What It Was Like To Drive The Ford Sierra RS500

The British Touring Car Championship strayed from God's light starting in 1990, switching to its own, more lax "Super Touring" car regulations. Other series followed suit a few years later, and Group A's touring car golden years came to a close.

Every year, Jalopnik's most Chosen members – well, just me this year – have brought you the very best of Group C and GT1 racing from the 1980s and 1990s. We even did a Group B rally theme once. But for some reason we've never covered arguable the most successful racing formula of all. It's the awkwardly-titled Group A-smas, worthy of celebration.

But before they did, Ford raced the Sierra in the BTCC, homologated as part of Group A regulations. There is so much to say about these things, including how Ford always sought to bend the rules with homologation, but I think it is also important to just see and hear the car perform as a car. Not just as a race car, competing for victory, but as a car that brakes and steers and responds to the driver.

For that we have Tiff Needel and old, old Top Gear to give us a guide.