Vanguards 1/43 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth was first presented to the public at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1985, with plans to release it for sale in September and closing production of the 5,000 cars in the summer of 1986.

In practice, it was launched in July 1986 and 5545 were manufactured in total of which 500 were sent to Tickford for conversion to the Sierra 3 door RS500 Cosworth. The vehicle was manufactured in RHD (Right Hand Drive Only).

I see this model as the spiritual successor to the Matchbox SuperKings version that was also produced in white. My copy - for some reason - had a massive dent in the front grille, which really annoyed me - methinks my mother had summat to do with it - I'll never know.

It is a fairly decent effort - everything is in the right place, and the tampo-ing at the rear is well done.

What surprises me is that Hornby/Corgi have not released a RS500 version yet - this surely is an iconic Fast Ford that is worthy of re-creation. For some reason this model has not found a place in The Garage, not sure why......

Vanguards 1/43 Ford Granada 2.8i S

This has been a hotly anticipated model by myself. Hornby/Corgi didn't manage to get the MkIV Cortina right for some reason - again, but age old problem with the wheels had summat to do with it and their accuracy.

The model is well proportioned and my bugbear of inaccurate wheels has thankfully not been re-created here.

I do like the tampo-ing - clean and accurate, which is what I like to see on these type of models.

I actually don't have too much more to say on it to be honest - it is a good reproduction of this large Ford and how is sitting well with The Garage.

I am awaiting further variations on the Granada - 2.81 Ghia X Executive or a estate version. The casting also gives the template for a German LHD version in base spec or Polizei livery.