A hand-assembled pre-production example of the Ford Escort RS Cosworth once driven by Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson will cross the auction block during the Silverstone festival in the UK on August 24. The seller estimates it at £65,000–75,000.
Ford only made three such hatchbacks to homologate its WEC rally car in 1992. This example ended up with a longitudinally mounted 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder engine and manual transmission. It sent 224 PS (221 hp / 165 kW) to all four wheels through a limited-slip differential. It also rocked a massive tailgate spoiler shaped like the whale’s tail.
Jeremy Clarkson had driven the car for a year. Its current owner and seller repaired the brakes and the suspension, put on new wheels and retrimmed the headliner. The listing points out that the hot hatch only needs “minor work” now to be fully functional. The pics and the video suggest that the car has aged very well for being 32 years old with nearly 133,000 km (83,000 miles) under its belt.