? Crazy
Not quite the escort but I remember when I was first in the police up Guildford way they had a few what looked like sierra sapphire cosworths that were in fact the non turbo 2 litre. Great looking cars.
I’ve got details and pics of 11 Police Escort Cosworth’s and in excess of 40 Sierra Sapphire Cosworth’s. All have pics and I can tell you the registrations some of them are now on. Please get in touch if you’d like any more info. I’ve got too much info to post on here
FL Full Leather before they created the Lux tag? it’s also the oldest car of the group so maybe pre launch. Interesting content cheers
Your Volvo estate reminded me of another funny story of a mate who was a Volvo salesman back in the day, he sold top of the range T5 estate to a trav-eler type, they returned it 6 weeks later complaining of a noisey back axle. On inspection they had removed the new axle and replaced it with a knackered one of an old model and wanted it repairing under warranty🤦♂️😂😂😂
What a cracking video I remember the Hull one running out of Hessle Police station were it was based with a bmw 3 series. Can we have a video on the Police Vauxhall Omegas at some point please, very underated by people at the time but the traffic guys loved them, (I've owned 6)
Kind regards
Many years ago just before the escort Cosworth was developed a nice gentleman and friend of my dad called rod Mansfield came to stay at my parents B & B for a few months. He all ways came in a shiny Sierra Cosworth. One winters day he came in a new shape escort with barely any interior in the vehicle. That evening I needed a lift to the next village about 6 miles down the country lanes and he offered to give me a lift in said escort.
When I got in the vehicle he then told me this was a pre production test model vehicle(escort Cosworth) and dont worry about the mess of the wiring loom and non existent dashboard.
Omg I have never been so scared as he showed me what this car was capable of on a dark slippery country lane. I will never forget that journey and the fact the he showed me and my father (an ex rally driver) everything.
That is a brilliant anecdote!!! Might include this in my part 2
@@GeoffBuysCars the strangest thing was that shape escort never came out for about a year after we saw his
L76 WRG was scrapped/issued COD in 2006, had to have been crashed as it would have been worth a bit even then surely?
If like any other force cars of that era they were probably returned to the dealership and then given an extra “no warranty given tag “ and a new id and sold on hence some disappear off radar with a plate change
You should see how many owners have the round no warranty tag on slam panel
Although these were also given to other problematic cars returned and bought back due to issues
Hi Geoff I’d like to hear about the sapphire cosworth I’m really into these cars. I’d love to have 1 but just crazy prices on these cars. Loved your vid on the escort cosworths though. Stay safe 🤙🏻
Another great video mate! I've not read the 300+ comments so this may have been said already but M969PRM was Cumbria Constabulary, crest on the drivers door gives it away 🙂
Thanks Steven! Had some superb comments and emails on this one, part 2 is in the works, later this week :-)
@@GeoffBuysCars Nice one Geoff keep em coming! I'm a petrol head at heart and also like my cop cars for more than the above reason 🙂
Geoff i love stuff like this being a fan of the max power era i see all those cars from back in the day and do reg checks they dont show as written off or scrapped but they are mot expired where are they on this planet nobody knows…. But someone must know!
Facinating and funny.Luv it. More please.
I worked for a Chrysler Jeep dealership in Warwickshire (mid/late 90s) the local constabulary use to run a Jeep Cherokee 4l, always thought it was an interesting choice, not sure there where many of them about.
Talking of Police Cars, you should do a collab with Ben Pearson, I'm sure he was Traffic Police up that neck of the woods. Lovely cars, great video. Take care, Poo
I've heard some brilliant story's from when aben was a WYP Traffic cop and obviously on channel 5s interceptors. He claims in over 15 years as a Traffic cop for west Yorkshire the Vectra VXR was the best car he drove certainly enjoyed them more than 330 and 530d's
Great to see where all these have gone.
Skipton (North Yorkshire) had one .
I know Carl …top bloke who had a stunning sierra sapphire cosworth
Lancashire police had one based in Preston.
A buddy had built a corsa with a calibra turbo swap and his buddy drove the police cossie , they had a race on the dual carriageway out of Preston and the corsa destroyed it once it was in 3rd .....
This was a very long time ago tho.
I think I've been pulled by that K reg one, not long after I passed my test.
Ha ha tell us the story!
@@GeoffBuysCars Nothing exciting, was just pulled in the early hours on my way home from a night out. I was in a Renualt 5 'GT Turbo' lookalike. It had a 1.1 engine in it so was never gonna outrun it.
Fantastic content Geoff
Thank you!
Had the chance to buy a blue one of these at car auction when nobody would touch them due to insurance companies ratcheting up their premiums.
Ended up with an XR2i. Bought that for £3500 and sold it 18 months later for £4000.
Cosworth went for £5600.
That was really interesting to watch, great job!
Thank you!
@@GeoffBuysCars I for one would definitely watch a video on the sapphires, not just fords, would be interesting to see any ex police cars surviving, anything with a back story fascinates me.
Ex Police cars used to be common, not RS's but Capri 2.8's, Escorts all in basic trim. ALL had bodged wiring, holes cut out everywhere and worn out carpets on the drivers side. Going back further a zip in the headlining for the the wiring for the lights on top. They used to be pennies to buy. I wouldn't but one today even at the prices they were going for then. Right bodge jobs.