The greatest touring car of all time
Ford's RS500 won races and titles around the world. As it reaches its 30th birthday, which will be marked by a special display at Autosport International, it's time to assess its place in tin-top history
More than arguably any other car, Ford's RS500 comes to mind when talking about touring car racing's most spectacular machines.
In many ways the turbo tin-top was flawed. Chiefly, the Sierra chassis and its rubber were incapable of coping with the 500+bhp its two-litre engine produced.
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Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.
He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.
He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Warboys with his wife and two children.
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