√UPDATE – Princess Diana’s Ford Escort RS Turbo sells for over $1.2-million!

Listed without a reserve price, the one-off 1985 Ford hot hatch could reset the auction record for cars owned by Princess Di.

UPDATE August 28 2022

Princess Diana’s Ford Escort RS Turbo has sold for an astonishing £724,000 (A$1.2m) at auction this weekend.

The winning bidder, from Cheshire in the UK, paid £650k (A$1.1m) plus buyer’s fee to secure the unique hot hatch

As reported by the BBC, the bidding at Silverstone Auctions started at £100,000 and climbed. The eventual battle for top prize was between a local bidder in Cheshire and a phone bidder from Dubai.

The BBC reports Silverstone Auction classic car specialist Arwel Richards noting the auction house was surprised at the final result but that it was the car’s rarity and the public’s “emotional link” to it which made the vehicle special.

Originally published: August 3 2022

A 1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo first owned by Princess Diana is heading to auction later this month in the UK.

Listed by Silverstone Auctions without a reserve price, the third-generation 1985 Escort RS Turbo is one of approximately 8600 ‘Series 1’ models built by Ford, and was delivered new to the Princess of Wales in August 1985.

Princess Diana had prior history with Ford Escorts – as an engagement present, Prince Charles gifted her a silver 1981 Ford Escort Ghia hatchback, which sold last year for £52,000 ($AU91,500).

While the Princess originally had her eye on a red convertible Escort to replace the Ghia, the Royalty Protection Command SO14 didn’t think the car’s canvas roof would offer much privacy or protection.

As an alternative, Princess Diana insisted on Ford’s latest hot hatch – the Escort Turbo RS.

The three-door hatch’s 1.6-litre turbocharged engine produced 97kW when new, with power sent to the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox.

However, to draw attention away from the Escort, Ford created a one-off example specifically for the Princess. Ford painted the RS Turbo black rather than the white of all other Series 1 examples.

In addition to this, the Escort was fitted with a five-slat grille from a lower-grade variant rather than the three-slat grille of the RS Turbo.

A secondary rearview mirror was installed as well as a radio in the glove box, both of which were used by the protection officer who accompanied the Princess.

The Princess returned the Escort to Ford in May 1988, having clocked up around 6800 miles (11,000 kilometres) with the RS Turbo mostly used as a London runabout.

Sold internally to a Ford manager, the Escort RS Turbo was used as a promotional giveaway car by UK radio station Kiss FM in September 1993.

The competition winner then sold it in November 1994 to a Mr Windsor – not a royal one – who owned the Escort until 2008, selling the RS Turbo to its current owner.

With 24,961 miles (40,170km) on its odometer, it’s unlikely an Escort RS Turbo as well-kept as this will come up for sale, given just 122 examples of the 1985 model are registered in the UK.

Due to be auctioned on August 27, the Escort could break the auction record for a car owned by the late Princess, currently held by a 1994 Audi 80 cabriolet which sold for £58,000 ($AU102,000) in March 2020.

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