Your Restomod Of The Day Is The Ford Sierra Cosworth ‘Carbon Piranha’

UK firm Vision148 will turn an original Sierra RS500 into this swollen, carbon-bodied slice of madness

21 Aug 2024

As late Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell definitely didn’t sing: the restomods start coming and they don’t stop coming. We thought we’d be in for a bit of a break from the thoroughly transformed classic after Monterey Car Week, but we’re hitting the ground running again already with this: Vision148’s ‘Carbon Piranha’ Ford Sierra RS500.

Vision148’s name isn’t just a Blink-182-style random number situation: it’s so-called because it’s acquired chassis number 148 of the 500 Sierra Cosworth RS500s ever built. The RS500 was an even more amped-up version of the regular Sierra Cosworth homologation special, its production run being the minimum number needed to allow Ford to develop an ‘evolution’ version of the touring car.

It’s probably the most extreme roadgoing Sierra of all, but Vision148 plans to take it further. A lot further. The donor car is going to be dismantled by ASM Auto Recycling, which will then 3D scan each individual part to create a virtual copy of it.

It’s then going to be reclothed in the massively swollen carbon fibre body you see in these renders, which has been penned by Yasid design. Overall, it’s targeting a weight of under 1000kg.

And as for its 2.0-litre Cosworth YB turbo four-pot engine? That’s getting a full rebuild, too… from Cosworth. Yep, the company that built the original engine back in the ’80s is going to give it a very thorough overhaul. We don’t know the specifics yet, but we suspect it’s going to push out quite a bit more than the original’s 224bhp. In its loosest Group A touring car form, the Sierra was churning out well upwards of 500bhp, which seems like a nice target…

Oh, and because literally only one’s going to be built, to be in with a shot of owning it, you’ll have to join a membership scheme called Auto Vision Club, which apparently costs £99 a year. Through this, there’ll be opportunities to engage with the car’s build, for which points will be handed out. Whoever has the most points by the end will have the chance to own the car.

That’s about all we know for now, but we’re eagerly awaiting the finished car. In the meantime, we’ll be bringing you news of whatever restomod debuts tomorrow. Or in the next half hour. Or 37 seconds.

The first full sentence spoken by an infant Mike was a review of the ride quality of a Volvo 850. It was “Daddy’s car goes bumpy-bump on a bumpy road,” so would probably need proofreading a bit, but it was a start.